Online Health and Wellness Degrees: All Your Choices in 2023

The nation needs health and wellness professionals more than ever before. With a renewed focus on health policy, an aging population, and an overall awareness of wellness issues, professionals trained in health topics will be in high demand. After an online health and wellness degree, you’ll be ready for a wide variety of careers. Potential jobs will depend on your education and goals, but these degrees prepare you for or build upon positions, including:

• Health education specialist
• Community health worker
• Fitness instructor
• Personal trainer
• Recreational therapist
• Human service assistant
• Social and community services manager
• Health services manager

 

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ARTICLE NAVIGATION:

• Levels for Online Health and Wellness Degrees: Certificate | Associate | Bachelor | Bachelor Completion | Graduate Certificate | Master’s | Post-Graduate Certificate | Doctorate
• Accreditation for Online Health and Wellness Degrees and Certificates
• Can an Online Health and Wellness Degree Meet Licensing Requirements?
• After an Online Health and Wellness Degree: Licensure, Certifications, and Registrations for Professionals
• What Jobs Can You Get With an Online Health and Wellness Degree?
• Expected Salaries with an Online Health and Wellness Degree

Certificate

Certificates are for potential students with no previous college experience yet who want a fast track to a health and wellness career. These educations focus on overall health, fitness, and integrative healing, among many other potential topics.

They are offered 100% online and come with full accreditation, the same accreditation obtained by the college or university. For example, the University of Missouri-Columbia is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, which also applies to its online Certificate in Fitness Programming & Management.

Certificate programs often take less than a year to complete. In fact, with a fast-track schedule, they can be finished in as little as four months. These programs usually require around 18 credit hours. Enrollment only requires a high school diploma or GED score.

All in all, these programs can lead to many careers. Some community health worker positions only require a one-year certificate or less. Graduates can work in public health educator, community health worker, or health coach roles.

Associate

Associate degrees are perfect for aspiring students who want a more thorough education than a certificate that leads directly to a specific career. For online associate degrees in health and wellness, you can specialize in areas such as fitness, integrative health, and health promotion. These online health and wellness degrees make your education convenient and flexible.

Associate degrees only require a high school education or equivalent diploma for admission. You will need to provide official high school transcripts or GED scores for enrollment. Students will also need to complete admission testing, which may include the ACT, SAT, or placement testing for the specific degree.

Health and wellness careers that only require an associate’s degree or less include fitness instructors and personal trainers. While many health and wellness careers require a bachelor’s degree, some employers may accept applicants with an associate’s degree. An associate degree qualifies applicants for almost all community health worker positions.

Bachelor

A bachelor’s degree is an excellent choice for anyone who wants a well-rounded education. Your online health and wellness degree will include general studies like mathematics, history, and literature and core courses focused on health and wellness. A bachelor’s degree is the standard education for many wellness careers, including health education specialists and recreational therapists.

Assuming a full-time workload, a bachelor’s degree will take four years to complete. These online health and wellness degrees offer convenience and flexibility while you work through the programs.

Typical admission requirements for a bachelor’s degree include a high school diploma or equivalent education and transcripts. A GED is also accepted for admission. Depending on the program, you may be required to submit ACT or SAT scores.

Bachelor Completion

These programs are right for you if you have an associate degree or started a bachelor’s but never finished. They allow you to complete a bachelor’s degree to move into careers like health education, wellness instruction, and social services.

In sum, it takes four years of classes (eight semesters) to complete a bachelor’s degree. Exactly how long it takes to complete your bachelor-completion program generally depends on your past education and which courses transfer to your next institution. Always research the programs and find out which ones accept your previous credits. You can do this by contacting the college admissions office and submitting transcripts.

Once complete, you’ll hold a full bachelor’s degree. To gain acceptance, you must submit transcripts from your previous college.

Some of these programs are specifically designed for students who have already completed an associate’s degree. For example, the Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness from Rasmussen University requires a previous associate degree and takes 18 months to complete.

Graduate Certificate

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, you can continue your education with a graduate certificate. These online health and wellness degrees concentrate on one specific aspect and take about one academic year to complete, less time than a full master’s degree.

Many graduate certificates focus on health education and coaching. We are not talking about athletic coaching here, but instructing and coaching people in healthy lifestyle choices. Graduate certificates may not be required, but they add a higher level of understanding to your career, making you more attractive to employers.

To complete a graduate certificate, you first need a bachelor’s degree. Some schools require a minimum GPA as well. For example, the online Graduate Certificate in Health and Wellness Coaching from the University of North Dakota requires at least a 2.75. You’ll need to submit official transcripts to the admissions office, and some schools require a personal statement of interest or a resume.

Master’s

A master’s degree is the next step in your education journey. Requiring two years of academic studies after your bachelor’s, these health and wellness degrees online lead to markedly higher earning potential and more opportunities. Health and wellness careers requiring a master’s degree include epidemiologists, athletic trainers, and occupational therapists.

Enrollment is more rigid than undergraduate degrees. They require a bachelor’s degree and a solid GPA. A 3.0 or higher is commonly necessary for admission. You’ll need to supply transcripts and possibly complete an interview and submit letters of recommendation, a resume, and a statement of purpose.

Many master’s degrees can be completed online. However, some, such as the Master of Science in Human Performance from Liberty University, are primarily online. This program has intensives, in-person sessions requiring travel to the Lynchburg, Virginia, campus. Intensives are either week-long or weekend courses. The Master of Arts in Human Services Counseling with a concentration on Health & Wellness, however, is entirely online.

Post-Graduate Certificate

A post-graduate certificate is for students who have completed a master’s degree but want to deepen their knowledge on a specific subject. A master’s program is also known as graduate school, which is why these online health and wellness degrees are considered post-graduate certificates.

Available online, they help build your knowledge in certain subjects, such as yoga practices. Enrollment requires a master’s degree and a GPA of at least 2.5. You will also need an occupational license. Programs are designed for licensed healthcare providers who want to add a specific skill, such as yoga, to their resumes.

Doctorate

These online health and wellness degrees are particularly for people who want to become one of the most advanced and knowledgeable professionals in their field. While they will not make you a medical doctor, they will result in a Ph.D (doctor of philosophy) in health and wellness. This will help you reach expertise in health education, exercise leadership, physiology, and other essential topics. They can lead to or advance careers in health education, social services, and public policy.

Enrolling in these programs requires a master’s degree with a strong GPA. Most will require at least a 3.0 score from previous studies. They can be completed online and will take at least two years. For instance, the Doctor of Health Science with a concentration in Health Science & Exercise Leadership from Pennsylvania Western University can be completed in two years. Others take longer. The Doctor of Philosophy in Mind-Body Medicine degree from Saybrook University takes 4.5 to 5.5 years.

Accreditation is the process of verifying the quality of an education. It can be institutional, meaning the entire college or university is accredited, or programmatic, meaning the individual program, degree, or certificate is certified by a specialized group.

To achieve institutional accreditation, faculty and coursework must be approved by an independent agency authorized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation or U.S. Department of Education. It is important to realize that every school in the GetEducated database holds institutional accreditation from an approved regional or national organization.

Programs will also have programmatic accreditation. Accrediting bodies for health and wellness careers include:

• Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education
• American Health Information Management Association
• Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society

Resource:

• CHEA - Programmatic Accrediting Organizations

Yes, health and wellness programs online can meet testing requirements for appropriate licensing exams. To sit for licensure and certification tests, you must meet eligibility requirements, specifically including graduation from a related program with proper accreditation.

One such test, the Certified Health Education Specialist Exam, is only available to students with at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution. All of the online health and wellness programs in our database have accreditation. For example, if you complete a Bachelor of Science in Community Health from Southern New Hampshire University, accredited by New England Commission of Higher Education, you will be eligible for testing. Regardless of your education and career goals, you must check your state’s regulations for licensing requirements in your chosen field.

Resource:

• NCHEC - Credentialing

Most careers from an online health and wellness program do not require licensing. However, licensing and industry certification can boost your career. Health education specialists, for example, can obtain licensing as Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES).

Here are the steps to complete the CHES process, which involves in-person testing at a specific location:

1. Apply for the CHES exam by visiting NCHEC.org/ches.
2. Pay the fee, which ranges from $220 to $370.
3. Once accepted, complete the test, which consists of 165 multiple-choice questions.
4. Score 600 out of a possible 800 on the CHES exam.

Resource:

• NCHEC - Certified Health Education Specialist Examination

Healthcare careers are growing in importance and relevance. In fact, many are expected to see rapid growth. Health services managers have the highest potential, but nearly all health and wellness careers exceed the expected average job growth of 5%. Here is the predicted growth through 2031 for careers in health and wellness:

Career	Expected Growth
Health services manager	28%
Fitness instructor	19%
Community health worker	16%
Human services assistant	12%
Social and community services manager	12%
Health education specialist	8%
Recreational therapist	4%

 

Some areas value health and wellness professionals more than others. New Mexico has the highest quotient of health education specialists and the third-highest quotient of community health workers. As a matter of fact, Santa Fe, NM, has 6.02 health education specialists for every 1,000 jobs, making it the top spot for this profession.

Numerous health and wellness careers bring substantial salaries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median pay for all occupations is $45,760. Most jobs in health and wellness are near or above this mark. Human services assistants are at the lower end of pay, however this position does not require extensive schooling, and there are plenty of options for advancement.

Here are the median salaries for common health and wellness careers as of May 2021:

Career	Median Salary
Health services manager	$101,340
Social and community services manager	$74,000
Health education specialist	$60,600
Recreational therapist	$47,940
Community health worker	$46,590
Fitness instructor	$40,700
Human services assistant	$37,610

 

Resource:

• US Bureau of Labor Statistics - Occupational Outlook Handbook

If you are ready to start a fulfilling career, submit your information and start searching for the right online health and wellness degree for your budget, schedule, and goals. All of the programs on our database are at least 80% online, and many are 100% online. This creates more flexibility so you can earn a world-class degree from an accredited institution!