Bachelor of Science in Applied Exercise Science

UNE is recognized as Maine's leading health professions and health sciences University. Learn about our custom-designed exercise science labs and facilities, exciting coursework, and real-world internship opportunities that our Applied Exercise Science students experience.

Use Your Degree in Exercise Science to Improve Lives

If you are fascinated by human movement and have a desire to improve the lives of others, UNE’s Applied Exercise Science (AES) degree will give you the tools needed to attain your professional dreams. Through a combination of classroom learning, research, internships, and hands-on lab activities, you will learn to use exercise to help others prevent disease, rehabilitate injuries, and enhance athletic performance.

UNE’s B.S. in Applied Exercise Science sets the foundation for a career as an exercise science professional or for graduate study in a variety of different health science fields. An exercise science major is a strong alternative degree program to either a bachelor’s in athletic training, kinesiology, or sport performance.

A student coaches another student performing squats with a barbell on their back
A student uses a stethoscope on a patient simulator

Why UNE for your B.S. in Exercise Science

Our department’s close working relationship with UNE’s medical school opens the door to fascinating opportunities, including courses in gross anatomy taught by exercise scientists. With access to UNE’s other health professions students and faculty, you’ll learn how to work effectively in collaborative, interprofessional health care teams.

  • Focus on clinical application and hands-on learning
  • Only program in Maine accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Allied  Health Programs and endorsed by the National Strength and Conditioning Association
  • Unique breadth of research opportunities
  • Key opportunities for professional development and exposure
  • Exceptional rate of employment/acceptance to graduate school
Justin St. Peter

Justin St. Peter ’19

Applied Exercise Science

The best thing about studying Applied Exercise Science at UNE is an extremely well-rounded approach to the subject matter and a strong knowledge-base of the human body. Professors have a deep understanding of how the body’s basic physiology changes from things like sickness or exercise, and they really share that with students. You get to learn when the body is at its weakest or at its strongest.

Now, I’m getting my master’s in exercise science. UNE helped me get there by preparing me for the rigor of a master’s degree and also by providing a connection to other universities for post-grad.

Beyond the Classroom

After joining Outing Club my first year and doing some hiking in the Whites — I had never hiked in the White Mountains until my first-year orientation trailblazer trip — I heard about this thing called the 48 4,000-footers. It’s a challenge where you do all 48 of the 4,000-foot mountains in New Hampshire. I decided then that I was going to try to do them all in the four years before I graduated.

Eleven of the 4,000-footers are grouped together there in a 30-mile ring called the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I’ve had some truly amazing moments in that wilderness on those peaks. It’s my favorite place in the world right now. Another thing that’s cool is that the Whites are only about an hour and a half to two hours away from UNE so it’s a really doable challenge if you space it out across four years.

These kinds of endurance events are furthered by my studies in AES about learning how the body reacts in those situations — to train the body to take something that seems super hard so that it feels like it was not super hard after the proper training and adaptations.

Because of the AES program at UNE I am able to analyze the seemingly unlimited capacity of the human body from a scientific perspective.

Applied Exercise Science

What Will You Study? Exercise Science Degree Curriculum Overview

There are many ways you can navigate our Applied Exercise Science degree program. The following are some examples of the exciting courses that you can take:

  • Human Gross Anatomy
  • Fitness Evaluation and Prescription
  • Concepts of Strength & Conditioning
  • Lead ECG Interpretation
  • Clinical Diagnostic GXT
  • Exercise Management for Chronic Disease & Disability
  • Metabolism and Bioenergetics of Sport Nutrition

You may apply through our GradVantage program to our Doctor of Physical Therapy or Physician Assistant programs for graduate study.

To learn more about UNE’s Applied Exercise Science program visit the Academic Catalog, explore our FAQ, read the Applied Exercise Science Student Handbook, or view the curriculum map.

MEET OUR FACULTY AND PROFESSIONAL STAFF

Meet Nikko, an Applied Exercise Science major at UNE

Career Paths for Exercise Science Majors

With your knowledge of anatomy, exercise science, and athletic training; real-world experiences from internships; and extensive hands-on lab work, you’ll be equipped to perform pre-participatory screenings, fitness testing, exercise prescription, and exercise leadership for healthy, health-compromised, and athletic populations.

Our graduates have pursued many rewarding careers, including:

  • Exercise Physiologist
  • Cardiac Rehabilitation Specialist
  • Non-Invasive Cardiology Technician
  • Strength and Conditioning Coach
  • Corporate Health and Fitness Specialist
  • Fitness Director
  • Personal Trainer
  • Wellness Coordinator

Career Advising in the Applied Exercise Science Program

Whether you have a specific career goal in mind or a vague idea of the field that interests you, Career Advising is here to help you plan your next step.

91%

of AES majors were employed or continuing higher education within six months of graduation

Class of 2023

Exercise Science Facilities

As an Applied Exercise Science major, you enjoy extensive modern facilities for the study of exercise and sport performance. In addition to the discipline-specific equipment and training spaces in the Harold Alfond Forum, Campus Center, and Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences, you also benefit from the cutting-edge computer resources, modern labs, and classrooms UNE has to offer.

The Alfond Forum

The Harold Alfond Forum, which opened in 2012, includes a 105,000-square-foot athletics complex featuring: an ice hockey rink with 900 seats; a basketball court with 1,200 seats; classroom space; a fitness center; and multi-purpose indoor practice courts that can also be used for performances and other events, with a combined seating capacity of 3,000. It also houses the Athletic Training and Applied Exercise Science programs, which have custom-designed teaching and laboratory spaces.

The Campus Center

Opened in 1989, the 55,000-square foot Campus Center houses a sports complex that includes a 25-yard/six-lane handicapped-accessible swimming pool, an eight-person hot tub, and a fully-equipped fitness center with two racquetball courts and a free weight area. It also contains a 12,100-square-foot gym with a 1/12-mile balcony track, showers, a sauna, and locker rooms. The Campus Center is also home to BodyWISE, a UNE and community-at-large resource designed especially for people who have specific physical performance objectives, ranging from rehabilitating physical limitations to enhancing peak athletic performance. BodyWISE is an extension of UNE's educational mission and serves as a clinical training program for exercise and sport performance students as well as students in other allied health professions programs.

The Harold Alfond Center for the Health Sciences

The Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences is a state-of-the-art laboratory and educational facility. Located at the center of our scenic shoreside campus in Biddeford, this three-story building houses labs and lecture halls. It places UNE at the national forefront of health and life sciences education. The Center's gross anatomy lab is used by medical, health professions, and Exercise and Sport Performance students.

Motion Analysis Lab

The Motion Analysis Lab on UNE's Portland Campus allows you to observe and measure human motion that cannot be observed with the naked eye, and to quantify the forces in the joints and neuromuscular and muscle systems.

The research you do in this technologically-advanced 1500-square-foot learning space allows you to apply the theoretical knowledge you’ve gained in the classroom to projects investigating such crucial matters to your field as better understanding the laws of sports biomechanics, or the most effective approaches to ACL rehabilitation.

Interprofessional Simulation and Innovation Center

As Athletic Training or Applied Exercise Science student, you utilize our Interprofessional Simulation and Innovation Center to apply the knowledge you gain in the classroom to realistic clinical situations before putting actual patients at risk.

Guided by skilled instructors, you participate in simulations specifically designed to enhance your clinical aptitudes. Simulations allow you to test your skills in evaluating a patient in an emergency situation or to individualize patient care for a variety of medical conditions. Rather than just hearing about and reading about difficult or unusual cases, you experience them by treating our high fidelity patient simulators and patient actors in scenarios that mimic real life.

Tour Our Facilities

Experiential Learning in the Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science Program

We give you real-life, hands-on experiences in our custom-designed labs and teaching spaces and in your internships. Whether you’re conducting your own research, getting on-the-job training, or presenting at a regional or national conference, Applied Exercise Science makes doing the most important part of learning.

The Olympic Journey of UNE’s Wayne Lamarre

UNE AES Students Work with Hockey Players

Internships for Exercise Science Majors

As an Applied Exercise Science student, you are required to perform a six-credit (270 hours) internship during your senior year. This internship experience can be during the summer, fall, or spring semester, and averages about 20 hours per week.

You will work with our internship coordinator to identify an appropriate site for the type of work you wish to perform. Then, you work at the site under the joint supervision of Applied Exercise Science faculty and a site supervisor.

A wide array of enriching internship opportunities exists at sites including:

  • Turning Point Cardiac Rehabilitation & Prevention
  • Southern Maine Health Care ­– Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation
  • Spurling Fitness
  • Quest Fitness
  • Saco Bay Physical Therapy
  • Massabesic Health Resources – Physical Therapy
  • Southern Maine Health Care – Performance Center

Accreditation

The University of New England's Applied Exercise Science program is accredited by the Committee on Accreditation for Exercise Sciences (CoAES) Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).

View our Applied Exercise Science Program Outcome Data (PDF)

Exercise Science Frequently Asked Questions