Rankings by major · 604 schools scored

Best colleges for kinesiology

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for kinesiology. The score weighs what graduates earn four years out against the same major nationally (25%), research spending in the field (20%, NSF), how many undergraduate courses the department lists (20%), the student body's test scores (20%) and the size of the program (15%, capped so size alone can't win). 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top kinesiology schools: University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Top 100 colleges for kinesiology
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	100	Standout	271	3%	1.44×	16%
2	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	98	Standout	346	4%	1.30×	58%
3	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	97	Standout	184	1.8%	1.36×	45%
4	University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	96	Standout	356	5.5%	1.15×	17%
5	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	96	Standout	96	1.8%	1.47×	17%
6	Emory University Atlanta, GA	95	Standout	86	3.3%	1.58×	10%
7	Indiana University–Bloomington Bloomington, IN	95	Standout	393	5.2%	1.24×	78%
8	Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC	94	Standout	88	5.8%	1.44×	22%
9	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	94	Standout	171	1.9%	1.23×	42%
10	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	93	Standout	281	2.7%	1.21×	27%
11	University of Georgia Athens, GA	93	Standout	266	3%	1.22×	38%
12	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	93	Standout	194	1.8%	1.22×	61%
13	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	92	Standout	158	2.2%	1.33×	60%
14	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	92	Standout	196	2.2%	1.13×	45%
15	University of South Carolina Columbia, SC	92	Standout	293	4.1%	1.23×	60%
16	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	92	Standout	191	4.6%	1.23×	46%
17	University of Delaware Newark, DE	91	Standout	180	3.7%	1.38×	71%
18	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	91	Standout	180	3.2%	1.16×	87%
19	Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO	91	Standout	108	6%	1.39×	75%
20	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	91	Standout	460	3.4%	1.14×	52%
21	Rice University Houston, TX	90	Standout	78	6.3%	1.58×	8%
22	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	90	Standout	166	3.5%	1.30×	77%
23	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	90	Standout	118	1.2%	1.09×	20%
24	Miami University–Oxford Oxford, OH	90	Standout	258	5.5%	1.28×	75%
25	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	89	Standout	305	3.3%	1.22×	85%
26	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	89	Standout	527	9.3%	1.12×	80%
27	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	89	Standout	127	2%	1.09×	42%
28	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	89	Standout	82	1%	1.10×	80%
29	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	89	Standout	146	1.5%	1.10×	24%
30	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	88	Standout	118	5.9%	1.25×	34%
31	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	88	Standout	41	0.7%	1.33×	54%
32	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	88	Standout	170	1.4%	1.04×	51%
33	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	88	Standout	380	4.3%	1.08×	37%
34	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	87	Standout	197	4.4%	1.14×	93%
35	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	87	Standout	93	1.5%	1.15×	87%
36	University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN	87	Standout	336	5.9%	1.03×	42%
37	Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ	87	Standout	52	3.2%	1.41×	73%
38	Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, IA	87	Standout	234	3.5%	1.09×	89%
39	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	87	Standout	198	3.4%	1.15×	86%
40	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	86	Standout	264	5.7%	1.14×	72%
41	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	86	Standout	98	4.7%	1.14×	48%
42	University of Massachusetts–Lowell Lowell, MA	86	Standout	92	3.1%	–	83%
43	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR	86	Standout	204	3.5%	1.04×	79%
44	California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	85	Standout	75	1.5%	1.17×	30%
45	Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO	85	Standout	212	3.9%	1.10×	89%
46	University of Vermont Burlington, VT	85	Standout	50	2%	1.07×	73%
47	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	85	Standout	60	4%	–	62%
48	California State University, Long Beach Long Beach, CA	85	Standout	264	2.9%	1.04×	45%
49	University of Massachusetts–Boston Boston, MA	85	Standout	166	6.2%	1.17×	84%
50	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	85	Standout	180	3.1%	1.07×	96%
51	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	84	Standout	63	1.9%	1.02×	19%
52	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	84	Standout	184	2.5%	–	71%
53	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	84	Standout	330	2.2%	1.01×	88%
54	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	84	Standout	162	3.2%	1.02×	73%
55	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	84	Standout	15	0.2%	1.32×	50%
56	Elon University Elon, NC	83	Standout	97	5.5%	1.23×	66%
57	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA	83	Standout	58	6.6%	1.18×	63%
58	CUNY Queens College Queens, NY	83	Standout	48	1.4%	1.13×	69%
59	University of Minnesota–Duluth Duluth, MN	83	Standout	52	2.4%	1.15×	81%
60	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	83	Standout	243	1.6%	–	43%
61	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI	83	Standout	132	3.7%	–	72%
62	California State University–Sacramento Sacramento, CA	82	Standout	310	4.1%	1.07×	92%
63	University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	82	Standout	138	2.1%	0.99×	85%
64	Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL	82	Standout	29	0.9%	–	75%
65	Utah State University Logan, UT	82	Standout	155	3.7%	–	94%
66	University of New Hampshire Durham, NH	82	Standout	74	2.4%	1.07×	88%
67	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	82	Standout	3	0.1%	–	14%
68	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	81	Standout	34	0.9%	1.06×	70%
69	Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ	81	Standout	192	3.4%	1.11×	91%
70	University of Scranton Scranton, PA	81	Standout	58	6.3%	1.44×	80%
71	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX	81	Standout	93	1.3%	1.07×	73%
72	University of Mississippi Oxford, MS	81	Standout	108	2.7%	1.34×	97%
73	Furman University Greenville, SC	81	Standout	56	7.9%	–	43%
74	St. John's University Queens, NY	80	Standout	88	3.8%	1.09×	83%
75	University of Wisconsin–La Crosse La Crosse, WI	80	Standout	188	8.8%	1.05×	74%
76	John Carroll University University Heights, OH	80	Standout	68	8.5%	1.18×	82%
77	Merrimack College North Andover, MA	80	Standout	69	6.3%	–	75%
78	Howard University Washington, DC	80	Standout	64	4.3%	1.11×	41%
79	High Point University High Point, NC	80	Standout	101	9.1%	–	79%
80	University of Tulsa Tulsa, OK	80	Standout	41	5.2%	1.15×	62%
81	Washington State University Pullman, WA	79	Strong	85	1.4%	1.10×	86%
82	University of Houston Houston, TX	79	Strong	386	4.7%	0.97×	74%
83	Denison University Granville, OH	79	Strong	33	5%	–	17%
84	California State University–East Bay Hayward, CA	79	Strong	170	4.7%	1.03×	97%
85	St. Olaf College Northfield, MN	79	Strong	20	2.2%	1.20×	43%
86	University of the Pacific Stockton, CA	79	Strong	52	5.9%	1.07×	71%
87	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR	78	Strong	132	2.5%	1.06×	74%
88	University of St. Thomas (MN) St. Paul, MN	78	Strong	37	2.3%	–	85%
89	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	78	Strong	254	3.6%	–	80%
90	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	78	Strong	134	2.5%	1.00×	77%
91	Marian University Indianapolis, IN	78	Strong	28	4%	1.20×	95%
92	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY	78	Strong	82	3.5%	1.05×	96%
93	California State University–Fresno Fresno, CA	78	Strong	268	5.2%	0.99×	95%
94	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	78	Strong	200	4.5%	1.04×	89%
95	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA	77	Strong	180	5.1%	–	78%
96	Wayne State University Detroit, MI	77	Strong	77	1.8%	–	81%
97	Ohio University Athens, OH	77	Strong	92	1.7%	1.01×	85%
98	University of North Carolina–Wilmington Wilmington, NC	77	Strong	187	4.9%	–	64%
99	Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA	77	Strong	4	0.3%	–	89%
100	Appalachian State University Boone, NC	77	Strong	264	6.2%	1.01×	83%

504 more schools are on the full kinesiology ranking.

How this ranking works

Updated October 18, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.

To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for kinesiology," updated October 18, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/kinesiology. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.

See your odds of getting in · All rankings by major · Overall ranking

Best colleges for kinesiology

How this ranking works

Rankings for other majors