Post-Baccalaureate Coaching Education Certificate

Overview
Elevate your coaching career and lead athletes to their full potential with Xavier University's 100% online Coaching Education Certificate.

Whether you’re a seasoned coach looking to level up or a former athlete ready to lead from the sidelines, our Coaching Education Certificate gives you the leadership tools to build a winning culture. Our 100% online, post-baccalaureate Coaching Education Certificate is designed to transform your passion for sports into a professional edge, focusing on athlete development, ethics and high-performance leadership.

Admission

Applications are accepted throughout the year. Applicants are notified of the admission decision as soon as possible.

Applicants to the Graduate Certificate in Coaching Education must hold and undergraduate degree with a minimum GPA of 2.5.

  • Free Online Application
  • Official Transcript
    • One official transcript directly from all colleges or universities that you have attended for any undergraduate and graduate course work. Applicants must have a degree from a regionally accredited university. Send transcripts to:
      • Xavier University
        ATTN: Admission Processing Center
        3800 Victory Parkway
        Cincinnati, OH 45207-5131
      • For electronic transcripts, send to:
        xuadmit@xavier.edu
  • Personal Essay (if needed)
    • Please state how this certificate in coaching education will help in your career goals. Be specific in addressing what your career goals are. Be specific in showing a direct application of gained content knowledge through this program to your career goals.
  • 2 Letters of Reccomendation 

Due to state regulations regarding the delivery of distance education, as well as requirements of each individual state board of nursing, Xavier is not currently able to accept applications from all states into all of its online programs.

View the complete list of approved states on the State Authorization page. Students must reside and complete practicum hours in approved states only.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition

  • MS..............$739

Fees

  • Student ID Fee..............$15
  • Graduate Student Association Fee, degree-seeking full-time..............$15 (per semester)
  • Graduate Student Association Fee, degree-seeking part-time..............$10 (per semester)
The amounts listed are for the 2026-2027 academic year, and include classes from Fall 2026 through Summer 2027. Tuition cost is per credit hour unless otherwise stated.
For the full, official listing, please visit xavier.edu/costs.
Xavier University reserves the right to correct any computational or clerical errors.
100%
Online Format
18
Credit Hours

Why Choose Xavier Online?

You'll get more from your online education, from the personal attention of faculty to rigorous courses taught in the Jesuit Catholic tradition.

100% Online Flexibility

Master your schedule with flexible, 8-week asynchronous online courses—designed to fit your life.

Jesuit Values

Gain practical experience and develop a coaching philosophy grounded in Jesuit values of competence, compassion and conscience.

Small Classes, Big Impact

Benefit from personalized attention from faculty who are active practitioners in the field.

Curriculum (18 credit hours)

Our 18 credit hour Coaching Education Certificate is designed to fit the schedule of working professionals while ensuring you meet the highest academic standards.
This course is designed to provide an examination of ethics, morality, diversity, and philosophy as it relates to coaching modern sports. Discussion will revolve around coaches’ role as a moral exemplar, identifying and resolving ethical dilemmas and what it means to be a Discussion will revolve around coaches’ role as a moral exemplar, identifying and resolving ethical dilemmas and what it means to be a morally responsible sportsperson.

This course is designed to provide an examination of leadership in sport as well as critically examine the role of leadership and team development. The course will begin with the classic leadership work of Warren Bennis followed by John Wooden’s approach to leadership and his Pyramid of Success. Discussions and readings on how various leadership theories such as transformational, servant, situated, and legacy leadership apply to sport and coaching. Discussions will revolve around the complexity of leadership development in sport for all participants, how leadership development should occur in sport, and how coaching leadership influences team identity. Practical application of these concepts will be experienced through the Integrated Coaching and Sprot Education Model (i-CaSE) developed by Dr. Ron Quinn in 2007 and a sport leader project.

This course addresses Teambuilding. Teambuilding covers Team Purpose, Stages of Team Development, Team Member Roles, Team Communication, Team Processes, and Team Leadership. More specifically, this course will look at the following: the issues and practices concerning family systems and role of family; models and strategies for consultation and collaboration; effective communication with families, school personnel; and, professional ethics, responsibilities and confidentiality.

Required field experience in diverse settings – 5 hours.

This course will provide an exercise science foundation for coaching that includes energy systems, muscle physiology, and how the body adapts to the physical and psychological demands places upon it for maximum performance. Sport-specific training, conditioning, recovery, and nutritional programs will be addressed as they relate to developmentally appropriate sports training.
Past, current and future trends in the field of sport management. Administrative theory, function, and application within the field of sport management.
Legal and ethical issues with regard to youth, school, college, amateur and professional sports.
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