2025 Best Health & Physical Education Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Health & Physical Education is of the hottest master's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #23 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 8 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of health & physical education. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 589 master's degrees in health & physical education during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Health & Physical Education School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of health & physical education for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on health & physical education students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of health & physical education students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for health & physical education to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized health & physical education related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for health & physical education students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The phys ed school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Health & Physical Education Master's Degree Schools in Illinois.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Health & Physical Education in Illinois

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for health & physical education students seeking a a master's degree.

Top Illinois Schools for a Master's in Phys Ed

1

Concordia University, Chicago
River Forest, IL

214 Annual Graduates

$51,084 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in health & physical education has to take a look at Concordia University, Chicago. Located in the suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Health & Physical Education master's degree recipients from Concordia University, Chicago get an earnings boost of approximately $6,052 over the average earnings of health & physical education graduates.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Concordia University, Chicago

2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

17 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in health & physical education needs to look into University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign.More information about a master’s in health & physical education from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3

Aurora University
Aurora, IL

23 Annual Graduates

Aurora University is a great decision for students pursuing a master's degree in health & physical education. Aurora is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Aurora.More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Aurora University

4

Illinois State University
Normal, IL

67 Annual Graduates

$44,066 Median Starting Salary

Illinois State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in health & physical education. Illinois State is a very large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

Students who graduate with their master's from the phys ed program state that they receive average early career wages of $44,066.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Illinois State University

5

Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL

40 Annual Graduates

$38,630 Median Starting Salary

Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the phys ed program state that they receive average early career earnings of $38,630.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Western Illinois University

6

Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, IL

17 Annual Graduates

$39,864 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the phys ed program state that they receive average early career wages of $39,864.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Northern Illinois University

7

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL

59 Annual Graduates

$40,827 Median Starting Salary

SIUE is a large public university located in the suburb of Edwardsville.

Students who graduate with their master's from the phys ed program state that they receive average early career earnings of $40,827.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

8

Eastern Illinois University
Charleston, IL

25 Annual Graduates

$39,041 Median Starting Salary

Located in the remote town of Charleston, EIU is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the phys ed program report average early career wages of $39,041.

More information about a master’s in health & physical education from Eastern Illinois University

Best Health & Physical Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Health & Physical Education Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	211	196
Ohio	207	436
Indiana	191	154
Wisconsin	173	98

View All Rankings >

Health & Physical Education Related Rankings by Major

One of 4 majors within the Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies area of study, Health & Physical Education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Phys Ed Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Exercise Science and Kinesiology	243
Sports Management	150
Sports Kinesiology and Physical Education/Fitness General	126
Outdoor Health & Physical Education/Fitness	56
Sports Studies	14

Majors Similar to Phys Ed

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies	45
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies	15
Recreation Administration	11

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.