Campus Connection

UWL athletic training becoming a graduate program

Students in UW-La Crosse’s athletic training program will soon graduate with a master’s degree. The UW System Board of Regents has approved the university’s request to change its nearly 40-year-old athletic training Bachelor of Science program to a Master of Science. The approval at the June 8 meeting in Milwaukee responds to a recent decision by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) to shift the entry-level credentials required of practitioners to the master’s level. Bachelor’s degrees will no longer be granted. “The new professional education program raises the bar for the athletic training profession,” says Mark Gibson, chair of the UWL Exercise and Sport Science Department. “It’s the latest addition to the array of graduate health professions programs for which UWL has become well known.” Gibson says the new master’s curriculum was developed on the foundation of a strong undergraduate program in athletic training that has been offered at UWL since 1980. It was the first accredited athletic training program in Wisconsin and offers one of the most competitive, in-depth and hands-on athletic training programs nationwide. In the last three years, nearly 92 percent of UWL athletic training students passed the Board of Certification (BOC) Examination on their first try. Graduate placement within six months of commencement is more than 97 percent. The new program includes 68 credits of graduate-level education and requires 23 months to complete. Students admitted into the program beginning in June 2019 must have a bachelor’s degree with science prerequisites. Get more information on the College of Science and Health program.