Health and Human Performance Major

Are you interested in sports, exercise science or wellness? George Fox University’s health and human performance major – with one of its three concentrations – gives you a comprehensive science-based education and clinical foundation in a Christian college setting.

Study health and nutrition, the biomechanical principles of human motion and motor learning, and gain techniques for teaching skills, stunts, games and sports.

In addition to the health-related courses, you’ll take general education classes ranging from Bible and humanities to communication and mathematics.

Choose from three concentrations:

Fitness Management

Those interested in all aspects of fitness would benefit from a fitness management concentration within the health and human performance major. More than 40 credit hours are offered in the field, including aquatics, tumbling/gymnastics, principles of conditioning, first aid and safety, exercise prescription, exercise physiology, and motor development and motor-skill learning. This is an ideal concentration for those who wish to work in the fitness industry and help clients with their fitness goals. The concentration incorporates 42 to 43 course hours of study.

Health Pre-teaching

Take the first step toward becoming a teacher. The 37-hour course of study emphasizes a wellness theme that incorporates individual responsibility and promotes a healthy lifestyle. The curriculum covers the sciences, including kiinesiology, exercise physiology and nutrition, as well as classes that address societal topics, including drug education, contemporary health issues, the sociology of families, and stress management.

Students who wish to become health teachers are essentially entering a five-year program. They take the health preteaching concentration, and upon successful completion, are directed to enter a one-year Master of Arts in Teaching program. Upon completion of the MAT, students will be certified to teach K-12 health or obtain positions in community, public health, and health promotion settings.

Physical Education Pre-teaching

This concentration focuses on skills acquisition and teaching methodology pertaining to team and individual sports and lifetime recreation. The curriculum includes courses that cover teaching as a profession, aquatics, field sports, sports psychology, kinesiology, exercise prescription, and motor development and motor-skill learning, as well as instruction in specific sports, including tennis, volleyball, basketball, golf and tumbling/gymnastics.

Students customize the concentration by choosing a coaching class that covers a specific sport (basketball, baseball/softball, soccer, track or volleyball), or opting for either a course in care and prevention of athletic injuries or nutrition. All told, the concentration incorporates 44 or 45 hours of study.

Students who wish to become physical education teachers are essentially entering a five-year program. They take the physical education preteaching concentration, and upon successful completion, are directed to enter a one-year Master of Arts in Teaching program. Upon completion of the MAT, students will be certified to teach physical education.

Request more information about the health & human performance major at George Fox University or schedule a visit to begin your education at Oregon's Christian university, ranked as one of the top Christian colleges in the nation by Forbes.