This program appears in our ranking of 50 Most Affordable Selective Colleges for Sports Management.
Kennesaw State University offers a number of opportunities for students who want to study sport management. All the athletic teams that compete at the national level use the Kennesaw State Owls name. There are 17 different teams, including seven teams for men and 11 teams for women. Women can compete in track and field, volleyball, tennis and other sports, while men can compete in basketball, baseball, cross country and golf among others. Many of the university’s sport management students play on one or more of these teams. This teaches them more about competing at the college level and working together as part of a team. Majors can also write for the campus newspaper, work for the radio station or join intramural teams.
The Bachelor of Science in Sport Management program that the university offers is open to incoming freshmen and students who take a few semesters to declare a major. Students must have a 2.75-grade point average to major in this subject, and they must maintain a 2.75 GPA to remain in it. Students will take business, accounting and economics classes, but they primarily take courses from the sport management discipline. Some of the classes they take early on include Introduction to Sport Management, History and Contemporary Aspects of Sport and Sports Information and Media.
As students progress through the program, they can take some upper division classes. Sports Sociology and Psychology looks at the way athletes think and behave, while Sport Facility Design and Management deals with the issues relating to the running of a sports complex. Students must also take a Senior Seminar in Sport Management that focuses on one specific area of sports and allows students to do research on that topic.
KSU also requires that students do a sport management internship. Though some students will work for the university or for amateur organizations, they can also work for professional teams and in sports facilities. Many students wait until their senior years to do their internships. Kennesaw State University offers a number of sports electives that students can take too, including Advanced Coaching Methodology: Basketball and Volleyball, Foundations of Recreation and Leisure, Advanced Media Writing and Concepts in New Media.
About Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University is a large public university located in the Georgia city of the same name. Founded in 1964 as a junior college, it initially offered two-year degree programs that allowed students to earn a full degree and work in the field or transfer to a senior college. It became Kennesaw College in the 1970s after switching to more traditional four-year degree programs. The college also served as a state college for many years before becoming Kennesaw State University. It merged with a polytechnic institute in 2015, which helped its enrollment grow and led to an increase in the number and types of programs available to incoming students.
The main campus that uses the KSU name is in Kennesaw, but it also operates a second campus in Marietta. Its main campus sits close to several other public campuses. One of the more popular spots on the campus is the Campus Green, which fills with students daily as they study for classes and hang out with their friends. The campus is also home to more than 200 clubs and organizations for students. Students can join organizations based on their interests and hobbies. Kennesaw State University encourages new students to participate in activities to meet new people.
Kennesaw State University Accreditation Details
Since KSU has regional accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), students shouldn’t have any problems bringing credits from one school into one of its programs. They can also use the FAFSA when applying for financial aid. Many of the KSU degree programs also have specialty accreditation, including those in engineering and technology.
Kennesaw State University Application Requirements
The KSU online application for undergrads allows students to create an account with all their personal information and log in and out of the system to work on their applications whenever they have a little free time. Though some students complete the application in one sitting, others like to take their time and go over those sections multiple times. The application includes a section on background information and a section that asks for contact information. Students must also designate an emergency contact and list that individual’s name, address and phone number on the application.
When a student submits the application, he or she must pay a $40 fee. The university will accept fee waivers that students get from their high school guidance counselors too. They can then submit an official high school transcript and contact the testing board and request that the board send their official test scores to the university. KSU has both an early decision and a regular decision deadline. The early decision deadline is November 1, which lets students apply early and know by the late winter of the university’s decision. Students can also submit applications by the regular decision deadline, which is April 1.
Kennesaw State University Tuition and Financial Aid
Georgia residents who have lived in the state for at least 12 consecutive months qualify for the university’s in-state tuition rate of $4,341. This rate includes the cost of taking 12 credit hours and all fees. Nonresidents pay $15,323, which also includes all fees and tuition costs. The university estimates that students will pay a little more than $11,000 a year for room and board. It offers different meal plans and room types that can increase this cost though. Students usually spend around $1,500 a year on textbooks and all other supplies.
KSU encourages students to complete the FAFSA online as soon as they decide that they want to attend the university. The financial aid packages that undergrads receive often include loans and grants, but some students will also qualify for the work-study program on the campus. Scholarships are also available from the university. Need-based scholarships go to students who have more need than their peers based on their financial aid forms, while merit-based scholarships go to candidates who demonstrate a high aptitude for learning. Some scholarships ask for letters of recommendation, an essay written by the student based on a prompt or other information. Kennesaw State University lists all scholarship requirements on its financial aid website.
Learn more about Kennesaw State University’s Sport Management program at the Department of Exercise Science and Sport Management website.
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