The Health Coach Certificate complements your degree(s) in the Departments of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Kinesiology and Health and/or Psychology. Many organizations and agencies offer a health coach certificate, but our program provides you with a more comprehensive foundation in nutrition, exercise, and motivational coaching which helps you better compete for employment opportunities after graduation. You will also be able to choose to sit for the American Council on Exercise exam.

Health Coach Certificate Requirements

  • Required coursework (23 credits), plus pre-requisites
  • A minimum of 12 credits are taken at Iowa State University.
  • A minimum of 3 credits are not used to meet any other department, college, or university requirements for the bachelor’s degree except to satisfy the total credit requirement for graduation and to meet credit requirement in courses numbered 300 or above.
  • A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 in courses taken at Iowa State University for a certificate.

Required Courses

To complete the Health Coach Certificate, you will take a variety of classes from three majors (Food Science and Human Nutrition, Kinesiology and Health, and Psychology). The majority of classes required for this certificate will be offered in-person on the Iowa State campus.

Application

You will need to apply for this program by following these steps:

  1. Access the application form.
  2. Fill out the application form.
  3. Submit the form to the academic advisor in your major’s department.

Food Science and Human Nutrition: Anne Oldham, aoldham@iastate.edu.

Kinesiology and Health: Lisa Phillips, lisap1@iastate.edu

Psychology: Whitney Baker, wbaker@iastate.edu

Group exercise session in a gym, with participants wearing Iowa State apparel standing with arms extended while following an instructor.

Your health career starts here.