Online Master’s in Sport Management Ranked Among Nation’s Best

05/11/2018 

SUNY Cortland’s online master’s degree in sport management — one of two fully online degree-granting programs at the College — has earned national recognition in just its fourth year.

The program was ranked among the “Best Online Master’s in Sport Management Programs 2018” by BestColleges.com. SUNY Cortland was lauded for its flexibility, as the program is intended for both industry professionals and those looking to enter the field. 

“The ranking is rather impressive, considering the evaluation by BestColleges.com was conducted after only our third full year of existence,” said Jordan Kobritz, chair and professor of the Sport Management Department.

Most students enroll part-time and complete the program in about two years. With course offerings during the fall and spring semesters as well as the summer, students have the option to complete the degree at their convenience.

“This applies particularly to coaches who want to get involved in administration,” said Kobritz. “A master’s degree in sport management fits for a variety of students, especially a P.E. undergrad who is coaching and wants to be an athletic director at some point.”

The program has an 18-credit core with six credits of electives and a six-credit culminating experience, which is either an internship, a master’s project or a thesis. Internships require a minimum of 480 hours of supervised work with a sports organization, applying course learning to a professional environment.

Being fully online, the master’s program gives students the flexibility to complete the coursework and their internship anywhere in the world.

“We’ve had students do their internship in Europe, in Australia and all of the typical domestic internships sites where our undergrads do their internships,” Kobritz said. “You don’t have to come on campus to do it.”

One way in which SUNY Cortland has distinguished its online sport management master’s program is by having all of its courses taught by full-time faculty. Many other programs around the country use less-experienced teaching assistants or outside adjuncts.

“All of our faculty who teach in this master’s program have a terminal degree, either a Ph.D. or a J.D.,” Kobritz said. “In addition, all faculty that teach in the online program also teach in the master’s program on campus.”

The expertise of the SUNY Cortland sport management faculty helps students stay up-to-date on the ever-changing fields of sport finance, law and marketing.

BestColleges.com ranked universities based on academic quality, which included admissions rate, enrollment rate, retention rate, six-year graduation rate and number of master’s graduates in sport management. Affordability also factored into the results. Out of all similar programs in the United States, SUNY Cortland’s online sports management program came in at No. 38.

For more information, contact Kobritz or Graduate Coordinator Genevieve Birren.