The United States Sports Academy is an independent, non-profit, special mission graduate sport institute designed to serve the nation and the world with programs of sport education in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy in higher education is to prepare men and women in the sport profession in the areas of sport coaching, fitness management, sport management and sports medicine. These two organizations are the leading professional groups in sport education and sport management respectively. These affiliations recognize the quality and the value of the Academy's D.S.M. and M.S.S. programs in Sport Management. The Academy offers Master of Sport Science degrees in coaching, management and medicine.
Degree completion is possible in one year, depending on how the student elects to study.
Students may earn their degrees by taking all courses on campus or studying for two summers on campus and completing a mentorship or thesis in their local community. Students can also take the entire master's degree through distance learning, which requires being on campus only for the comprehensive examinations and graduation. This allows working professionals, including the military, to earn a master's degree while remaining on the job. Academy surveys show that a teacher receives a substantial increment for receiving a master's degree, depending upon the individual school districts. The Academy offers a Doctor of Sport Management degree.