Better Than Average: Physical Education Requirements In North And South Carolina’s Tertiary Institutions

Physical education requirements (PERs) in college help students learn and practice healthy lifestyle habits. During the 1920s/30s, 97% of colleges/universities required their students to take some form of physical activity/education course. Since then, a downward trend has been observed, with the most recent national data showing that only ~32% of U.S. colleges/universities mandate fully PERs today. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to examine and compare the status of PERs in North and South Carolina's 4-year higher education institutions. METHODS: Institution’s academic catalogs were obtained via their respective websites and searched for PER information. Institutional Review Board (IRB) review was not necessary, as the information gathered was publicly available and human contact was not required. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Findings of this study revealed that ~41% of South Carolina’s institutions (i.e., 13 of 32) required PERs, and ~ 9% partially required PERs (i.e., 3 of 32), meaning that not all degrees mandated a PER or that it was an option among other choices. In North Carolina, ~60% of institutions mandated a PER (i.e., 32 of 53), while ~19% of institutions had a partial requirement (i.e., 10 of 53). CONCLUSIONS: Both North and South Carolina are well above the national and state-level average regarding PERs. This is not an entirely unpredictable outcome, as previous research suggest institutions with the greatest number of PERs are located in the southern region of the U.S. However, future research should investigate the impact of PERs, given that obesity and physical inactivity levels are higher in southern states compared to other regions in the country. Research was funded by the South Carolina IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (SC INBRE) program.