The program at Sonoma State University emphasizes a common core/knowledge base, the interdisciplinary nature of Kinesiology, a focus on applied professionals, and a culminating experience that is individualized to meet each student's professional needs and interests.

The curriculum offered by the Department of Kinesiology prepares graduates who can apply kinesiological principles to the acquisition, performance, and refinement of motor skills and to the use of physical activity as an educative tool and a medium for health promotion, personal well-being, and participation in an active lifestyle. The curriculum addresses human movement across the life span from biological/physical, behavioral, sociocultural, and humanistic perspectives, with attention given to the unique and common needs of all people in a wide variety of contexts and conditions.

At the completion of the program, all graduates will:

• Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles and an understanding of the current research in the field of Kinesiology;
• Apply critical thinking, writing, reading, oral communication, quantitative and qualitative analysis, and information management skills to movement-related questions;
• Understand the scientific method and other systematic ways of knowing relative to research and scholarship in human movement;
• Develop a sense of responsibility to and for the profession and be professionally involved at the local, state and/or regional levels;
• Be prepared to engage in informed dialogue with diverse professional and lay communities regarding kinesiological principles and practices.