The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of online instruction on student achievement and satisfaction levels used in an undergraduate wellness course at a mid-sized university. Comparisons are made with another section of the same class that was taught using the traditional lecture format by the same instructor. Another purpose was to examine differences in student ratings of the course and instructor, quality of learning, quality of communication, and support. The participants in this study were 83 undergraduate students (38 men, 45 women; M=21.9 years, SD=6.0) who were required to take the wellness course as institutional graduation requirements. The online group included 36 students (15 men, 21 women; M=25.5 years, SD=7.6), while the traditional group had 47 students (26 men, 21 women; M=20.7 years, SD=3.2). The participants completed a survey that included demographic makeup and background characteristics, and student satisfaction and student perceptions of the instructional delivery, course and instructor, quality of learning, quality of communication, and support. Descriptive statistics were utilized to analyze demographic makeup and background characteristics of the participants. A one-way repeated measure analysis of variance was performed to examine differences in student achievement between the two learning groups by comparing mean scores of a standard pre-and post course knowledge test. An independent sample t-test was conducted to compare the effects of the two different methods of instructional delivery on student perceptions and satisfaction levels. Statistical significance was accepted at an alpha level of p<.05. The results of this study showed that students in the online group performed better academically than students in the traditional group (p<.01). However, there were no significant differences in student satisfaction levels with their overall learning experience between the two groups. Also, there were no significant differences in student ratings of the instructor and his support between the two groups. Yet, students in the online group rated significantly higher on the overall quality of course, the quality of learning, and the quality of communication with the instructor than students in the traditional group (p<.05). Results indicated that student level of computer expertise, and their previous online learning experience strongly related to their level of satisfaction with online learning (p<.05). Most of the participants indicated that they would like to see an online option when enrolling for the course in the future. These findings suggest that a well-designed online course can be effective in teaching wellness. Keyword(s): college level issues, research, wellness/disease prevention