Texas requires 1 ½ to 2 years of physical education (PE) for students to graduate from high school. However, students can substitute physical education (SubPE) with a variety of classes. The study wanted to determine if significant differences existed between PE and SubPE students on exercise identity by gender. Data were collected from 310 students with 164 females (86 PE/78 SubPE) and 146 males (62 PE/84 SubPE). All participants had completed all PE or SubPE requirements. Permission for the study was obtained from the university and school district where data were collected. Student assent and parental consent forms were obtained from all participants before data collection. The Exercise Identity Scale (EIS) (Anderson & Cychosz, 1994) was used to test for differences in exercise identity. The EIS has nine items rated on a 7-point Likert format. Responses range from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). Higher scores indicate greater exercise identity. An ANOVA was used to test for differences in exercise identity with the alpha level for significance established at the p<.05 level. ANOVA analysis determined both male and female SubPE students had significantly higher exercise identity than male and female PE students with p<.05. Female SubPE students had significantly higher rates of exercise identity than female PE students at the p<.00 level. The mean EIS score for female SubPE students was 39.2 and 32.6 for the female PE group. An ANOVA of the EIS determined significant differences between female groups on five of the nine individual items. The male SubPE students also had significantly higher scores on the EIS than the male PE students at the .00 level. The mean score for the male SubPE students was 46.9 and was 33.4 for male PE students. The difference in means for male groups was twice as large as the difference in mean scores for the female groups. Analysis of individual items on the EIS of male PE and SubPE students produced significantly higher differences for male SubPE students on all 9 items. Data analysis determined that students in SubPE had significantly higher rates of exercise identity than traditional PE students. When students were analyzed by group and gender, both female and male SubPE students had significantly higher rates of exercise identity than female and male PE students. PE curriculums need to be developed to instill stronger exercise identities in students that will improve attitudes towards exercise and healthier lifestyle practices.Keyword(s): exercise/fitness/physical activity, high school issues, physical education PK-12