The purpose of the study was to investigate controversial issues in coach education programs for elite student athletes in both South Korea and the United States. In order to describe previous researchers’ perspectives on the effectiveness of coach education programs of both countries, published studies which focused on coach education programs were reviewed by highlighting problems and improvements. According to the findings, coach education programs of both countries are still required to establish systematic curriculums for more scientific approaches in order to improve student athletes’ game performances. In addition, coach education programs in South Korea are seeking solutions for the problem of how to educate athletic students who study hard for other academic subjects while the United States already has institutionalized management systems for athletic students.