Dietetics Major at UMass

The Dietetics track at the University of Massachusetts is accredited with the ACEND [at] eatright [dot] org (Accreditation Council for the Education of Nutritionists and Dietitians) (ACEND) and is the UMass Amherst Didactic Program in Dietetics. ACEND is the accreditation arm of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND):

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
120 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 2190
Chicago, IL 60606-6995
312-899-0040

Upon completion of the DPD, achieved by finishing all the requirements of the dietetics track, students will receive the DPD Verification Statement. This statement shows that students have successfully completed the courses needed to achieve the student learning outcomes and competencies set by ACEND. The DPD Verification Statement is needed to apply to a Supervised Practice or Dietetic Internship. Registration also requires passing a national Registration Examination. The Verification Statement shows that a student has achieved the academic standards in a program that meets the administrative standards of ACEND, which sets out learning objectives that all students must show mastery of in order to earn the statement. Academic programs wishing to educate future dietitians must meet rigorous administrative standards that demonstrate that our students are successful in the application process to dietetic internships and in the registered dietitian/nutritionist (RDN) exam. Upon graduation from the dietetics track all students will receive an electronic copy of their Verification Statement.

Effective Jan. 1, 2024, the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) will require a minimum of a master’s degree for eligibility to take the credentialing exam to become a registered dietitian/nutritionist (RDN). Approval to sit for the registration examination with a bachelor’s degree requires that individuals have completed the DPD and dietetic internship (and so have met all eligibility requirements) before Dec. 31, 2023 at 12 midnight CT. They must also have submitted the application for approval to take the exam into the CDR’s Registration Eligibility Processing System (REPS) before 12 midnight CT, Dec. 31, 2023. If you miss this deadline, you will have to have a master’s degree and completed 1,200 hours of supervised practice to be eligible to apply to take the exam.

For more information about the new master’s degree requirement, visit the CDR website or call 800-877-1600 ext. 5500.

Admittance to DPD Program/Dietetics Track

Nutrition students who wish to major in the dietetics track must earn a GPA of 2.5 or above and a B in Nutrition 230 (Basic Nutrition). This application usually occurs during the student’s second semester of their sophomore year.

Here are the links to the required courses and course sequence for the dietetics track:

• Dietetics Track General and Core Requirements Advising Sheet
• Dietetics Track Course Sequence

Cost of Attendance

The cost of attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst can be found at the bursar’s webpage.

In addition to the tuition and residence costs students should be aware of the following additional costs:

Lab fees ($95 per lab), AND student membership ($58), and fee for attendance at professional meetings or webinars (variable). Also, application to dietetic internships requires several fees ($55 to D&D Digital, fee to use DICAS is $50 for the first application submitted and $25 for each additional application, and each internship has a separate fee ranging from approximately $0 to $75).

Cost of Books

Freshman year

CHEM 111/112
Custom CER CH 111 112 General Chemistry I II
$200

Nutrition 130
Nutrition An Applied Approach (Thompson and Manore)
$45 (ebook)

Biology 151
Biology 151
$45
Biology 151 lab manual
$35

Sophomore year

Nutrition 230
Nutrition (Insel, Ross, McMahon and Bernstein)
$276 (used books available)

KIN 270/272
Human Anatomy and Physiology Plus, 11th edition (Marieb, EN and Hoehn, K., 2018)
$58

Junior year

Nutrition 352
William’s Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy
$94

Biochemistry 320
Principles of Biochemistry (Lehninger)
$356 (used books available)

Senior year

Nutrition 580
Kraus’s Food and the Nutrition Care Process
$198

Once a student has completed the undergraduate DPD they have the following options in terms of meeting the requirement that all graduates have a master’s degree in order to take the RDN credentialing exam in 2024:

1. Complete the 4+1 MS at UMass (see details below), which allows them to complete the BS and MS in five years and then apply to a dietetic internship not associated with an MS degree. These are typically based in hospitals.

2. Complete an MS, MPH, MA, MBA in another department or college (these may be one or two years in duration), then apply to a dietetic internship, which is not associated with a graduate degree.

3. Apply to a dietetic internship, which will give a graduate degree, typically an MS or MPH while also completing a dietetic internship (these are usually two years in duration).

The nutrition department has developed an accelerated MS degree, in which students can earn an MS in one year of post-graduate study. This allows the graduates of the DPD program to have more options when applying to a dietetic internship.