University of Maine Nutrition & Dietetics Programs

The University of Maine offers six Food Science and Human Nutrition credentials:

B.S., Food Science and Human Nutrition
M.S., Food Science and Human Nutrition (in-person)
M.S., Food Science and Human Nutrition (online)
M.S., Food Science and Human Nutrition, Dietetic Internship concentration
Graduate Certificate in Human Nutrition
Ph.D., Food and Nutrition Sciences

Program Tracks Overview

Program	Est. Tuition	Est. Duration	Credit Hours
B.S.	$57.2K in-state $157.6K non-res	4 years (8 semesters)	120
M.S. in-person	$19.1K in-state $55.7K non-res	2 to 2.5 years (4 to 5 semesters)	30 minimum
M.S. online	$20.6K all students	2 to 3 years (6 to 9 semesters)	30 minimum
M.S. + Dietetic Internship	$25.6K all students	16 to 21 months (4 to 5 semesters)	30
Grad Certificate	$8.2K all students	Not clearly stated	12
Ph.D.	$37.5K in-state $110.8K non-res	3 to 4 years beyond the M.S.	~60 beyond M.S.

Every step of Maine’s in-state dietitian pathway sits inside one unit at UMaine: the state’s only ACEND-accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics is a concentration of the B.S., and the state’s only accredited dietetic internship is a concentration of the M.S. The catch is capacity. The internship admits up to ten interns a year, so finishing the undergraduate half does not secure the graduate half.

Quick Facts

Feature	Details
Program Types	B.S., M.S. (three concentrations), graduate certificate, Ph.D.
Format	B.S. and Ph.D. campus; in-person M.S. hybrid; online M.S. and certificate online; MS/DI hybrid
Credit Hours	120 (B.S.), 30 minimum (M.S.), 12 (certificate), roughly 60 beyond the M.S. (Ph.D.)
ACEND Accreditation	Yes, two programs: the undergraduate DPD and the MS/Dietetic Internship
RD/RDN Eligibility	Yes, through the DPD plus the internship. No other program qualifies alone.
Supervised Practice	1,072 hours in the dietetic internship. None in any other program.
Specializations	Human nutrition and dietetics, food science, food management
Distinctive Coursework	Sensory evaluation, integrative and functional nutrition, probiotics, food preservation
Research Requirement	Thesis optional on campus, unavailable online, required for the Ph.D.
Entrance Exams	None for the M.S. or certificate. GRE required for the Ph.D.
Internship Capacity	Up to 10 dietetic interns per year, plus 2 ISPP places for UMaine doctoral students
Intake	Fall, spring, summer for most programs. Internship applications close December 15.
GPA Floor	2.0 to graduate (B.S.); 3.0 for all graduate programs
Tuition	$441 to $1,817 per credit by level and residency; $651 flat for online programs
Regional Tuition	NEBHE rate on the B.S. for New Hampshire and Rhode Island residents only
Institutional Accreditation	New England Commission of Higher Education

Bachelor of Science, Food Science and Human Nutrition

The estimated tuition for the B.S. in Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Maine is approximately $57,200 for Maine residents and $157,640 for non-residents (120 credits at $441 and $1,278 per credit, plus mandatory fees; figures derived, see Tuition). The program requires 120 credits with a 2.0 minimum graduating GPA and can generally be completed in four years.

B.S. Curriculum

The degree is one major with three concentrations, and the choice among them decides which credential is even available at the end.

Human Nutrition and Dietetics is the ACEND-accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics. Every student in this concentration is in the DPD, which is the only route to registered dietitian eligibility that starts in Maine. The capstone is FSN 401 Community Nutrition, in which students plan, deliver, and evaluate a nutrition education program rather than write a paper about one.

Food Science is built to the Institute of Food Technologists core standards and is the only IFT-approved food science program in the state. It carries a required industry or government internship and access to a full sensory evaluation facility.

Food Management pairs food coursework with business coursework and is the most elective-flexible of the three.

Facilities and coursework worth noting

FSN 401 Community Nutrition, the DPD capstone with a delivered community project
Mary Lynch Nutrition Laboratory for applied human nutrition work
Sensory Evaluation Center with computerized data collection, the only full facility of its kind in New England according to the school
Dr. Matthew Highlands Food Pilot Plant for fruit, vegetable, seafood, and dairy processing
Chemical Food Safety Laboratory
Optional Minor in Pre-Medical Studies, which combines with the dietetics concentration to cover health professions prerequisites

More curriculum details are available in the UMaine undergraduate catalog.

You Should Know

Students are held to the degree requirements of their year of admission, so a returning or transferring student may be on a different plan than the current catalog shows.
Transferring into the Human Nutrition and Dietetics concentration from another UMaine major requires a 2.5 GPA, above the 2.0 needed to graduate.
The dietetics concentration is taught mostly in live, on-campus classes. A small number of required courses run online or as remote synchronous sessions, but this is not a distance program.

B.S. Admissions

Admission is to the university and the major together, and the school does not publish a standardized test requirement for this program.

High school diploma or equivalent, applied through the UMaine Office of Admissions
No ACT or SAT requirement stated for this program
2.5 GPA to transfer in from another UMaine major
Transfer applicants from other institutions are directed to consult the undergraduate program coordinator before applying for a coursework evaluation

You Should Know

Food Science and Human Nutrition is on UMaine’s NEBHE Tuition Break list for New Hampshire and Rhode Island residents only in 2026-27. Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont residents pay the full non-resident rate for this major.
Food Science students with a 3.0 GPA may apply in their junior year to a five-year combined B.S. and M.S., taking nine graduate credits inside the undergraduate degree.
Dietetics students have a separate accelerated route into the internship with a September 15 application deadline in the junior year. See the MS/DI section below.

Master of Science, Food Science and Human Nutrition (In-Person)

The estimated tuition for the in-person M.S. is approximately $19,050 for Maine residents and $55,680 for non-residents (30 credits at $596 and $1,817 per credit, plus mandatory fees; figures derived). The program requires a minimum of 30 credits and most students finish in two to two and a half years.

In-Person M.S. Curriculum

Students choose a thesis or non-thesis track, and the two differ in what they leave free rather than in total length. Both require 30 credits minimum, three credits of statistics at the 400 or 500 level, and two credits of seminar (FSN 571 and FSN 671).

Thesis track: six thesis credits (FSN 699) plus twelve credits of FSN lecture classes. Named requirements consume 23 of the 30 credits, leaving seven for electives.

Non-thesis track: fifteen credits of FSN lecture classes and no thesis, leaving ten free credits.

FSN 524 Responsible Design, Conduct and Analysis of Research, which satisfies both statistics and the responsible conduct of research requirement
FSN 571 Technical Presentations and FSN 671 Advanced Graduate Seminar
FSN 543 Communication in Nutrition and Food Technology
No more than four credits of 400-level FSN classes may count toward the FSN requirement
No more than six credits of FSN 581 Problems in Food Science and Human Nutrition may be applied
Up to six transfer credits at B or higher with committee approval

More curriculum details are available on the program requirements page.

You Should Know

The school states that even non-thesis students should expect to be on campus at least one day per week. Both seminar courses are offered on campus only. This is a hybrid program, not a flexible one.
A full-time graduate load is six credits per semester, and more than nine is discouraged. At six credits a term the 30-credit minimum takes five semesters.
Thesis places are limited. The school says plainly that it cannot offer thesis projects to all accepted students, and that master’s students usually join a project the advisor already has funding for rather than designing their own.

In-Person M.S. Research Requirements

Thesis is optional; the non-thesis track has no capstone substitute, only additional coursework
Advisory committee of the advisor plus two graduate faculty, at least one from FSN besides the advisor
Plan of study due to the Graduate School by the second semester of matriculation
Public defense of 45 to 60 minutes followed by a closed committee session
Advisor gets the draft at least two weeks before the defense
Publication is encouraged but not required to graduate
Six-year limit on degree completion

The gap between the 30-credit minimum and a finished thesis is the number that matters. The school estimates research often runs more than twenty hours a week on top of coursework, which is why the published two-year figure stretches to two and a half for most thesis students. A non-thesis student taking six credits a term is looking at a similar calendar for different reasons.

In-Person M.S. Admissions

The binding requirement is not a test score but an advisor: UMaine does not admit a graduate student unless a faculty member agrees to serve as academic advisor.

B.S. in a science or engineering major with organic chemistry and general biochemistry
Anatomy and physiology additionally required for nutrition-focused applicants
3.0 minimum GPA
No GRE required
Three letters of recommendation from unrelated persons
A faculty member willing to advise the applicant
$65 application fee, waived only for IRT and McNair Scholars, US Armed Forces members and dependents, and UMaine System alumni
Applications accepted for fall, spring, and summer for self-funded students

You Should Know

January 15 is the deadline to be considered for any financial support, including the two departmental teaching assistantships. Applying after that date means applying self-funded.
The two teaching assistantships cover a nine-month stipend, nine credits of tuition in each of fall and spring, and half the student health insurance premium. That is 18 of the 30 credits, not all of them.
As of the school’s current notice, Professors Camire, Klimis-Zacas, and Skonberg are not accepting graduate students, and the school states that funding and thesis research opportunities are limited for 2026.

Master of Science, Food Science and Human Nutrition (Online)

The estimated tuition for the online M.S. is approximately $20,580 for all students (30 credits at the $651 graduate e-rate plus the $35 per credit online fee; figures derived). The program requires a minimum of 30 credits and most students finish in two to three years.

Online M.S. Curriculum

This is the most tightly specified of the three master’s routes. Four courses are required outright and fifteen further credits must come from FSN online offerings, which accounts for 27 of the 30 credits and leaves three genuinely free.

FSN 501 Advanced Human Nutrition
FSN 502 Food Preservation
FSN 524 Responsible Design, Conduct and Analysis of Research
FSN 543 Communication in Nutrition and Food Technology
FSN 695 Practicum, capped at three credits, summer only, and it must be completed at an organization other than the student’s own employer
Up to six graduate transfer credits at B or higher may count as electives
One three-credit course from another UMaine online program, such as the Gerontology certificate or the MBA, may substitute for an FSN elective if no transfer credits are used

Lectures are asynchronous. Most courses add live Zoom discussions scheduled around student availability, and assessments carry fixed deadlines.

More curriculum details are available on the program requirements page.

You Should Know

FSN graduate classes are typically offered once every two years. That rotation, not workload, is the main reason the program runs two to three years rather than two.
Online students may not take on-campus classes, may not switch to the on-campus M.S., and are not eligible for thesis research, graduate assistantships, or fellowships. The School of Food and Agriculture provides no scholarships to online students.
The department’s own FAQ still quotes $626 per credit and an $18,780 total. That is the 2025-26 e-rate. The current published rate is $651, which makes the tuition line $19,530 before the online fee.

Online M.S. Admissions

Prerequisites are lighter than the in-person track, which makes this the realistic entry point for a career changer, but the deadlines are fixed rather than rolling.

B.S. with two semesters (6 credits) of biology and two semesters (6 credits) of chemistry or biochemistry
Anatomy and physiology must be one of the biology courses for nutrition-focused students; an introductory human nutrition course is recommended
3.0 minimum GPA
No GRE required
Three letters of recommendation
Deadlines: March 15 for fall, October 15 for spring, February 15 for summer
Decisions typically within four to six weeks

You Should Know

This degree does not lead to RDN credentialing on its own. It only contributes to the pathway for someone who already holds an ACEND-accredited undergraduate dietetics verification statement and who completes a dietetic internship separately.
Applicants are still assigned a faculty advisor, but the school volunteers one from the online faculty rather than requiring the applicant to recruit one.

Master of Science with the Dietetic Internship Concentration

The estimated cost for the combined M.S. and Dietetic Internship is approximately $25,580 for all students (30 credits at the $651 graduate e-rate, plus the $35 per credit online fee, plus a $5,000 internship fee; figures derived). The program requires 30 credits and 1,072 supervised practice hours, and runs 19 to 21 months on the traditional pathway or 16 to 18 months on the accelerated pathway.

This is the only ACEND-accredited supervised practice program in Maine, and it is the reason the state has a complete in-state dietitian pathway at all. Full details are on the UMaine Dietetic Internship site.

MS/DI Curriculum

Graduate coursework is fully online across both pathways. The plans of study are published in full and reconcile to 30 credits.

Traditional pathway is for anyone holding an ACEND DPD verification statement, from UMaine or elsewhere. Two timeline options exist, one typical for non-thesis students and one for thesis students, both 30 credits.

Accelerated pathway is open only to UMaine DPD students, who take nine graduate credits during their junior and senior years and complete the remaining 21 afterward.

FSN 650 Dietetic Internship Orientation and Applications I (2 credits)
FSN 524 or equivalent statistics (3 credits)
FSN 540 Advanced Clinical Topics (3 credits)
FSN 506 Nutritional Assessment (3 credits)
FSN 543 Communication in Nutrition and Food Technology (3 credits)
FSN 681 Supervised Practice (6 credits total)
FSN 652 Dietetic Internship Evaluation (1 credit)
FSN 699 Graduate Thesis (6 credits) for thesis students

You Should Know

The published accelerated plan lists FSN 540 both in the nine credits taken during undergraduate study and again in the first graduate fall semester. Confirm with the internship director which courses actually transfer, since the difference is three credits.
In the second traditional timeline, the summer cell is listed as 0 to 3 credits. The plan totals 30 only if that summer is taken at zero credits.
Both thesis and non-thesis options are available on either pathway, and the school notes thesis students should discuss with an advisor whether the research requires being on location.

MS/DI Supervised Practice

1,072 total hours, roughly seven percent above the 1,000-hour standard used across accredited supervised practice programs
640 hours clinical dietetics, 200 hours community nutrition, 160 hours food service and management, 56 hours orientation, 16 hours evaluation
The program assigns interns to sites. Interns are not required to find their own placements or preceptors.
All rotations for one intern sit in a single geographic hub, and select hubs offer free housing
Interns meet their preceptor before rotations begin
Sites include six medical centers, ten community hospitals and facilities, renal dialysis centers, WIC offices, school nutrition, Native American Indian Health Services, UMaine Cooperative Extension, and the Maine Dairy and Nutrition Council
No credit or hour reduction is given for prior work or volunteer experience
Reported first-time pass rate on the CDR registration exam is 96 percent

Assigned placement inside a single hub is the substantive advantage here. In programs that leave students to recruit their own preceptors, placement failure is a real attrition risk, and scattered rotations mean commuting to a different facility every few weeks. The trade-off is location control: interns go where the program assigns them, the expenses page states that most interns need to move near their training sites, and a car with insurance is treated as a requirement rather than a convenience.

MS/DI Admissions

Two things make this admission unusual: it is a second gate after graduate admission rather than part of it, and UMaine’s own DPD graduates skip the national application system.

Admission to the UMaine Graduate School with no conditions attached to the decision letter
A valid ACEND DPD verification statement or a declaration of intent from an accredited DPD
Bachelor of Science with a 3.0 GPA or above
3.0 or better in the physical and biological sciences is described as normally expected
Resume showing volunteer or work experience and evidence of leadership and dependability
Applicants external to UMaine must also apply through DICAS. UMaine DPD students do not.
December 15 deadline for both internal and external applicants
Accelerated applicants apply to the internship director by September 15 of the junior year, with decisions by October 10 and provisional acceptance thereafter

You Should Know

Capacity is the binding constraint. The program is approved for up to ten dietetic interns per year plus two Individualized Supervised Practice Pathway places, and those two ISPP places are reserved for current UMaine doctoral students.
The accelerated route has one decision point per year in September of the junior year. Missing it does not end the pathway, but it does move the student to the traditional timeline and adds several months.
Assistantships end before supervised practice begins, so funding does not carry through the rotation semesters.
The $5,000 internship fee is billed with tuition in the first fall of the internship and is non-refundable after two weeks.

Graduate Certificate in Human Nutrition

The estimated tuition for the Graduate Certificate in Human Nutrition is approximately $8,232 for all students (12 credits at the $651 graduate e-rate plus the $35 per credit online fee; figures derived). The program requires 12 credits, is delivered fully online, and the school does not publish a standard completion time.

Certificate Curriculum

Students choose any four three-credit courses from a fixed menu of ten. Courses passed with a B or higher carry into the online M.S., which makes this a genuine stackable entry rather than a terminal credential.

FSN 501 Advanced Human Nutrition
FSN 506 Nutritional Assessment
FSN 508 Nutrition and Aging
FSN 530 Integrative and Functional Nutrition
FSN 539 Probiotics in Food: Formulation and Function
FSN 540 Advanced Clinical Topics
FSN 546 Public Health Nutrition
FSN 555 Organic and Natural Foods
FSN 566 Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, and Food
FSN 603 Nutrients in the Food System

More curriculum details are available on the certificate program page.

You Should Know

Most courses in the menu run on a two-year rotation tied to odd or even years, so the four courses a student wants may not all be available inside a single year.
The school states directly that this certificate does not prepare anyone to prescribe medical nutrition therapy or treat chronic disease.
Twelve of the thirty M.S. credits transfer in at 40 percent of the degree, which makes the certificate a low-commitment test of the online format before committing to the full master’s.

Certificate Admissions

The prerequisite list is the gate, and it is stricter than the credit count suggests.

Bachelor’s degree with a 3.0 minimum GPA
Two college-level chemistry courses
One college-level biology course
One college-level anatomy and physiology course
One college-level introductory nutrition course
Resume or CV and a 300 to 500 word statement of motivation
No GRE or GMAT
Deadlines: March 15 for fall, October 15 for spring, February 15 for summer

You Should Know

The school marks chemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology, and nutrition as mandatory for admission, not preferred. A career changer from an unrelated bachelor’s will need to complete five prerequisite courses elsewhere before applying, which can add a year to the timeline and a cost the certificate page does not show.

Doctor of Philosophy, Food and Nutrition Sciences

The estimated unfunded tuition for the Ph.D. in Food and Nutrition Sciences is approximately $37,500 for Maine residents and $110,760 for non-residents (60 credits at $596 and $1,817 per credit plus fees; figures derived). Credit requirements are set individually, but the school states the degree usually takes roughly 60 credits and three to four years beyond a master’s.

Most doctoral students do not pay this. The school states that self-funded research is discouraged and that a potential advisor must have a funding plan before a student is admitted, so the realistic question is not the sticker price but whether funding exists.

Ph.D. Curriculum

The program is interdisciplinary across animal nutrition, food science, and human nutrition, and the program of study is written by the student with a five-member advisory committee rather than drawn from a fixed core.

Students entering with a master’s take 15 to 18 credits in the major field, at least 12 of them as a doctoral student
Students entering with only a bachelor’s take 45 credits beyond the undergraduate degree
Two courses in experimental design or statistics; one may carry over from the master’s at B minus or better
Four seminar credits, up to two transferable from the master’s
A responsible conduct of research course, required before registering for a fourth thesis credit
A special skill requirement outside the dissertation field, typically two 400-level or higher courses, in areas such as electron microscopy, marketing, gerontology, or a foreign language
No more than 30 credits from the master’s may apply
Up to six credits of 400-level classes may count toward the field minimum

Written and oral comprehensive examinations are both required and cannot be attempted before the coursework is complete. The committee, not the student, chooses between the two exam formats: a traditional written examination of half a day to a full day per topic from each of three to five committee members, or a 14-day original grant proposal on a subject unrelated to the dissertation.

Ph.D. Research Requirements

Advisory committee of the advisor plus four faculty, formed in the first year; up to two may sit outside UMaine
Candidacy within four years of first registration, and all work complete within four years after candidacy
At least one semester between the comprehensive and final examinations
Committee members typically get two weeks with the dissertation, the advisor at least a month
Public dissertation seminar followed by a closed committee examination, with only one failing vote permitted
Peer-reviewed publication is expected as an outcome but is not a graduation requirement
Residency: four semesters beyond the bachelor’s, or two semesters for students entering with a master’s

The failure consequences are stated more bluntly here than most programs state them. A student who fails comprehensive examinations twice cannot continue and cannot reapply, and may exit with a terminal master’s if the research justifies one.

Ph.D. Admissions

Admission is advisor-gated and funding-gated before it is anything else.

Prior coursework in organic chemistry and biochemistry required; nutrition, anatomy, and physiology recommended for human nutrition applicants
3.0 GPA with a thesis master’s, 3.25 with a non-thesis master’s or MPH, which also triggers an additional research design course
Exceptional applicants with a 3.5 and an honors thesis may enter directly from a four-year B.S.
Recent GRE scores required, waivable only by petition for applicants who already have a faculty member committed to funding them
Three letters of recommendation, at least two from professors in the major field
Applications accepted year-round, but January 15 for assistantship or tuition scholarship consideration
$65 application fee

You Should Know

The school publishes the list of faculty currently accepting doctoral students, and it is short. Of the named faculty, only one works primarily in human nutrition, with the rest in food science and animal nutrition. A prospective human nutrition doctoral student in Maine is choosing an advisor as much as a program.
The faculty list on the doctoral page includes Professor Skonberg among those accepting doctoral students, while a notice on the same page states she is no longer accepting graduate students. Confirm before applying.
The Ph.D. requires in-person attendance. Online master’s students cannot progress into it without relocating.
The Ph.D. in Food and Nutrition Sciences carries the NEBHE regional rate for Massachusetts and New Hampshire residents, cutting the non-resident per-credit rate from $1,817 to $1,043.

Tuition

The University of Maine bills by the credit hour, and for 2026-27 the published rates at the Orono campus are $441 per credit for resident undergraduates and $1,278 for non-residents, $596 per credit for resident graduate students and $1,817 for non-residents, and a flat $651 per credit for students enrolled in a fully online graduate program.

Two rate lines matter more than the headline numbers.

The online graduate e-rate is residency-blind. A student in Texas pays the same $651 per credit for the online M.S., the dietetic internship, or the certificate as a student in Bangor. That is a $1,166 per credit difference from the standard non-resident graduate rate, and it is why the graduate half of UMaine’s dietitian pathway costs the same regardless of where a student lives while the undergraduate half does not.

Food Science and Human Nutrition carries no program differential. UMaine assesses extra per-credit charges on business, engineering, and nursing coursework. Nutrition and dietetics are not on that list, so unlike at many schools where laboratory-heavy majors sit on a higher tier, the standard rate is the actual rate here.

Fee stack

Charge	Rate	Applies to
Infrastructure and Technology Fee	$29 per credit	Campus programs. Waived at the graduate e-rate.
Online Fee	$35 per credit	All online courses
Undergraduate Activity Fee	$100 per term	6 or more credits
Graduate Activity Fee	$75 per term	6 or more credits. Waived at the e-rate.
Dietetic Internship Fee	$5,000 one time	Billed with first fall tuition, non-refundable after two weeks
Graduate Application Fee	$65	All graduate applicants, rarely waived

The internship expenses page lists a mandatory online tuition fee of $525 per year, which reconstructs exactly: $35 per credit across 30 credits over two years is $1,050, or $525 annually. That match confirms the right rate line was selected.

Estimated program costs

Program	Maine resident	Non-resident
B.S., 120 credits	$57,200	$157,640
B.S. at the NEBHE rate (NH and RI only)	n/a	$96,920
M.S. in-person, 30 credits	$19,050	$55,680
M.S. online, 30 credits	$20,580	$20,580
M.S. with Dietetic Internship	$25,580	$25,580
Graduate certificate, 12 credits	$8,232	$8,232
Ph.D., roughly 60 credits, unfunded	$37,500	$110,760

All figures are derived by multiplying published per-credit rates by published credit totals and adding the mandatory fees above. They exclude housing, transportation, textbooks, and health insurance.

Confirmed costs

2026-27 per-credit rates published by UMaine Student Financial Services for the Orono campus
$651 per credit and $19,530 for 30 credits, published by the dietetic internship program
$5,000 internship fee, published, identical for Maine and non-Maine residents
$651 per credit for the 12-credit graduate certificate, published on the program page
Health insurance of $4,838 per year for graduate students without an assistantship, or $3,286 for graduate assistants, with most assistantships covering half
Internship-associated costs: $600 per year textbooks, $58 per year Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics membership, $179 ServSafe manager course, $100 and up for uniforms. Liability insurance is provided by UMaine.

Be aware that:

The School of Food and Agriculture’s own FAQ still quotes the 2025-26 online rate of $626 per credit and an $18,780 total. At the current published $651, the online M.S. tuition line is $19,530, a $750 difference.
Resident undergraduate tuition moved from $424 to $441 between 2025-26 and 2026-27, a four percent increase. A four-year total computed at today’s rate will understate the real bill.
The NEBHE rate on the B.S. applies to New Hampshire and Rhode Island residents only for this major. It is worth $60,720 across the degree against the standard non-resident rate, and it is worth nothing to a Connecticut, Massachusetts, or Vermont resident in this major.
Online graduate students are not eligible for assistantships, fellowships, or School of Food and Agriculture scholarships. The e-rate is the discount.
Graduate assistantships end before supervised practice begins in the internship, so the rotation semesters are self-funded even for a student who was supported earlier.
Interns are expected to provide their own vehicle and insurance, and the school states most interns need to relocate near their assigned training sites.

For a funded on-campus student the arithmetic changes completely: the graduate assistant rate is $596 flat regardless of residency, the two departmental teaching assistantships cover nine credits per semester in fall and spring plus half the health insurance premium, and the minimum stipend the internship page cites is $17,000 for master’s students and $20,000 for doctoral students. For a self-funded student, the online routes are the ones where residency stops mattering, and that is the single largest cost variable on this page.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for students who want a registered dietitian credential without leaving Maine, and who can tolerate a pathway with two competitive gates rather than one.

The complete in-state pathway is the reason to be here. Maine has one ACEND-accredited undergraduate DPD and one ACEND-accredited supervised practice program, and UMaine runs both. A student can start the dietetics concentration as a freshman and finish the internship, the master’s, and the supervised practice hours without ever applying to another institution. The accelerated route compresses that further, folding nine graduate credits into the junior and senior years and finishing the internship in as few as 16 months after the bachelor’s.

Assigned placements remove the risk most dietetics students worry about. The program places interns rather than asking them to find preceptors, keeps all of one intern’s rotations in a single geographic hub, and offers free housing at some hubs. Against programs that leave placement to the student, this is a meaningful reduction in the chance of stalling out between coursework and practice hours. The 1,072 hours run slightly above the 1,000-hour standard, and the reported first-time exam pass rate is 96 percent.

Cost architecture rewards online enrollment and punishes non-resident campus enrollment. The graduate e-rate of $651 per credit does not vary by residency, so the master’s and internship cost the same for a student from anywhere. The bachelor’s does not work that way. A non-resident pays roughly $157,600 for the same degree a Maine resident gets for about $57,200, and the NEBHE discount that would narrow that gap is available for this major only to New Hampshire and Rhode Island residents.

The honest drawbacks are capacity and concentration. Ten internship seats a year is a real ceiling, the two ISPP places are closed to anyone who is not a UMaine doctoral student, and completing the DPD gives a student a competitive application rather than a place. Everything else in the catalog is a research or industry degree: the online master’s, the in-person master’s, the certificate, and the doctorate all say plainly that they do not produce RDN eligibility on their own. And because the whole thing runs through one school, the depth available in any given specialty depends on which faculty are accepting students in a given year, which the school currently describes as limited for 2026.

Accreditation

The University of Maine is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. Institutional accreditation applies to every degree on this page and governs whether credits transfer to other institutions, whether the degrees are recognized for graduate admission elsewhere, and whether students can access federal financial aid.

Programmatic accreditation is narrower and covers two named programs, both by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics. The first is the Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics, which is the Human Nutrition and Dietetics concentration of the B.S. and is the only accredited undergraduate dietetics program in Maine. The second is the combined master’s and Dietetic Internship program, which is the only accredited supervised practice program in Maine.

Everything else falls outside that scope. The Food Science and Food Management concentrations of the B.S., the in-person and online master’s concentrations, the graduate certificate, and the doctorate carry no ACEND accreditation. This is normal for research and industry degrees and is not a shortcoming, but it does mean these programs do not lead to dietitian credentialing on their own. The Food Science concentration holds a separate approval from the Institute of Food Technologists, which is the relevant recognition for food industry careers rather than clinical ones.

Graduates of the Didactic Program in Dietetics receive a verification statement and may apply to accredited supervised practice programs. On completing supervised practice together with a graduate degree, graduates are eligible for the Commission on Dietetic Registration examination. Graduates of the DPD may also pursue the Nutrition and Dietetics Technician, Registered credential. Graduates of the research-track master’s, the certificate, and the doctorate are not eligible for the CDR examination on the basis of those degrees alone. ACEND states its opinion that the internship program meets the educational requirements for dietetics licensure in all states, but completing an accredited program does not by itself qualify anyone for licensure anywhere, and applicants should check their own state board.

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