Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences • New Brunswick, NJ • Campus (B.S., MS/DI) or Online (M.S. Clinical Nutrition) • $929/Credit (Graduate, Resident)
Rutgers offers 3 Nutritional Sciences credentials:
- B.S., Nutritional Sciences, Dietetics Option (DPD)
- MS/Dietetic Internship (four consecutive terms, 30 credits)
- Online M.S., Clinical Nutrition, for aspiring dietitians (Newark School of Health Professions)
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.S. | $17,286/yr tuition (about $23.7K/yr with fees), 2026-27 | 4 years (120-credit bachelor’s norm) | Not clearly stated |
| MS/DI | ~$27,870 tuition (30 credits at $929), plus an $18,000 program fee | 4 consecutive terms | 30 |
| Online M.S. | ~$39.5K tuition (41 credits at about $963, inferred) | 16 months | 41 |
Rutgers runs two separate graduate routes to the RDN in two different schools: an MS/Dietetic Internship in New Brunswick, and an online M.S. in Clinical Nutrition in Newark that shares a name with a second, RDN-only program. The Rutgers DPD also carries a stricter gate than most: students must score 70 percent or higher on every KRDN benchmark assessment in upper-level coursework to receive the verification statement, and passing the courses alone is not enough. ACEND’s own records list the New Brunswick internship at candidacy status (January 2023) with no full-accreditation decision found in 2024 through 2026, even though Rutgers describes it as accredited.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Format | B.S. and MS/DI: Campus, New Brunswick, with internship sites across metropolitan New Jersey. Online M.S.: online with virtual seminars and three Newark workshops; remote students must be willing to relocate for clerkships from late March to December |
| Credit Hours | B.S.: not clearly stated; MS/DI: 30; Online M.S.: 41 (13, 10, 9, and 9 by term, including 11 supervised-practice credits) |
| ACEND Accreditation | B.S. DPD: full and continued accreditation after a July 2025 site visit. MS/DI: recorded by ACEND as a Dietetic Internship Program at candidacy (January 2023); no full-accreditation decision found. Online M.S. (Newark): Rutgers Newark is listed as a Future Education Model Graduate Program with full accreditation (January 2022); ACEND does not name the degree, so that link is an inference. Term dates not published |
| RD/RDN Eligibility | Yes, via the MS/DI or the online M.S. for aspiring dietitians (Rutgers states its graduates are exam-eligible) |
| Verification Statement Gate | Score 70% or higher on every KRDN benchmark assessment in upper-level coursework; a student who falls short redoes the assignment until it passes |
| Supervised Practice | MS/DI: at least 1,046 hours at diverse sites in metropolitan New Jersey. Online M.S.: 11 supervised-practice credits |
| Intake | MS/DI: Rutgers students apply through the graduate portal; others through DICAS (code 2486); Fall 2026 deadline October 1, 2026, Spring 2027 deadline January 15, 2027. Online M.S.: October 1 early, February 1 regular; cohort sizes not published |
| Prerequisites | MS/DI: bachelor’s degree with a B average, DPD or FDE verification statement, three letters, personal statement, interview. Online M.S.: DPD verification statement or nine prerequisite courses |
| Tuition | B.S.: $8,643/semester resident (2026-27), plus about $3,225.50/semester in fees; graduate: $929/credit resident; MS/DI adds an $18,000 program fee |
| Institutional Accreditation | MSCHE (Middle States Commission on Higher Education) |
Bachelor of Science, Nutritional Sciences (Dietetics Option)
The estimated tuition for the B.S. at Rutgers is $8,643 per semester for New Jersey residents in 2026-27, or $17,286 a year, plus about $3,225.50 a semester in mandatory fees. Rutgers does not publish a total credit count for the Dietetics option on the pages reviewed.
B.S. Curriculum
The Dietetics Option is Rutgers’ DPD, housed in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and leading to a DPD verification statement.
You Should Know
Rutgers’ own steps-to-RDN page states students must receive 70 percent or higher on all KRDN benchmark assessments, which occur in upper-level coursework, to receive the verification statement. A student who falls short redoes the assignment until it passes, with no change to the course grade.
B.S. Admissions
Admission follows Rutgers’ standard undergraduate process. Middlesex College students who complete the Associate of Science in Dietetics Transfer can move 60 credits into the Dietetics Option and finish the degree and verification statement in two further years of full-time study.
MS/Dietetic Internship
The estimated tuition for the MS/DI is about $27,870 in-state (30 credits at $929), or $47,850 out-of-state, plus a non-refundable $18,000 program fee ($9,000 each in fall and spring). Rutgers’ own cost page adds roughly $10,080 in fees over four terms, and the all-in total works out to about $55,950 in-state before optional health insurance and other costs.
MS/DI Curriculum
This is an integrated program, not a separate internship layered on a separate degree: Rutgers states that the MS/DI curriculum incorporates coursework that counts toward a Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences. It runs four consecutive terms.
You Should Know
Rutgers describes the internship as accredited, but ACEND’s own decisions list “Rutgers-SEBS Nutritional Sciences” under a January 2023 grant of candidacy, and no full-accreditation decision for it appears in the 2024 through 2026 pages reviewed. ACEND files it as a Dietetic Internship Program rather than a Graduate Program. Ask Rutgers or ACEND for the current status and term before you rely on it.
MS/DI Supervised Practice
- At least 1,046 supervised practice hours
- Sites across metropolitan New Jersey
- Integrated with the coursework that counts toward the master’s
MS/DI Admissions
- Bachelor’s degree with a B average, and a DPD or FDE verification statement
- Three letters of recommendation, a personal statement, and an interview
- Rutgers students apply through the graduate portal by October 1, 2026 for Fall 2026; other applicants use DICAS (code 2486), with deadlines of October 1, 2026 and January 15, 2027
- Cohort size not published
Online M.S. in Clinical Nutrition (Aspiring Dietitians)
Rutgers does not publish a rate row naming this program. The closest match on its Newark School of Health Professions schedule is the distance and hybrid graduate rate of about $963 per credit for residents, which puts 41 credits near $39,483 in tuition alone; treat that as an inference, not a published total. The program runs 16 months.
Online M.S. Curriculum
This is an entry-level program that includes 11 supervised-practice credits, delivered online with virtual seminars and three workshops in Newark. It sits in the School of Health Professions in Newark, not the New Brunswick department that runs the DPD and the MS/DI.
You Should Know
Two different Rutgers programs share the name M.S. in Clinical Nutrition. This one, for aspiring dietitians, is 41 credits. A separate hybrid program for practicing RDNs is 30 credits and is currently not accepting applications. Credit and cost figures for the RDN program, including the 31 online credits and the $936 per credit rate shown on Rutgers’ online-programs listing, belong to that other program.
Online M.S. Admissions
- DPD verification statement, or nine prerequisite courses
- Early deadline October 1; regular deadline February 1
- Local and remote tracks; remote students must be willing to relocate for clerkships from late March to December, with about $4,101 estimated for three Newark trips
Tuition
Rutgers charges $929 per credit for New Jersey residents in the graduate school in New Brunswick ($1,595 for out-of-state students), and bills undergraduates a flat rate per semester.
- B.S.: $8,643/semester resident, $20,676.50/semester out-of-state (2026-27), plus about $3,225.50/semester in mandatory fees
- MS/DI: $929/credit resident, $1,595/credit out-of-state; about $27,870 in-state or $47,850 out-of-state for 30 credits, plus the $18,000 program fee
- MS/DI all-in estimate: about $55,950 in-state or $75,930 out-of-state, before optional health insurance and other costs
- Online M.S.: about $963/credit resident or $1,076 non-resident (inferred), plus $45/credit in program fees (capped at $810 per semester), a $250/semester technology fee, a $150/course distance fee, and a $120 nutrition software fee
Be aware that:
A commonly cited $17,029 in-state and $36,884 out-of-state figure for Rutgers matches no current Rutgers rate sheet. The undergraduate figures above come from Rutgers’ own 2026-27 schedule, and the online M.S. rate is inferred from the row that best fits it rather than one that names the program. Confirm your exact rate with the Rutgers bursar before budgeting.
Official figures are published on Rutgers’ tuition and fees page and the dietetic internship cost page.
Why Choose This Nutrition Program?
Best suited for students who want a research university’s DPD and a metropolitan New Jersey internship, or career changers who want a mostly online route with in-person clerkships.
Students who stay at Rutgers from bachelor’s to internship can move from the DPD into an MS/DI whose coursework counts toward a master’s, with Middlesex College offering a defined 60-credit transfer route into the bachelor’s.
Career changers who cannot relocate for the whole program can use the online M.S. in Clinical Nutrition, though remote students still have to travel for Newark workshops and relocate for clerkships.
The honest trade-off is cost and clarity: the MS/DI carries an $18,000 program fee on top of tuition, ACEND’s records do not yet show full accreditation for the New Brunswick internship, and the two similarly named Clinical Nutrition master’s programs are easy to confuse.
Accreditation
Rutgers is institutionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), which governs credit transfer, graduate admission eligibility, and federal financial aid access across the university.
ACEND gave the Rutgers New Brunswick DPD full and continued accreditation after a July 2025 site visit. The New Brunswick internship appears in ACEND’s records as a Dietetic Internship Program granted candidacy in January 2023, with no full-accreditation decision found in the years reviewed. Rutgers Newark is listed separately as a Future Education Model Graduate Program with full accreditation from January 2022; the online M.S. for aspiring dietitians is presumed to be that program, since ACEND does not name the degree. No accreditation term dates are published on ACEND’s decisions pages.
Graduates of the MS/DI or the online M.S. for aspiring dietitians are eligible for the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s national exam once the graduate degree and supervised practice are complete. Graduates of the DPD alone are not RD-eligible and must complete a graduate program with supervised practice, at Rutgers or elsewhere, to pursue the credential.
Compare More Nutrition Programs in New Jersey
- Middlesex College - Edison
- Montclair State University - Montclair
- New Jersey Nutrition Programs & Online Degrees
- Rowan University - Glassboro
- Saint Elizabeth University - Morristown