Texas Southern University Nutrition Degree Programs

Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences • Houston, TX • Campus • $248–$289/Credit (Resident Undergraduate Tuition, Derived)

Texas Southern University offers 2 nutrition credentials, and both are didactic steps toward RD/RDN eligibility, not a complete route:

  • B.S., Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics (the Didactic Program in Dietetics)
  • Verification Statement Only (non-degree, for bachelor’s holders)

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
B.S. Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics$36.7K to $41.6K in-state; $88.1K to $93.0K out-of-state (tuition and fees, derived)4 years (8 semesters, derived)120 (catalog list sums to 121)
Verification Statement OnlyAbout $12.5K to $15.1K in-state (derived, tuition and fees)About 24 months full time, 36 part timeIndividualized plan

Texas Southern’s only ACEND program is a Didactic Program in Dietetics. It has no master’s, dietetic internship, Coordinated Program, or Future Education Model program, so graduates need a graduate degree and supervised practice elsewhere, and its handbook says students must apply to outside master’s and internship programs.

Two sibling degrees in the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences use nearly the same nutrition courses but carry no ACEND or RD language, so they should not be mistaken for the DPD. ACEND’s decisions show a probation removal in 2020 and progress-report decisions through 2024, described under Accreditation.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
FormatCampus. The handbook says some courses may be online or hybrid, and no online degree is published
Credit Hours120 per the program page; the catalog course list sums to 121
ACEND AccreditationDidactic Program in Dietetics only. The school states a term to June 30, 2027; ACEND’s pages show a 2020 probation removal and progress-report decisions through 2024
RD/RDN EligibilityNot directly. The DPD gives a verification statement, then a graduate degree and an accredited internship are needed
Supervised PracticeNone built in; practicum components are on campus and at host sites
GPA Floor3.0 to enter the major; retention needs 3.0 overall, 3.0 in science and NUTR courses, and C or better in every NUTR course
Reported OutcomesTargets only (such as an 80% one-year exam pass rate); results are available on request
IntakeCohort size, deadlines, and intake terms were not found
Tuition2026-27 resident tuition $247.91 or $289 per credit, by payment plan; non-resident $675.91 or $717
Institutional AccreditationSACSCOC, reaffirmed December 2020 for ten years

Bachelor of Science, Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics

The estimated cost of the B.S. in Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics is about $36,693 to $41,624 for a resident over eight 15-credit semesters, depending on payment plan (derived, tuition and fees, 2026-27). The program page and handbook give 120 semester hours, while the catalog course list adds to 121 and its semester plan to 120.

B.S. Curriculum

The catalog breaks the degree into 42 core credits, 51 major credits in 21 NUTR courses, and 28 other credits. Full-time students must finish the professional phase in three years, part-time students in four, and the degree within six years of admission.

  • Medical Nutrition Therapy I and II with labs, and Advanced Nutrition I and II
  • Nutrition Status Assessment Lab, Food Production Systems with a lab, and Community Nutrition
  • Nutrition Counseling and Education and a Capstone Seminar

B.S. Admissions

  • Admission to Texas Southern first, then a signed Declaration of Major form and a 3.0 GPA
  • Retention of 3.0 overall and in science and NUTR courses, with C or better in every NUTR course and in required English and math
  • Courses from other ACEND programs are credited, with no credit for experiential learning and no substitutions for NUTR 450, 456, 460, and 461 except from ACEND programs
You Should Know

The handbook states its GPA requirement for the 2024 to 2026 academic years and for students entering in fall 2025, and the 2026-27 requirement is not separately restated. The catalog lists no hours for several chemistry courses, so its hour totals are unreliable. Part-time pace appears as 4.5 years on one measure and 4 on another, which are different measures.

Verification Statement Only (Non-Degree)

The verification-only option gives bachelor’s holders the same DPD curriculum without a second bachelor’s, and its cost is not published. Derived at resident Traditional-plan rates, four full-time semesters at 12 hours come to about $15,132, and six part-time semesters at 6 hours to about $12,459 (an estimate that assumes full loads and excludes the unconfirmed differential). The handbook gives about 24 months full time or 36 part time.

  • A prior bachelor’s from a regionally accredited institution, or an evaluated foreign equivalent, plus Texas Southern post-baccalaureate or non-degree admission
  • C or better in General Biology I and General Chemistry I with labs, Organic Chemistry or combined Organic/Biochemistry, Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Introductory Nutrition, College Algebra, and English composition
  • An individualized plan after transcript review, with up to 20 NUTR courses, completed at C or better with a 3.0 across DPD courses

Students who take more than 30 credits may apply separately for a post-baccalaureate degree, and there is no automatic second bachelor’s. The verification statement fee, deadlines, and intake terms were not found.

The catalog lists two Human Services and Consumer Sciences degrees with nutrition coursework. The Dietetics Concentration has 51 major hours and nearly the same NUTR sequence, including Medical Nutrition Therapy, and its only DPD reference is a footnote that DPD students must be advised by the Director of Dietetics. The Food and Nutrition Concentration adds accounting, management, and foodservice courses. Neither page mentions ACEND or RD eligibility, and whether the Dietetics Concentration is covered by the accreditation was not found, so confirm before enrolling.

Tuition

Texas Southern’s 2026-27 resident tuition works out to $247.91 per credit on the Traditional plan ($50 statutory plus $197.91 designated) and $289 on the Fixed plan ($50 plus $239), derived from its fee schedule. Non-resident tuition is $675.91 or $717 per credit, with a $478 statutory rate. Texas Southern has no graduate nutrition program, so these are undergraduate figures.

  • Published semester totals with all itemized fees at 12 hours: resident $3,782.92 (Traditional) or $4,172.00 (Fixed), non-resident $8,918.92 or $10,149.00
  • At 15 hours: resident $4,586.65 or $5,203.00, non-resident $11,006.65 or $11,623.00
  • Mandatory fees of $868 at 15 hours ($808 at 12), covering student service, athletic, library, student center, recreation, medical, computer, and school fees
  • Derived over eight 15-credit semesters: resident $36,693 (Traditional) or $41,624 (Fixed); non-resident $88,053 or $92,984
  • Other charges: books estimated at $700 a semester, a $40 parking decal, lab fees by course, Academy student membership at the junior and senior levels (price not found), and about $70 in lab attire

Be aware that:

The fee schedule says undergraduate Health Science majors pay an extra $50 per credit hour but does not define the term. If it applies to dietetics majors, the cost rises $750 for a 15-hour semester and about $6,000 over 120 credits (derived); ask Student Accounting. The schedule’s printed Fixed-plan resident totals for 10 to 14 hours are $104 lower than its own components, so a student may be billed from the component list.

The handbook’s non-resident estimates ($9,136 at 12 hours and $10,721.65 at 15) match neither plan on the schedule, and the cost page’s annual figures are labeled inconsistently by year. The schedule was read from a mirror of Texas Southern’s own site, so confirm the link with Student Accounting.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for students who want accredited dietetics coursework at a historically Black university in Houston and who plan the graduate degree and internship as a second stage elsewhere.

The ideal student is either a first-year student ready to commit to a 3.0 GPA standard and the DPD sequence, or a career changer who needs the verification statement without a second bachelor’s. The program states a goal that half of its graduates come from underrepresented groups.

The planning risk is the step after the DPD: Texas Southern places no one into a master’s or internship, results are not published, and ACEND’s pages show a monitored history. Ask the director for outcome data and the current accreditation decision before enrolling.

Accreditation

Texas Southern is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) at the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral levels, reaffirmed in December 2020 for ten years. Institutional accreditation matters for transfer credit, graduate admission, and federal financial aid.

The Didactic Program in Dietetics is the only ACEND program found at Texas Southern. ACEND’s decisions list it under programs removed from probation in July 2020, which implies an earlier probation whose date and reason were not found, then full and continued accreditation after a progress report in July 2022 and continued accreditation after an interim or progress report in July 2023 and July 2024. No 2021, 2025, or 2026 entry appears, and the program is not on the Programs Under Review page. The 2019 decisions page could not be retrieved.

Texas Southern’s program page states full accreditation until June 30, 2027, but that date was not found on any ACEND page, ACEND’s live directory could not be read for this profile, and an older Texas Southern page gave July 24, 2023, which has passed. Treat the term end as unverified and confirm it with ACEND at 800-877-1600, extension 5400. A graduate of the B.S. or the verification-only option holds a DPD verification statement and still needs a master’s degree, supervised practice, and the CDR exam.

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