Three schools with nutrition programs serve the Sacramento region: the University of the Pacific’s Sacramento campus, Sacramento State, and UC Davis in nearby Davis. Between them they run 6 credentials. Resident bachelor’s costs run from $6,838 a year in CSU tuition at Sacramento State (before about $2,818 in campus fees) to about $18,100 a year in tuition and fees at UC Davis, and graduate routes run from a derived $8,500 for Sacramento State’s 9-month internship-only track to about $61,100 for Pacific’s master’s.
Pacific’s M.S. in Clinical Nutrition is an ACEND Graduate Program that takes a bachelor’s holder with prerequisites to exam eligibility in 16 months, with no internship match. Sacramento State runs a 21-month combined M.S. and Dietetic Internship and a 9-month internship-only track, with 10 seats a year in total. UC Davis stops at a DPD bachelor’s, so its graduates find their internship and graduate degree elsewhere, including UC Davis Health’s separate six-seat internship.
Nutrition Programs in Sacramento — Comparison Table
| School | Credentials | Est. Cost | Format | RD Pathway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of the Pacific Sacramento | M.S. Clinical Nutrition — ACEND Graduate Program, 59 units M.S. Nutrition Science — 30 credits, not ACEND | $1,035/unit; ~$61.1K (M.S.C.N., private) $773/unit; ~$23.2K (M.S.N.S.) | Campus (M.S.C.N.); Online (M.S.N.S.) | Yes — M.S. in Clinical Nutrition only |
| Sacramento State Sacramento | B.S. Nutrition and Food — Dietetics concentration, ACEND DPD Combined M.S./Dietetic Internship — 21 months, 42 units Dietetic Internship only — 9 months | B.S. $6,838/yr in-state (before ~$2,818 fees); M.S./DI ~$19.9K and DI-only ~$8.5K in-state (derived) | Campus | Yes — either track, with the graduate degree |
| UC Davis Davis | B.S. Clinical Nutrition — ACEND DPD, 138-credit minimum | ~$18.1K/yr resident (tuition and fees); ~$57.3K/yr nonresident | Campus | Not directly — DPD only; internship and graduate degree come from elsewhere |
Costs are each profile’s published or derived tuition. CSU figures are systemwide in-state tuition unless noted, and non-resident students pay more. Chico State and other California schools are on the California nutrition programs page.
Which Sacramento Nutrition Program Fits You
Choose the University of the Pacific if you hold a bachelor’s in any field and want the RD credential in 16 months with no internship search. The program is fall-only with one cohort a year, places 1,110 supervised-practice hours across California, and warns that working during it is strongly discouraged.
Choose Sacramento State if you already hold a DPD verification statement and want a CSU-priced internship in the capital. The combined M.S. and internship takes 21 months for students without a graduate degree, and a 9-month track exists for those who already hold a master’s, with 7 and 3 seats a year.
Choose UC Davis if you want a research-university bachelor’s with an accredited DPD and are ready to arrange the graduate degree and internship yourself. Its Clinical Nutrition major requires at least 138 credits and includes no supervised practice.
Sacramento Nutrition Schools
University of the Pacific
Sacramento; Department of Nutrition; campus for the Clinical Nutrition M.S. and online for the Nutrition Science M.S.
- M.S. Clinical Nutrition — ACEND Graduate Program, 59 units (the catalog lists 60), 16 months over four trimesters, $1,035 per unit
- M.S. Nutrition Science — online, 30 credits, 12 months, $773 per unit; not ACEND-accredited and not an RD pathway on its own
Pacific reports an ACEND term through June 30, 2031 for the Clinical Nutrition program. It requires no GRE, a 3.00 GPA across prerequisite courses, and more than 40 hours a week of commitment. Full University of the Pacific profile.
Sacramento State
Sacramento; Nutrition and Food Department; campus-based.
- B.S. Nutrition and Food, Concentration in Dietetics — ACEND DPD, $6,838 a year in-state tuition
- Combined M.S./Dietetic Internship — 21 months, 42 units
- Dietetic Internship only — 9 months, for applicants who hold a master’s; January 16 deadline
Both tracks fall under one ACEND Dietetic Internship accreditation, confirmed on ACEND’s 2024 decisions page, not a Coordinated or Graduate Program. Sacramento State’s own pages disagree on the internship-only track’s units (24 versus 10) and its supervised-practice hours (1,100 versus 1,260). Full Sacramento State profile.
UC Davis
Davis; Department of Nutrition; campus-based.
- B.S. Clinical Nutrition — ACEND DPD, 138-credit minimum, about $18.1K a year resident, about $57.3K nonresident
UC Davis runs no Coordinated Program, combined master’s, or campus internship for these undergraduates. UC Davis Health runs a separate, nationally competitive 10-month internship with 6 interns a year, open to DPD graduates broadly. No ACEND term date is published. Full UC Davis profile.
How to Choose a Nutrition Program in Sacramento
Which programs carry the credential
Only Pacific’s M.S. in Clinical Nutrition bundles coursework, supervised practice, and the graduate degree in one program. Sacramento State’s tracks reach the credential through an internship plus a graduate degree, UC Davis’s DPD does not on its own, and Pacific’s online M.S. in Nutrition Science meets the graduate-degree requirement but not supervised practice.
Cost architecture
The region spans three price models. Pacific is private at $1,035 per unit, Sacramento State charges CSU systemwide rates, and UC Davis is about $18,100 a year for residents but about $57,300 for nonresidents, who pay $39,270 in supplemental tuition on top.
How many seats
Supervised-practice seats are scarce. Sacramento State offers 10 a year across its two tracks and UC Davis Health offers 6, while Pacific admits one cohort a year to a program that avoids the match entirely.
Time and workload
Pacific runs 16 months at more than 40 hours a week, and Sacramento State runs 21 months combined or 9 months internship-only, with a January 16 deadline. Plan for little paid work in any of the internship-based routes.
Before applying in Sacramento, confirm three things directly: Sacramento State’s internship-only units and hours, since its own pages disagree; UC Davis’s current DPD accreditation term, which is not published; and the seat counts for any internship you rely on, since all are small. For other California programs, see the California nutrition programs page.