New York has the deepest supply of accredited nutrition and dietetics education in the country. The New York State Department of Education lists roughly twenty ACEND-accredited institutions, spanning the CUNY and SUNY systems, Ivy League and private research universities, and smaller colleges upstate.
That depth changes the question. In most states the problem is finding an accredited route at all; in New York it is choosing among several structures — undergraduate didactic programmes, graduate programmes with practice built in, standalone internships, and two-year technician degrees. This page groups them by what they actually lead to.
Nutrition Programs in New York — Comparison Table
| School | Credentials | Route | RD Pathway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cornell University Ithaca |
BS Nutritional Sciences MS Nutrition, dietetics concentration — 60 credits, two years, includes the internship Dietetic internship — accredited |
Didactic, graduate, and internship | Yes — every stage |
| New York University New York City |
BS Nutrition and Dietetics — accredited DPD MS Clinical Nutrition with dietetic internship — 1,200 supervised hours |
Didactic and graduate with practice | Yes — every stage |
| Hunter College (CUNY) New York City |
BS Nutrition — DPD and nutrition/wellness tracks MS Nutrition — didactic programme track |
Didactic at both levels | Yes — confirm which track |
| Lehman College (CUNY) Bronx |
BS Dietetics, Foods and Nutrition — accredited DPD MS Nutrition |
Didactic | Yes — didactic only |
| Queens College (CUNY) Queens |
BS Nutrition and Dietetics — accredited DPD MS Nutrition and Exercise Sciences |
Didactic | Yes — didactic only |
| Brooklyn College (CUNY) Brooklyn |
BS Health and Nutrition Sciences, foods and nutrition MS Nutrition |
Accredited — confirm level | Yes — confirm which programme |
| Syracuse University Syracuse |
BS Nutrition — accredited DPD MA/MS Nutrition Science Dietetic internship — nine months, full-time, non-degree |
Didactic and internship | Yes — every stage |
| SUNY Buffalo State University Buffalo |
BS Nutrition and Dietetics — accredited DPD Online MS Dietetics — accredited under Future Education Model standards, 3.0 GPA |
Didactic and online graduate | Yes — including an online graduate route |
| SUNY Oneonta Oneonta |
BS Dietetics — accredited DPD MS Nutrition and Dietetics |
Didactic | Yes — didactic and graduate |
| SUNY Plattsburgh Plattsburgh |
BS Nutrition — dietetics concentration and food and nutrition concentration | Didactic | Yes — via the dietetics concentration |
| University at Buffalo (SUNY) Buffalo |
BS Nutrition Science | Accredited — confirm level | Confirm directly |
| Utica University Utica |
BS Dietetics and Nutrition — four-year and five-year BS/MS pathways, Future Education Model standards | Didactic and combined | Yes — including a five-year combined route |
| Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester |
BS Dietetics and Nutrition | Didactic | Yes — confirm current term |
| Russell Sage College Troy |
BS Nutrition Science Dietetic internship — ten months full-time or 22 months part-time, non-degree |
Didactic and internship | Yes — including a part-time internship |
| Long Island University Brookville |
BS Nutrition and Dietetics MS Nutrition |
Accredited — confirm level | Yes — confirm which programme |
| D’Youville University Buffalo |
BS to MS in Dietetics — coordinated, five-year programme | Coordinated | Yes — practice built in |
| Pace University Pleasantville |
MS Nutrition and Dietetics — coordinated | Coordinated graduate | Yes — practice built in |
| Stony Brook, Adelphi, Teachers College Columbia | Accredited nutrition and dietetics programmes — confirm level and type directly | Varies | Confirm directly with each |
| CUNY Bronx, CUNY LaGuardia, SUNY Westchester, Schenectady County community colleges |
Associate degrees — dietetics and nutrition science, nutrition and culinary management, foods and nutrition | Transfer and technician | No — transfer or NDTR routes |
New York tuition varies enormously between CUNY, SUNY, and private institutions, so compare net price at each rather than relying on a state figure. The accredited institution list follows the New York State Department of Education; confirm the level, type, and current accreditation term of any specific programme directly with the school.
Which New York Nutrition Program Fits You
Choose Cornell if you want research depth and a strong clinical placement. Its internship partners with the University of Rochester Medical Center, an 860-bed tertiary and trauma facility, and its two-year, 60-credit master’s in nutrition with a dietetics concentration includes the internship and a research thesis.
Choose NYU if you want the credential inside a clinical master’s. Its dietetic internship runs 1,200 full-time supervised hours as part of the Clinical Nutrition MS, above the national minimum and in the largest hospital market in the country.
Choose SUNY Buffalo State if you need to study online. Its Master of Science in Dietetics is accredited under Future Education Model standards and delivered online, which is rare — most accredited graduate routes require campus attendance. Admission asks a bachelor’s with a 3.0 GPA.
Choose Utica if you want the degrees bundled. Its five-year BS/MS pathway under Future Education Model standards carries you from school leaver to graduate credential in one structure.
Choose Russell Sage if you cannot study full-time. Its internship runs either ten months full-time or 22 months part-time — one of very few part-time supervised practice options anywhere.
Choose a CUNY college if cost is the binding constraint. Hunter, Lehman, Queens, and Brooklyn all hold accreditation at CUNY tuition, which is far below the private universities in the same city.
New York Nutrition Schools
Undergraduate didactic programmes
These produce a verification statement; supervised practice is applied for separately. New York has more of them than any other state.
Hunter College is more extensive than a single accredited degree suggests. It runs a BS in Nutrition and Food Sciences, an accelerated dual BS-MS didactic programme, a newer BS in Nutrition and Wellness, three master’s routes including academic and external dietetic internship options, an Integrated Program in Nutrition and Dietetics combining coursework and internship, and a standalone one-year graduate credit-bearing internship. If one New York institution is worth a direct conversation about which route fits you, it is this one.
SUNY Buffalo State has restructured explicitly around the 2024 rules: its BS in Dietetics — formerly the Dietitian Education Program — is now the prerequisite degree for its Future Education Model MS in Dietetics, the two accredited together, and highly qualified students can begin master’s work while finishing the bachelor’s.
SUNY also publishes a statewide Transfer Path guide for dietetics setting out which community college courses carry into which SUNY dietetics programme. It notes specific conditions worth knowing early: Oneonta requires at least a B- in each transfer path course and admits to its junior-senior didactic programme competitively against ACEND enrolment caps, while Plattsburgh requires a minimum 2.8 GPA to continue in the programme.
In New York City, Hunter College, Lehman College, Queens College, and Brooklyn College all run accredited programmes within CUNY, at public tuition. New York University offers an accredited bachelor’s privately in the same city. Hunter runs both a DPD track and a nutrition and wellness track under one degree, so confirm which you are entering.
Upstate, Syracuse University, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Buffalo State, Rochester Institute of Technology, Utica University, and Russell Sage College all hold accreditation. SUNY Plattsburgh runs two concentrations — dietetics for aspiring registered dietitians, and food and nutrition oriented toward technician and broader nutrition roles — which is the usual same-name-different-destination trap.
Cornell University and the University at Buffalo also appear on the state’s accredited list; confirm the level and type of programme with each, since our sourcing establishes accreditation but not always the precise structure.
Graduate programmes with supervised practice
These combine the master’s the credential now requires with the practice hours, avoiding a separate internship match.
Cornell’s MS in Nutrition with a dietetics concentration runs two years and 60 credits, includes the dietetic internship, and requires a research-based thesis. Entry expects an accredited didactic programme beforehand, so it is a continuation route rather than a way in from scratch.
NYU’s Clinical Nutrition MS incorporates its dietetic internship at 1,200 supervised hours — 200 above the national minimum — in New York City’s hospital network.
SUNY Buffalo State’s online MS in Dietetics is accredited under Future Education Model standards and delivered online, which is unusual for an accredited graduate route. Confirm how supervised practice is arranged for online students before assuming geographic flexibility extends to the practice hours.
Utica University’s five-year BS/MS pathway also meets Future Education Model standards, bundling both degrees for students entering from school.
Dietetic internships
Standalone supervised practice for didactic graduates.
Cornell’s internship provides community, clinical, management, and research experience, with clinical and management rotations at the University of Rochester Medical Center — an 860-bed tertiary and trauma care facility. That is a substantial teaching hospital placement.
Syracuse University’s internship is a nine-month, full-time, non-degree programme with an emphasis on programme monitoring and outcomes management, which suits students heading toward administrative or quality roles.
Russell Sage College’s internship offers ten months full-time or 22 months part-time, both non-degree, with an emphasis on communications. The part-time option is genuinely rare and matters for anyone who cannot stop working for a year.
Community college and technician routes
CUNY Bronx Community College, CUNY LaGuardia, SUNY Westchester, and Schenectady County Community College offer associate degrees in dietetics, nutrition science, foods and nutrition, and nutrition with culinary management.
These serve two purposes: a low-cost first two years before transferring into an accredited bachelor’s, and in some cases preparation for the Nutrition and Dietetic Technician credential. Confirm which of the two a specific programme is built for, and which courses your intended four-year school will accept.
How to Choose a Nutrition Program in New York
Four coordinated programmes, thirteen didactic
The split is worth knowing precisely. New York has four coordinated programmes that include supervised practice — Buffalo State, D’Youville in Buffalo, Pace in Pleasantville, and Utica — against thirteen didactic programmes that do not. If avoiding the internship match is your priority, those four are the whole field, and two of them are in Buffalo.
Depth means you can choose on structure, not availability
With around twenty accredited institutions, New York students are not forced to take whatever is nearest. Decide first whether you want a coordinated or combined route that removes the internship match, a didactic degree followed by a separate application, or a technician credential — then choose among the several options in that category.
Cost varies more than in any other state covered here
A CUNY accredited bachelor’s and a private accredited bachelor’s in the same city differ by tens of thousands of dollars a year for the same verification statement. Hunter, Lehman, Queens, and Brooklyn are all accredited at public rates. Compare net price rather than list price, but do not assume the private option is better because it costs more.
Part-time and online options exist here
Buffalo State’s online accredited master’s and Russell Sage’s part-time internship are unusual nationally. If your constraint is work or geography rather than academics, New York has answers that most states do not.
The master’s requirement changed in 2024
Since January 1, 2024, the Commission on Dietetic Registration has required a master’s degree in any field, plus a verification statement from an ACEND-accredited programme, to sit for the RDN exam. New York’s combined routes — Cornell, NYU, Utica, Buffalo State — were structured around this, while its many didactic bachelor’s programmes leave the graduate step to be planned separately.
Nutrition Licensure and Credentials in New York
New York does not license dietitians. It certifies them. Three credentials identify qualified practitioners in the state: the Registered Dietitian and Dietetic Technician, Registered, both conferred nationally by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the Certified Dietitian or Certified Nutritionist (CDN), which is regulated and conferred by the New York State Board of Regents and the State Education Department.
That distinction matters if you are comparing states. New York registered dietitians have been pursuing legislation to establish licensure, so the position may change — check the current status before assuming either way.
New York expects 1,200 hours of supervised practice for the RD, and 450 hours for the technician credential. The national CDR requirements apply alongside: an ACEND verification statement, a master’s degree, supervised practice, and a passing exam score. The exam application fee was $200 as of 2024, and you have 365 days from completing supervised practice to register and sit it.
Before applying anywhere in New York, verify three things directly with the school: the level and type of the specific programme, since several institutions appear on the state’s accredited list without our sourcing establishing whether the accreditation sits at bachelor’s or master’s level, which track or concentration carries it where a degree offers more than one, as at Hunter and SUNY Plattsburgh, and how supervised practice is arranged if you are considering Buffalo State’s online master’s. Individual school profiles for these programs are in progress and will be linked here as they publish.