Fresno State Nutrition Programs

Department of Food Science and Nutrition • Fresno, CA • Campus • $8,548/yr Grad Tuition (CSU Flat Rate)

Fresno State offers 2 Nutritional Sciences credentials:

  • B.S., Nutritional Sciences, Certificate in Dietetics Option (DPD)
  • Combined M.S./Dietetic Internship (ACEND-accredited as a Dietetic Internship)

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
B.S.$6,838/yr in-state (CSU systemwide)4 years (120-credit bachelor’s norm)Not clearly stated (DPD option)
M.S./DI~$20.7K total in-state (derived, 24 months)24 months, full time30 or 33 (Fresno State’s own pages disagree)

Fresno State bundles a master’s with a Dietetic Internship into one 24-month track, but ACEND accredits the supervised-practice component specifically as a Dietetic Internship, not a Coordinated Program, which matters for how the credential should be described elsewhere. The department also runs a separate stand-alone M.S. in Nutritional Sciences with no internship attached, for students who already hold supervised-practice experience or a DPD from elsewhere.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesB.S. (ACEND DPD); Combined M.S./DI (ACEND Dietetic Internship accreditation); a separate stand-alone M.S. without internship also exists
FormatCampus
Credit HoursB.S.: not clearly stated; M.S./DI: 30 or 33 depending on which Fresno State page is consulted
ACEND AccreditationB.S.: Yes, DPD. Combined program: Yes, but as a Dietetic Internship, not a Coordinated Program
RD/RDN EligibilityYes, on completing the combined M.S./DI track (or the DPD plus a Dietetic Internship elsewhere)
Supervised PracticeMinimum 1,000 hours over 24 months (curriculum page itemizes 1,088)
IntakeSingle annual cohort via the spring DICAS match; up to 10 students; January 15 deadline
PrerequisitesDPD verification statement, or a declaration of intent, within the past 5 years
Tuition$6,838/yr B.S.; $8,548/yr grad, before about $1,797/yr in mandatory campus fees
Institutional AccreditationWSCUC (WASC Senior College and University Commission)

Bachelor of Science, Nutritional Sciences (Certificate in Dietetics Option)

The estimated tuition for the B.S. at Fresno State is $6,838 per year in-state, the CSU systemwide undergraduate rate, plus mandatory campus fees. The Nutritional Sciences major follows the standard four-year, 120-credit bachelor’s timeline.

B.S. Curriculum

The Nutritional Sciences major offers two options that share early coursework: the Certificate in Dietetics Option, which is the ACEND-accredited DPD, and a separate Nutritional Sciences Career Option, which is not ACEND-accredited and is intended for students headed toward research, industry, or other non-clinical nutrition work.

You Should Know

Only the Certificate in Dietetics Option carries DPD accreditation. Students who enroll in the Nutritional Sciences Career Option by mistake, thinking any Nutritional Sciences degree leads toward the RD credential, will not receive a DPD verification statement.

B.S. Admissions

Admission follows standard CSU freshman and transfer requirements; students declare the Certificate in Dietetics Option to be on the DPD track.

Combined M.S. and Dietetic Internship

The estimated tuition for the combined M.S./DI at Fresno State is approximately $20,690 total in-state (derived: 24 months of graduate tuition and fees at $10,345/year). The program requires 30 to 33 units, depending on which Fresno State page is consulted, and runs full time for 24 months.

M.S./DI Curriculum

Graduate coursework and supervised practice run together over two years rather than as a coursework-then-internship sequence. Fresno State markets this as its “Master of Food and Nutrition Sciences with Internship,” and ACEND’s own accreditation of the practice component is specifically as a Dietetic Internship rather than a Coordinated Program, a distinction that affects how the credential should be described even though it functions similarly to a combined pathway for the student.

You Should Know

Fresno State’s own program landing page states the degree is 30 units, while its curriculum page itemizes a course list totaling 33 units. The two pages do not agree, and it was not possible to confirm which figure is current; ask the department directly before budgeting your course plan around either number.

M.S./DI Supervised Practice

  • Minimum 1,000 hours over the 24-month program; the curriculum page itemizes rotations totaling 1,088 hours
  • Full-time, unpaid, roughly 40 hours a week during the supervised-practice portion of the program
  • Integrated into the same 24-month timeline as coursework rather than a separate post-degree application

At roughly 1,000 to 1,088 hours, Fresno State’s total sits at or just above the national ACEND standard, delivered over a longer 24-month timeline than the shorter Coordinated Programs found elsewhere in this guide, which spreads the same workload out rather than compressing it.

M.S./DI Admissions

Admission requires a DPD verification statement, or a declaration of intent to complete one, within the past five years, and runs through the national DICAS match rather than an internal-only process.

  • DPD verification statement, or declaration of intent, within 5 years
  • Admission via the national DICAS spring match, plus a separate CSU Cal Apply graduate application
  • Cohort of up to 10 students
  • Application deadline January 15
You Should Know

Fresno State also runs a separate stand-alone M.S. in Nutritional Sciences with no internship component, intended for students who already hold a DPD verification statement and supervised-practice experience, or who plan to complete a non-degree internship elsewhere. It is a distinct admissions track from the combined M.S./DI described above; contact the department directly for its current cost and course requirements.

Tuition

CSU campuses bill a flat systemwide semester rate rather than a true per-credit price. Divided across a typical 30-unit academic year, the graduate rate works out to approximately $285 per unit (derived, for comparison only, not how Fresno State actually bills).

  • $6,838/year in-state tuition for the B.S., the CSU systemwide undergraduate rate
  • $8,548/year in-state tuition for graduate study, the CSU systemwide graduate rate
  • About $1,797/year in mandatory Fresno State campus fees, added on top of either tuition figure
  • Nonresident students add $471 per unit on top of the systemwide rate

Be aware that:

The $8,548 figure often quoted for CSU graduate programs is tuition only. Fresno State’s own tuition and fees page adds roughly $1,797 a year in mandatory campus fees on top, for a combined total closer to $10,345 a year for a full-time graduate student.

Over the full 24-month combined M.S./DI track, that works out to roughly $20,690 in tuition and fees, well below what a private Coordinated Program costs, though spread across a longer timeline than the shorter accelerated programs profiled elsewhere in this guide.

Official tuition figures are published on Fresno State’s tuition and fees page.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for students who want an accredited path to the RD credential at CSU pricing and are comfortable with a two-year, national-match internship, or who already have supervised-practice experience and just need a master’s.

Students without prior supervised practice should plan around the combined M.S./DI, which folds coursework and 1,000-plus internship hours into one 24-month, nationally-matched track rather than requiring a separate application after finishing a DPD.

Students who already hold a DPD and supervised-practice hours, or a master’s from elsewhere, have a second option: Fresno’s stand-alone M.S. in Nutritional Sciences, which skips the internship entirely.

The honest trade-off is that Fresno State’s own pages disagree on the combined program’s total units (30 versus 33), and the practice component is accredited as a Dietetic Internship rather than the Coordinated Program label sometimes used informally to describe it. Confirm both details directly with the department.

Accreditation

Fresno State is institutionally accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), which governs credit transfer, graduate admission eligibility, and federal financial aid access across the CSU campus.

ACEND accredits Fresno State’s Didactic Program in Dietetics, embedded in the Certificate in Dietetics Option of the B.S., and separately accredits the combined M.S./DI’s supervised-practice component as a Dietetic Internship. The Nutritional Sciences Career Option and the stand-alone M.S. in Nutritional Sciences fall outside ACEND’s scope, which is normal for degrees not built around the clinical dietetics pathway.

Graduates of the combined M.S./DI are eligible for the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s national exam on completing the program, since the graduate degree, ACEND-accredited coursework, and supervised practice are all satisfied together. Graduates of the DPD alone are not RD-eligible and must complete a Dietetic Internship, at Fresno State or elsewhere, plus a graduate degree, to pursue the credential.

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