San Diego State Nutrition Programs

School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences • San Diego, CA • Campus • $8,548/yr Grad Tuition (CSU Flat Rate)

San Diego State offers 2 Nutritional Sciences credentials:

  • B.S., Foods and Nutrition (DPD)
  • M.S., Nutritional Sciences (with DPD coursework completable alongside)

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
B.S.$6,838/yr in-state (CSU systemwide) + ~$2,942/yr campus fees4 years (120-credit bachelor’s norm)41-unit prep, plus 41 minimum upper-division major units
M.S.$8,548/yr in-state (CSU systemwide) + ~$2,942/yr campus feesNot clearly stated30 minimum, at least 18 at the 600/700 level

SDSU offers ACEND-accredited DPD coursework at both the bachelor’s and master’s level, but runs no Coordinated Program, combined graduate degree, or campus-based internship of its own. DPD graduates from either degree apply to supervised practice entirely separately, through the national DICAS match.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesB.S. (ACEND DPD); M.S. (with DPD coursework completable alongside, no formal “DPD option” degree title)
FormatCampus
Credit HoursB.S.: 41-unit prep plus 41 minimum upper-division major units; M.S.: 30 minimum
ACEND AccreditationYes — DPD, both within the B.S. and, separately, within the M.S.’s DPD coursework; the M.S. degree as a whole is not ACEND-accredited
RD/RDN EligibilityNo, on its own. SDSU runs no Coordinated Program, combined master’s, or campus-based internship; DPD graduates apply to supervised practice entirely elsewhere via DICAS
Supervised PracticeNone built into SDSU’s academic DPD. A separately administered “SDSU Research Foundation WIC Program” runs its own ACEND-accredited Dietetic Internship in San Diego, but it is a distinct auxiliary-corporation program, not part of the academic department (see You Should Know)
PrerequisitesB.S. major is impacted: 2.90 cumulative GPA plus prerequisites for premajor status; the DPD track additionally requires a 3.1 GPA in DPD coursework, no grade below C, and fixed application deadlines of June 1 and January 1
Tuition$6,838/yr B.S.; $8,548/yr M.S. (CSU systemwide), plus about $2,942/yr in mandatory SDSU campus fees
Institutional AccreditationWSCUC (WASC Senior College and University Commission)

Bachelor of Science, Foods and Nutrition

The estimated tuition for the B.S. at SDSU is $6,838 per year in-state, the CSU systemwide undergraduate rate, plus about $2,942 a year in SDSU’s own mandatory campus fees. The major requires a 41-unit preparation sequence plus a minimum of 41 upper-division major units.

B.S. Curriculum

Foods and Nutrition is SDSU’s ACEND-accredited DPD, leading to a DPD verification statement on completion, alongside the bachelor’s degree itself.

B.S. Admissions

Foods and Nutrition is an impacted major at SDSU: premajor status requires a 2.90 cumulative GPA plus prerequisite coursework. The DPD track within it further requires a 3.1 GPA in DPD-specific coursework, no grade below C, and fixed application deadlines of June 1 or January 1.

Master of Science, Nutritional Sciences

The estimated tuition for the M.S. at SDSU is $8,548 per year in-state, the CSU systemwide graduate rate, plus about $2,942 a year in SDSU’s own mandatory campus fees. The degree requires a minimum of 30 units, at least 18 of them at the 600 or 700 level, with either a Plan A thesis or a Plan B non-thesis option.

M.S. Curriculum

Students without a prior DPD can complete DPD coursework alongside their graduate coursework, though DPD enrollment within the M.S. is limited to students admitted to the M.S. in Nutritional Sciences itself or to a concurrent M.S. Nutritional Sciences plus M.S. Exercise Physiology program, a 48-unit combined option that is also DPD-eligible.

M.S. Admissions

Standard SDSU graduate admission requirements apply, with a 3.1 GPA required in specific prerequisite coursework for the DPD track.

You Should Know

A “SDSU Research Foundation WIC Program” runs its own ACEND-accredited Dietetic Internship in San Diego, and its name is easy to mistake for a program run by SDSU’s academic Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences. It is instead administered by the SDSU Research Foundation, a legally separate auxiliary corporation, not the academic department that runs the DPD described on this page. DPD graduates from SDSU are not automatically or preferentially placed there.

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 SDSU actually bills).

  • $6,838/year in-state tuition for the B.S., the CSU systemwide undergraduate rate
  • $8,548/year in-state tuition for the M.S., the CSU systemwide graduate rate
  • About $2,942/year in mandatory SDSU 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 $6,838 and $8,548 figures often quoted for CSU programs are tuition only. SDSU’s own bursar page adds roughly $2,942 a year in mandatory campus fees on top, one of the higher fee stacks among the CSU campuses researched for this guide, for combined totals closer to $9,780 a year for undergraduates and $11,490 a year for graduate students.

Official tuition figures are published on SDSU’s tuition page.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for students who want DPD coursework at either the undergraduate or graduate level and are prepared to secure supervised practice on their own through the national DICAS match.

Undergraduate applicants should plan around SDSU’s impacted-major GPA requirements before counting on admission to the Foods and Nutrition premajor.

Bachelor’s holders in unrelated fields can pursue DPD coursework through SDSU’s M.S. in Nutritional Sciences rather than returning for a second bachelor’s degree, though DPD enrollment within the M.S. is limited to students already admitted to that program or its concurrent Exercise Physiology option.

The honest trade-off is that neither degree includes supervised practice, and the similarly named WIC Program internship in San Diego is a separate organization, not a guaranteed or preferential placement for SDSU’s own DPD graduates.

Accreditation

San Diego 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 campus.

ACEND accredits SDSU’s Didactic Program in Dietetics, both within the B.S. in Foods and Nutrition and, separately, within the DPD coursework option inside the M.S. in Nutritional Sciences. The M.S. degree as a whole, and the separately administered SDSU Research Foundation WIC Program’s Dietetic Internship, fall outside the academic department’s own DPD accreditation scope; the WIC Program’s internship carries its own separate ACEND accreditation as a distinct auxiliary program.

Graduates of the DPD, from either the B.S. or the M.S.’s DPD coursework, are not RD-eligible on the credential alone. They must complete a Dietetic Internship elsewhere, together with a graduate degree if starting from the B.S., to become eligible for the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s national exam.

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