San Francisco State Nutrition Programs

Department of Consumer and Family Studies/Dietetics • San Francisco, CA • Campus • $8,548/yr Grad Tuition (CSU Flat Rate)

San Francisco State offers 2 Nutritional Sciences credentials:

  • B.S., Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietetics and Nutrition Science Concentration (DPD)
  • Certificate in Dietetics (ACEND Dietetic Internship), paired with an M.A. for interns without a prior graduate degree

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
B.S.~$8.8K/yr in-state (tuition and fees)4 years (120-credit bachelor’s norm)Not clearly stated
DI$13,200 (certificate only) or $19,672 (certificate plus M.A.)11 months (with a prior graduate degree) or 18 months (concurrent M.A.)30 (M.A., for interns without a graduate degree)

San Francisco State’s Dietetic Internship recruits through the national DICAS match, open to graduates of other schools’ DPD programs rather than restricted to SFSU’s own students, though preference may be given to SFSU DPD graduates through a reserved early-admission pool. Interns who don’t already hold a graduate degree complete SFSU’s own M.A. in Family and Consumer Sciences alongside the internship, which extends the timeline from 11 to 18 months.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesB.S. (ACEND DPD); Certificate in Dietetics (ACEND Dietetic Internship)
FormatCampus
Credit HoursB.S.: not clearly stated; M.A. (for interns without a graduate degree): 30 units
ACEND AccreditationYes — DPD; the Dietetic Internship is accredited through December 2027 per SFSU’s own page (not independently cross-checked in ACEND’s directory)
RD/RDN EligibilityYes, on completing the Dietetic Internship together with a graduate degree (SFSU’s M.A. or one held elsewhere)
Supervised PracticeMinimum 1,024 hours over about 32 weeks; up to 300 hours may be alternate or simulation
IntakeUp to 14 interns a year, up to 8 seats reserved for early admission (SFSU DPD graduates); national DICAS match for the remainder
PrerequisitesDICAS application, plus a separate $70 SFSU-specific fee
Tuition$6,838/yr B.S.; $8,548/yr grad (CSU systemwide); SFSU’s own totals with fees run about $8,824/yr B.S. and $10,534/yr grad
Institutional AccreditationWSCUC (WASC Senior College and University Commission)

Bachelor of Science, Nutrition and Dietetics (Dietetics and Nutrition Science Concentration)

The estimated tuition for the B.S. at San Francisco State is about $8,824 per year in-state, once SFSU’s own mandatory campus fees are added to the $6,838 CSU systemwide tuition rate. The Dietetics and Nutrition Science Concentration follows the standard four-year, 120-credit bachelor’s timeline.

B.S. Curriculum

The B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics offers two concentrations: Dietetics and Nutrition Science, which is the ACEND-accredited DPD, and Foods and Community Nutrition, which is not ACEND-accredited.

You Should Know

Only the Dietetics and Nutrition Science Concentration carries DPD accreditation. Students in the Foods and Community Nutrition Concentration do not receive a DPD verification statement.

B.S. Admissions

Admission follows standard CSU freshman and transfer requirements; students declare the Dietetics and Nutrition Science Concentration to be on the DPD track.

Certificate in Dietetics (Dietetic Internship)

The estimated cost for SFSU’s Dietetic Internship is $13,200 for interns who already hold a graduate degree, or $19,672 for interns completing SFSU’s M.A. in Family and Consumer Sciences alongside it. The program runs 11 months for the former group and about 18 months for the latter.

DI Curriculum

Interns without a graduate degree complete the 30-unit M.A. in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS 700, FCS 710, ISED 797, FCS 895, plus 6 credited internship units) within 6 months of finishing supervised practice, which satisfies the graduate-degree requirement for RD eligibility alongside the internship itself.

DI Supervised Practice

  • Minimum 1,024 hours over about 32 weeks at 32 hours a week; up to 300 hours may be alternate or simulation-based
  • Rotations typically run from mid-to-late August through early June
  • Up to 14 interns admitted a year

At 1,024 hours, SFSU’s total sits just above the roughly 1,000-hour ACEND standard, delivered over a Bay Area placement network rather than a nationally dispersed one.

DI Admissions

  • National DICAS computer match, plus a separate $70 fee paid directly to SFSU
  • Up to 8 of the 14 annual seats reserved for early admission, open to competitive SFSU DPD graduates; early-admission deadline January 15
  • Standard deadline February 1, open nationally to DPD graduates of other schools

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 SFSU actually bills).

  • $6,838/year CSU systemwide tuition for the B.S.; SFSU’s own bursar page shows a full-time annual total of about $8,824 with mandatory campus fees included
  • $8,548/year CSU systemwide tuition for graduate study; SFSU’s own total with fees runs about $10,534/year
  • $13,200 for the Dietetic Internship alone (interns who already hold a graduate degree), or $19,672 for the internship plus SFSU’s M.A., per SFSU’s own program cost sheet
  • SFSU’s total estimated cost of attendance for a recent internship cohort, including living expenses, was about $54,059

Be aware that:

The $13,200/$19,672 figures are SFSU’s own program-specific cost sheet for the internship and M.A., separate from the general $8,824/$10,534 annual CSU cost-of-attendance figures above; do not add them together. The $54,059 cost-of-attendance figure includes living expenses and is not a tuition total.

SFSU’s own campus-fee add-on is smaller than at some other CSU campuses profiled in this guide, keeping its base tuition-plus-fees close to the CSU systemwide figures most students expect.

Official cost figures are published on SFSU’s Dietetic Internship and M.A. estimated costs page and SFSU’s Bursar tuition page.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for students who want an internship they can apply to nationally, whether or not they attended SFSU as an undergraduate, and who may still need the graduate-degree requirement satisfied alongside supervised practice.

DPD graduates of other schools can apply through the national DICAS match rather than being shut out of an internal-only pipeline, unlike some CSU internships restricted to their own graduates.

Applicants without a graduate degree yet get it built in: SFSU’s M.A. in Family and Consumer Sciences runs alongside the internship, satisfying the CDR’s graduate-degree requirement without a separate application to another school.

The honest trade-off is that up to 8 of the 14 annual seats are reserved for SFSU’s own DPD graduates through early admission, narrowing the pool that’s genuinely open nationally, and the Dietetic Internship’s accreditation status through December 2027 rests on SFSU’s own statement rather than an independently confirmed ACEND directory listing.

Accreditation

San Francisco 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 SFSU’s Didactic Program in Dietetics, in the Dietetics and Nutrition Science Concentration, and separately accredits the Certificate in Dietetics as a Dietetic Internship through December 2027, per SFSU’s own program page. The Foods and Community Nutrition Concentration and the stand-alone M.A. in Family and Consumer Sciences fall outside ACEND’s scope, which is normal for degrees not built around the internship pathway.

Graduates of the Dietetic Internship are eligible for the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s national exam once the graduate degree, ACEND-accredited coursework, and supervised practice are all complete. Graduates of the DPD alone are not RD-eligible and must complete a Dietetic Internship, at SFSU or elsewhere, plus a graduate degree, to pursue the credential.

See Other Nutrition Programs in California