Florida State University Nutrition Programs

Florida State University offers 2 Nutrition and Dietetics credentials profiled here:

  • B.S., Dietetics — accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD)
  • Dietetic Internship, paired with a graduate degree (M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science or M.S. in Exercise Physiology)

FSU also offers an Individualized Supervised Practice Pathway (ISPP), a distance route restricted to applicants who already hold a nutrition-related doctoral degree, and a Ph.D. in Human Sciences with a major in Nutrition and Food Science. Neither is profiled in full below.

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
B.S., Dietetics (DPD)~$26,100 total (derived)4 years (8 semesters)120
Dietetic Internship + M.S.~$14,400 total (derived, master’s tuition only)Typically about 2 years, master’s and internship combined30 minimum (master’s) plus supervised-practice credit

FSU’s defining structural fact is that its Dietetic Internship is not a single program but a shared credential reached through two different master’s degrees: the M.S. in Exercise Physiology (sports nutrition major) for a performance-nutrition specialization, or the M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science (referred to on the internship’s own page as the “clinical nutrition major”) for a clinical specialization. FSU’s own pages are not fully consistent on the second degree’s exact name, calling it “M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science,” “Master’s of Science in Food and Nutrition,” and “clinical nutrition major” in different places; treat these as the same degree until confirmed otherwise with the department.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
Program TypesB.S. Dietetics (DPD); Dietetic Internship paired with M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science or M.S. in Exercise Physiology; ISPP (doctoral-degree holders only); Ph.D. in Human Sciences
FormatCampus (DPD and DI, main Tallahassee campus only, explicitly not available online); ISPP is delivered at a distance
Credit Hours120 (B.S., 49 major-specific hours); 30 minimum (M.S., non-thesis by default, thesis by petition after the first semester)
ACEND AccreditationYes: the DPD and the Dietetic Internship, plus the ISPP. Neither master’s degree carries ACEND accreditation on its own; accreditation attaches to the internship component.
RD/RDN EligibilityYes, via the DPD plus a graduate degree plus the Dietetic Internship (or ISPP for doctoral-degree holders) plus the CDR exam
Supervised PracticeApproximately 1,000 hours, via HUN 8945 (Supervised Practice); rotations in clinical, food service management, and community nutrition
SpecializationsSports nutrition (via the M.S. in Exercise Physiology) or clinical nutrition (via the M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science)
Distinctive CourseworkDIE 3005, graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory, as the specialized-admission gate; HUN 3224/3226, Intermediary Metabolism of Nutrients I & II
Research RequirementM.S. non-thesis by default; thesis track available only after the first semester, with graduate faculty support and good academic standing
Entrance ExamsNot stated as required for either the B.S. or the graduate programs on the pages reviewed
IntakeDPD: specialized admission via DIE 3005, offered spring and summer terms only. DI: two-stage deadlines, graduate program by Nov. 1, internship application (via DICAS) by Jan. 15, for a Fall internship start.
GPA Floor2.75 overall for DPD specialized admission; 3.0 overall to complete the Dietetic Internship
Tuition$215.55/credit (published, in-state undergraduate); see Tuition section
Institutional AccreditationSACSCOC

B.S., Dietetics (DPD)

The estimated tuition for the B.S. in Dietetics at FSU is approximately $26,100 in-state and $92,800 non-resident (120 credits at FSU’s published per-credit rate, plus small flat per-semester fees; derived, see Tuition). The program requires 120 credit hours, including 49 major-specific hours, and is a conventional four-year, eight-semester sequence.

Dietetics is one of four undergraduate majors in FSU’s Department of Health, Nutrition, and Food Sciences, within the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. FSU states explicitly that in-person instruction is available only on the main Tallahassee campus; the program is not offered online or at a distance.

DPD Curriculum

Admission itself is a one-credit course, not a paperwork review. After completing prerequisites, students enroll in DIE 3005 (Introduction to Dietetics), offered only in spring and summer terms, and must earn a grade of Satisfactory rather than simply pass; a Satisfactory grade combined with a 2.75 overall GPA and “C-” or better in all admission prerequisites is what actually admits a student to the major, typically in the sophomore year. FSU explicitly recommends a “B” or better in Science of Nutrition and in the chemistry sequence as a competitiveness signal, even though it is not a hard requirement.

The curriculum offers an explicit sports nutrition introduction inside the core major, unusual for a DPD, which FSU frames as a distinguishing feature of its program.

  • HUN 1201: Science of Nutrition
  • HUN 3224 / HUN 3226: Intermediary Metabolism of Nutrients I & II
  • DIE 4243: Medical Nutrition Therapy I
  • DIE 4244 / 4244L: Medical Nutrition Therapy II and Lab
  • DIE 4310: Community Nutrition
  • DIE 4434: Nutrition Counseling & Communication
  • FSS 4312: Food Service Management
  • HUN 4941: Nutrition Practicum

More curriculum details are available here.

You Should Know

Students who are not formally admitted to the Dietetics major after DIE 3005 are “guided towards another major option at FSU,” per the program’s own admission requirements page. Because DIE 3005 is only offered in spring and summer, a student who is not admitted on the first attempt loses a full academic year rather than a single term before reapplying.

B.S. Admissions

  • Admitted or current FSU student
  • 2.75 overall undergraduate GPA (appealable with exceptional circumstances)
  • “C-” or better in all required admission prerequisites (general chemistry sequence, Science of Nutrition, math, economics)
  • Grade of Satisfactory in DIE 3005 (Introduction to Dietetics), offered spring and summer only
  • Personal statement

Dietetic Internship + Graduate Degree

The estimated tuition for the graduate degree paired with FSU’s Dietetic Internship is approximately $14,400 in-state and $35,200 non-resident (30 minimum credits at FSU’s published graduate per-credit rate; derived, see Tuition), not counting the internship’s own supervised-practice credit or fees. The combined program typically runs about two years.

The Dietetic Internship is not a standalone application; a student must first be admitted to one of two eligible graduate programs, then separately apply to the internship itself. FSU confirms it participates in DICAS for the internship application, despite a secondary source suggesting otherwise; rely on the program’s own current page over third-party summaries.

Dietetic Internship Admissions

Admission runs in two stages with two separate deadlines, both required for a Fall internship start.

  • Stage 1: Admission to the M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science or the M.S. in Exercise Physiology (Sports Nutrition major) through FSU’s Graduate School, due November 1 of the preceding year
  • Stage 2: Dietetic Internship application via DICAS, due January 15
  • Admission to the graduate program does not by itself grant admission to the internship; a separate departmental selection committee reviews internship applications

Dietetic Internship Completion Requirements

  • Minimum overall GPA of 3.0
  • “C” or better in all required courses applied toward graduation
  • HUN 8945 (Supervised Practice) completed with a grade of “S”
  • All ACEND-required competencies completed at a satisfactory score
  • Attendance at all internship meetings

More admissions details are available here.

You Should Know

FSU also runs an Individualized Supervised Practice Pathway (ISPP), an ACEND-accredited distance route, but it is restricted to applicants who already hold a nutrition-related doctoral degree, and interns must arrange their own preceptors. This is a narrower use case than the ISPP the Florida hub associates with the University of North Florida; a doctoral-holder switching careers into dietetics is the intended audience here, not a typical DPD graduate.

Failure to satisfactorily complete supervised practice or coursework, as evaluated by course instructors, the DI director, and preceptors, can result in removal from the internship, per FSU’s own completion-requirements page. Unlike Louisiana Tech’s or Nicholls’ internships, FSU explicitly frames non-completion as an active dismissal risk rather than describing it only as a graduation requirement.

Tuition

FSU publishes a genuinely linear per-credit tuition rate. In-state undergraduate tuition and fees run $215.55 per credit; non-resident runs $771.66 per credit. In-state graduate tuition and fees run $479.32 per credit; non-resident graduate runs $1,173.86 per credit. A small flat Facilities Use Fee ($20/semester, all terms) and FSU Card fee ($5/term, Fall and Spring only) apply on top of the per-credit rate.

Estimated Totals by Credential (derived)

  • B.S., Dietetics (120 credits / 8 semesters): approximately $26,066 resident, $92,759 non-resident, using the per-credit rate × 120 plus 8 semesters of flat fees
  • M.S. (30-credit minimum, non-thesis default): approximately $14,380 resident, $35,216 non-resident, using the graduate per-credit rate × 30. Students who take additional elective or supervised-practice credit beyond the 30-credit floor will pay more.

Be aware that:

  • The state hub’s cited figures ($6,507 in-state, $23,190 out-of-state, annual) are close to but not identical to this profile’s derived annual totals from the published per-credit rate at 30 credits/year ($6,466.50 resident, $23,149.80 non-resident); the small gap likely reflects rounding or a slightly different fee-inclusion assumption. Both are directionally consistent.
  • The M.S. total above covers only the 30-credit graduate degree, not the Dietetic Internship’s own supervised-practice course credit (HUN 8945) or program-specific fees, which were not separately published on the pages reviewed. Treat the combined DI-plus-master’s total as understated.
  • FSU’s own pages disagree on whether the internship-track master’s is called “M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science” or “Master’s of Science in Food and Nutrition,” and whether its specialization is “clinical nutrition” or “Nutrition Science.” Confirm the exact current degree title and specialization with the department before applying.
  • Rates cited here come from FSU’s own 2025–26 Tuition Main Campus schedule. Verify current rates against FSU’s tuition site before enrolling.

FSU’s in-state undergraduate rate sits close to UF’s and FIU’s, within the narrow band the Florida hub describes across the state’s public accredited programs; the real cost variable is which graduate degree a student needs for the internship, and how many credits beyond the 30-credit floor that degree actually requires once supervised-practice credit is added.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for students who want a named path into sports nutrition or clinical nutrition specifically, chosen through which graduate degree they pair with the Dietetic Internship.

Choose FSU if you know you want sports nutrition. Pairing the Dietetic Internship with the M.S. in Exercise Physiology, Sports Nutrition major, is a named, structured route into performance nutrition that most Dietetic Internship programs do not offer as a formal specialization track.

Choose FSU’s clinical track if you want the internship alongside a research-capable master’s. The M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science defaults to non-thesis but allows a thesis track after the first semester with faculty support, giving a clinically-focused student a later option to add a research component without switching programs.

Choose FSU’s ISPP only if you already hold a nutrition-related doctorate. It is a genuine distance pathway to RD eligibility, but it is not a general-purpose remote option for a typical DPD graduate the way some other schools’ distance internships are.

The honest drawback: FSU’s own pages are inconsistent about the exact name of the internship-track master’s degree, the DPD admission cycle only runs twice a year (spring and summer) so a missed cycle costs a full year, and the internship’s own completion-requirements language is more explicit than most about the risk of dismissal for unsatisfactory performance.

Accreditation

Florida State University is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which governs the university’s authority to award degrees, the transferability of its credits, admission to its graduate programs, and eligibility for federal financial aid. This institutional accreditation covers every program described here.

Programmatic accreditation is narrower and comes from the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND), the only accreditor relevant to RD eligibility. ACEND accredits the Didactic Program in Dietetics, delivered through the B.S. in Dietetics, and the Dietetic Internship (including its ISPP variant for doctoral-degree holders). Neither the M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science nor the M.S. in Exercise Physiology carries ACEND accreditation on its own; accreditation attaches to the internship component each degree can be paired with.

Graduates of the DPD may apply to ACEND-accredited supervised-practice programs, including FSU’s own Dietetic Internship (paired with an eligible graduate degree) or the ISPP if they separately qualify with a doctoral degree. On completing supervised practice together with a graduate degree, meeting current Commission on Dietetic Registration requirements, graduates become eligible to sit for the CDR’s national RDN examination.

Compare More Nutrition Programs in Florida