Four universities with profiled nutrition programs serve Boston: Simmons University, Boston University, Tufts University, and Northeastern University. Between them they run 21 credentials, from about $15,100 for Northeastern’s 12-credit certificate (derived) to $200,740 for Boston University’s three-year DPD, master’s, and internship route (published by Sargent College). Durations run from 35 weeks for Simmons’s stand-alone dietetic internship to four years for the bachelor’s degrees.
Three of the four hold ACEND programs. Simmons and Boston University each have a Didactic Program in Dietetics and a dietetic internship, and Tufts has one combined M.S./Dietetic Internship at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center, while Northeastern has no ACEND program and no route to the RD credential. None of the four runs a Coordinated Program, and every RD route here needs a DPD verification statement before the master’s and internship.
Nutrition Programs in Boston — Comparison Table
| School | Credentials | Est. Cost | Format | RD Pathway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simmons University Boston | B.S. Nutrition and Dietetics — ACEND DPD DPD Certificate — post-baccalaureate M.S. Nutrition and Health Promotion — 30 credits Dietetic Internship — 35 weeks Combined M.S./Dietetic Internship — 21 months Sports Nutrition Certificate — 12 credits | Graduate $1,330/credit; internship $15,960; combined $53.2K; B.S. $48.3K/yr (private) | Campus; Online (M.S., certificate); Hybrid (combined) | Yes — DPD, master’s, and internship, at Simmons or a partner hospital |
| Boston University Boston | B.S. Nutrition — Dietetics track is the DPD M.S./Dietetic Internship — BU-run M.S. plus Partner Internship — five hospitals DPD/M.S./Dietetic Internship — 3 years M.S. Nutrition — two semesters, non-RD M.S. and Ph.D. Nutrition and Metabolism — School of Medicine | M.S./Internship $88.8K; partner route $80.0K to $85.0K (derived); three-year route $200.7K; two-semester M.S. $74.1K | Campus | Yes — M.S./Internship, partner route, or the three-year route |
| Tufts University Boston | M.S. Nutrition — on campus, 48 credits Online M.S. Nutrition — 30 credits Combined M.S./Dietetic Internship — 33 credits M.S. Applied AI for Food and Nutrition Ph.D. Nutrition and online certificates | On-campus M.S. $106.8K; online M.S. $66.7K; M.S./Internship about $76.3K (derived, with a $20,000 clinical fee) | Campus; Online (online M.S., AI M.S.) | Yes — the M.S./Internship only, with a DPD verification statement first |
| Northeastern University Boston | Nutrition Minor — 18 to 20 credits Graduate Certificate in Global Health and Nutrition Entrepreneurship — 12 credits | Certificate about $15.1K (derived); minor has no separate rate | Campus (minor); certificate not stated | No — no ACEND program; the online M.S. in Applied Nutrition is retired |
Costs are each profile’s published or derived totals at 2026-27 rates and are not like for like: Boston University’s totals are Sargent College’s published figures, which do not fully reconstruct from its own tables, and Tufts’ internship total adds a $20,000 clinical fee. Programs at UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell, Framingham State, and Merrimack are on the Massachusetts nutrition programs page.
Which Boston Nutrition Program Fits You
Choose Simmons if you are starting from a different point and want several ways in: a DPD certificate for career changers, a 35-week stand-alone internship, a 21-month combined track, or an online master’s paired with a distance partner internship. Seats are limited, with up to 6 in the stand-alone internship and up to 18 a year in the combined track.
Choose Boston University if you want a master’s and a BU-placed internship with 1,334 planned practice hours, or a partner hospital chosen inside the same DICAS application. A three-year route adds the DPD for applicants with a non-dietetics bachelor’s, at a published $200,740.
Choose Tufts if you already hold a DPD verification statement and want an integrated hospital-based route with at least 2,096 practice hours, or a stand-alone nutrition science, policy, or communication degree that does not lead to RD eligibility.
Choose Northeastern only if you want nutrition coursework as a minor or a global health and entrepreneurship certificate, since it offers no RD pathway.
Boston Nutrition Schools
Simmons University
Boston; Department of Nutrition, School of Sciences and Health Professions; campus-based, with online master’s options.
- B.S. Nutrition and Dietetics and a post-baccalaureate DPD certificate, both ACEND-accredited coursework
- M.S. Nutrition and Health Promotion — 30 credits, about $39,900 (derived), not ACEND
- Dietetic Internship — 12 credits, $15,960, at least 1,000 hours
- Combined M.S./Internship — 21 months, $53,200, with the Simmons internship or one of six partners
The partner internships are separately accredited, and two of them, Wellness Workdays and Be Well Solutions, run at a distance with student-identified practice sites. Simmons’s department page reports a 100% first-attempt exam pass rate for 2025. Full Simmons profile.
Boston University
Boston; Department of Health Sciences, Sargent College; campus-based, with the research degrees in the School of Medicine.
- B.S. Nutrition — the Dietetics track is the ACEND DPD
- M.S./Dietetic Internship — 29 weeks of practice, 1,334 planned hours, $88,800 published
- M.S. plus partner internship — BIDMC, Brigham and Women’s, Mass General, Hebrew Rehabilitation, or Delicious Living
- M.S. in Nutrition and Metabolism — thesis, admission paused for 2027
BU’s published totals for the internship and three-year routes do not reconstruct from its tuition tables, so confirm the cost. The two-semester M.S. in Nutrition is an applied degree with no internship. Full Boston University profile.
Tufts University
Boston; Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, on the Boston Health Sciences Campus; campus-based, with online degrees.
- M.S. Nutrition — 48 credits on campus, or 30 credits online at $2,224 per credit
- Combined M.S./Dietetic Internship — 33 credits, about 20 to 22 months, at least 2,096 practice hours
- Applied AI M.S., Ph.D., and online certificates — non-RD
Only the combined M.S./Internship is ACEND-accredited, and it requires a DPD verification statement and a spring DICAS application. Friedman has no undergraduate degree. Full Tufts profile.
Northeastern University
Boston; Bouvé College of Health Sciences and the College of Professional Studies; campus-based minor.
- Nutrition Minor — 18 to 20 credits, five courses
- Graduate Certificate in Global Health and Nutrition Entrepreneurship — 12 credits, about $15,108 (derived)
Northeastern has no ACEND program, and its online M.S. in Applied Nutrition no longer appears in its catalog after 2023-24. Full Northeastern profile.
How to Choose a Nutrition Program in Boston
Which programs carry the credential
Simmons, Boston University, and Tufts each hold ACEND programs, and all three require a DPD verification statement before the master’s and internship stage. Northeastern’s offerings and the research and policy degrees at Tufts and BU do not lead to RD eligibility.
Placement model
Boston University places interns itself within 60 miles, or lets applicants choose a partner hospital in DICAS. Simmons places interns within driving distance or pairs the M.S. with a partner, and Tufts provides sites at Tufts Medical Center and affiliates with no separate match after admission.
Cost architecture
All four are private and charge one rate regardless of residency. The integrated master’s and internship routes run from about $53,200 at Simmons to $88,800 at Boston University and about $76,300 at Tufts, and the figures include different things: Tufts adds a $20,000 clinical fee and Boston University’s total does not reconstruct from its tables.
Timing and deadlines
Early dates for the 2026 cycle have passed: Boston University’s priority date and Tufts’ Early Decision date were both October 8, 2026. Boston University’s secondary deadline and Tufts’ regular deadline are both January 15, 2027, and Simmons uses an internal preselect in early January for its own students. The pages do not describe a shared application calendar across Boston programs, so check each school’s dates.
Before applying in Boston, confirm each internship’s current ACEND status and term, since Boston University’s directory terms differ for programs that received the same 2026 decision, and confirm which partner hospitals are taking applicants. For UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell, Framingham State, and other Massachusetts programs, see the Massachusetts nutrition programs page.