Middlesex College Nutrition Degree Programs

Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Dietetics Department • Edison, NJ • Campus • $218.50/Credit (Middlesex County Resident, Tuition and Fees)

Middlesex College offers 1 nutrition credential:

  • A.S., Dietetics – Transfer (60 credits, designed to transfer into the Rutgers dietetics option)

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
A.S. Dietetics – TransferAbout $6,555/yr (30 credits at $218.50, tuition and fees, Middlesex County resident)2 years full time60

Middlesex’s differentiator is a written articulation agreement with the Rutgers Department of Nutritional Sciences: two years at community college rates, then two more years at Rutgers to finish the bachelor’s degree and the Didactic Program in Dietetics verification statement. The associate degree itself is not an accredited dietetics program and does not lead to RD/RDN eligibility.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
FormatCampus, Edison (with a New Brunswick Center also listed for contact); an online option was not found
Credit Hours60
ACEND AccreditationNo — the catalog says the program is “designed to parallel the first two years of an ACEND-accredited Bachelor’s program”; the accredited program is Rutgers’ DPD
RD/RDN EligibilityNot on its own: eligibility requires the bachelor’s DPD, a graduate degree, and supervised practice
Transfer PathwayArticulation agreement with Rutgers Nutritional Sciences (SEBS), effective June 1, 2022 through May 31, 2027; up to 60 credits toward the 120-credit B.S.; requires a 3.0 cumulative GPA and a C or better in transferring major courses; about two more years full time at Rutgers
AdmissionsOpen, rolling admission with a high school diploma or GED; $25 application fee; placement math (or MAT 013 and 014), high school lab biology with a C (or BIO 010), and high school lab chemistry with a C (or CHM 020)
Tuition$218.50/credit Middlesex County resident, $228.50 out-of-county NJ, $328.50 out-of-state (tuition plus fees, Summer 2026 rate table)
Institutional AccreditationMSCHE (Middle States Commission on Higher Education)

Associate of Science, Dietetics – Transfer

The estimated tuition for the A.S. at Middlesex is about $6,555 a year for a Middlesex County resident taking 30 credits at $218.50 per credit, including fees. The degree is 60 credits and takes two years of full-time study, after any developmental coursework.

A.S. Curriculum

The four-semester plan mixes general education with the science base a dietetics major needs: English composition, precalculus, human biology and anatomy and physiology with labs, general chemistry with labs, psychology, sociology, and computer science, alongside hospitality, culinary arts and dietetics (HCD) courses. The catalog lists the same 60-credit sequence for 2025-26 and 2026-27.

You Should Know

Three details on Middlesex’s own pages do not line up. The articulation agreement requires a 3.0 GPA, while Rutgers’ curriculum page mentions a 2.5 GPA in foundation courses to declare the dietetics option, and a separate October 2024 dual-admission agreement lists a 2.8 GPA and does not say whether dietetics is covered. Middlesex’s accreditation page also lists “Dietetic Technology: ACEND,” but no dietetic technology program appears in the catalog, and Dietetics – Transfer is not an ACEND-accredited program. Confirm all three with an advisor.

The 2022 Rutgers agreement expires May 31, 2027, on a five-year review cycle, and no renewal notice was found. Students planning to transfer after that date should ask Middlesex and Rutgers to confirm the agreement’s status.

A.S. Admissions

  • Open, rolling admission; high school diploma or GED; $25 nonrefundable application fee; no test scores required
  • Placement math score (Algebra I and II) or MAT 013 and 014
  • High school lab biology with a C or better, or BIO 010
  • High school lab chemistry with a C or better, or CHM 020

Tuition

Middlesex charges $128 per credit in tuition for Middlesex County residents, plus $39 in general fees, $16 in student service fees, and a $35.50 technology fee, for $218.50 per credit all-in (rates effective with the Summer 2026 term).

  • Middlesex County resident: $218.50 per credit, about $6,555 for 30 credits
  • Out-of-county New Jersey resident: $228.50 per credit, about $6,855 for 30 credits
  • Out-of-state: $328.50 per credit, about $9,855 for 30 credits
  • Registration fee of $25 in fall and spring or $15 in winter and summer; course fees of $25 to $400; online course fee of $55

Be aware that:

The rate table is labeled only “Effective with Summer 2026 Term,” so separate 2025-26 and 2026-27 rates were not found. Middlesex’s own cost-of-attendance page uses 24 credits, showing $3,072 in tuition and $2,172 in fees for a county resident. A commonly cited $5,050 community college average does not match Middlesex’s published rates.

Official figures are on Middlesex’s tuition and fees page.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for New Jersey students who are sure they want to pursue dietetics at Rutgers and want to cut the first two years’ cost sharply.

Students watching cost pay about $6,555 a year for a county resident, against the Rutgers undergraduate rate of $17,286 a year in tuition alone, for courses the agreement moves into the Rutgers degree.

Students who want a defined route get a named agreement with the Rutgers Department of Nutritional Sciences and about two more years to reach the DPD verification statement.

The honest trade-off is that the associate degree is only the first half of the path. It does not carry ACEND accreditation, it does not lead to RD/RDN eligibility, and the Rutgers agreement’s GPA gate and May 2027 expiry are worth checking before you rely on it.

Accreditation

Middlesex College is institutionally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), which governs credit transfer, graduate admission eligibility, and federal financial aid access across the college.

The Dietetics – Transfer degree carries no ACEND accreditation of its own; its catalog description says it parallels the first two years of an ACEND-accredited bachelor’s program. The accredited program is the Rutgers Didactic Program in Dietetics, which issues the verification statement after the bachelor’s degree.

After the DPD, RDN eligibility with the Commission on Dietetic Registration requires a graduate degree, an accredited supervised-practice program, and the national exam. An old catalog note about the 2024 master’s requirement still appears on Middlesex’s 2025-26 page; treat the pathway as bachelor’s, then master’s, then supervised practice.

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