Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences • Kingston, RI • Campus • $18,080/yr Resident (B.S.)
URI offers 2 Nutritional Sciences credentials:
- B.S., Dietetics (DPD)
- M.S., Dietetics, Future Education Model Graduate Program (FEM) — currently pausing new admissions
Program Tracks Overview
| Program | Est. Tuition | Est. Duration | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| B.S. | $18,080/yr (tuition and fees) | 4 years (120-credit bachelor’s norm) | 120 |
| M.S. | $19,258/yr (tuition and fees) | 2 years (4 semesters) | Approximately 34 (not independently reconfirmed live, see Curriculum) |
URI runs the state’s only ACEND-accredited graduate route that includes supervised practice, a Future Education Model program bundling 35 weeks of rotations (at least 1,100 hours) with coursework. Critically, URI is pausing new admissions to this M.S. for the 2026-2027 cycle: no new students will be admitted for a Fall 2027 or Spring 2028 start, with recruiting expected to resume in 2027-28 for a Fall 2028 start.
Quick Facts
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Format | Campus |
| Credit Hours | B.S.: 120; M.S.: approximately 34 (not independently reconfirmed on URI’s current live pages) |
| ACEND Accreditation | Yes — B.S. DPD; M.S. accredited as a Future Education Model Graduate Program (exact accreditation term end date not published) |
| RD/RDN Eligibility | Yes, via the M.S., which combines coursework and supervised practice in one accredited credential |
| Supervised Practice | 35 weeks, at least 1,100 hours, across Rhode Island and Southern New England healthcare institutions |
| Intake | Currently paused for 2026-2027: no new admits for Fall 2027 or Spring 2028; recruiting expected to resume 2027-28 for Fall 2028 entry |
| Prerequisites | DPD verification statement dated within 5 years of the application deadline; older statements may require additional coursework (per cached URI admissions language, not independently reconfirmed live) |
| Tuition | B.S.: $18,080/yr resident, $39,746/yr nonresident; M.S.: $19,258/yr resident, $35,470/yr nonresident (university-wide rates; no nutrition-specific figure published) |
| Institutional Accreditation | NECHE (New England Commission of Higher Education) |
Bachelor of Science, Dietetics
The estimated tuition for the B.S. at URI is $18,080 per year in-state, or $39,746 per year out-of-state (tuition and fees). The program requires 120 credits over the standard four-year timeline.
B.S. Curriculum
Dietetics is URI’s ACEND-accredited DPD, leading to a DPD verification statement on completion.
B.S. Admissions
Admission follows URI’s standard undergraduate admission process; students declare Dietetics to be on the DPD track.
Master of Science, Dietetics (Future Education Model Graduate Program)
The estimated tuition for the M.S. at URI is $19,258 per year in-state, or $35,470 per year out-of-state (tuition and fees, university-wide graduate rate). The program runs 2 years across 4 semesters, at approximately 34 credits.
M.S. Curriculum
URI publishes its rotation structure in unusual detail: 15 weeks of inpatient medical nutrition therapy, including 7 weeks in a large tertiary care facility; 7 weeks of foodservice management, with university or hospital options; 7 weeks of community rotations covering SNAP-Ed, long-term care, and private practice outpatient counseling; 5 weeks of a specialty rotation in critical care, pediatrics, outpatient counseling, or community; and a 1-week student-initiated self-management rotation. The fourth semester focuses primarily on didactic coursework.
You Should Know
The approximately 34-credit total for this M.S. comes from a cached version of URI’s own curriculum page, which currently redirects to the general program overview rather than displaying that detail live. Treat the figure as probable, not confirmed, and verify directly with the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences.
M.S. Supervised Practice
- 35 weeks total, at least 1,100 hours (one cached source cited 1,157)
- Sites throughout Rhode Island and at major healthcare institutions across Southern New England
M.S. Admissions
- Application via DICAS, selecting URI’s Dietetics Future Education Model Graduate Program
- DPD verification statement dated within 5 years of the application deadline; older statements may require additional coursework
You Should Know
⚠ URI is pausing admissions to this M.S. for the 2026-2027 cycle. Its program overview page states directly that no new students will be admitted for a Fall 2027 or Spring 2028 start, with recruiting expected to resume in 2027-28 for a Fall 2028 start. If you need to enroll sooner, plan around another accredited program while this pause is in effect, and the DICAS process and 5-year verification statement rule above should be reconfirmed directly with URI once admissions resume, since the department’s admissions subpages currently redirect rather than display live detail.
Tuition
URI’s nutrition department does not publish program-specific tuition; the figures below are the university’s general undergraduate and graduate rates.
- $18,080/year in-state, $39,746/year out-of-state, B.S. tuition and fees
- $19,258/year in-state, $35,470/year out-of-state, M.S. tuition and fees
Be aware that:
These are university-wide rates, not a nutrition-specific figure; URI’s nutrition pages do not publish their own program cost. Confirm current rates directly, and remember the M.S. is not currently admitting new students for the 2026-2027 cycle.
Official tuition figures are published on URI’s tuition and fees page.
Why Choose This Nutrition Program?
Best suited for students with flexible timing, given the graduate program’s current admissions pause, or undergraduates simply starting the DPD.
Students planning years ahead should target a Fall 2028 M.S. entry at the earliest, since URI is not admitting new students for the 2026-2027 cycle.
Students who already hold a DPD verification statement nearing its fifth year should weigh the timing carefully, since older statements may require additional coursework by the time admissions reopen.
The honest trade-off is that several admissions details, including the exact credit total, DICAS process, and verification-statement rule, could not be independently reconfirmed on URI’s current live pages, since the department’s admissions content appears to be paused alongside the enrollment pause itself. Confirm everything directly before making plans.
Accreditation
URI is institutionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), which governs credit transfer, graduate admission eligibility, and federal financial aid access across the university.
ACEND accredits URI’s Didactic Program in Dietetics and separately accredits the M.S. as a Future Education Model Graduate Program, confirmed via ACEND’s own 2022 accreditation-decisions record of URI’s reorganization into a graduate program in nutrition and dietetics. An exact accreditation term end date was not found published on ACEND’s site.
Graduates of the M.S. are eligible for the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s national exam on completing the program, since coursework and supervised practice are combined in one accredited credential. Graduates of the DPD alone are not RD-eligible and must complete a graduate program with supervised practice, at URI once admissions reopen or elsewhere, to pursue the credential.