Tennessee has a large set of ACEND-accredited didactic programs and several graduate routes that include supervised practice. Ten schools now have profiles built from the school’s own pages and ACEND’s records, linked below, and several of them are changing: East Tennessee State plans to close its DPD at the end of 2027, UT Martin’s dietetics concentration and internship are closing, Middle Tennessee State’s DPD no longer admits students, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s internship closed in 2025.
East Tennessee State has also asked ACEND to approve a single Coordinated Program under the 2027 standards, launching in fall 2027. ACEND’s directory, decisions pages, and Programs Under Review page show no such program today, so applicants to its dietetics concentration should ask the department in writing what is approved.
Nutrition Programs in Tennessee — Comparison Table
| School | Credentials | Est. Cost | Format | RD Pathway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Tennessee, Knoxville Knoxville |
Five-year BS and MS — Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, an ACEND graduate program BS Nutrition, dietetics concentration — the DPD MS (biomedical or community), PhD, certificate, and MPH — not RD routes |
$6,966 a semester in-state for graduate students at 9 or more credits; $14,024 a year undergraduate | Campus; certificate and MPH can be online | Yes — the five-year route, capped at 20 a cohort |
| East Tennessee State University Johnson City |
BS Nutrition, dietetics concentration — the DPD, planned to close December 31, 2027 MS Clinical Nutrition with Dietetic Internship — 40 credits Advanced Standing RD/MS and an online Sport Nutrition certificate |
About $25,658 for the MS/DI in-state (derived); $11,048 a year undergraduate | Campus; certificate online | Yes — the MS/DI, after a DPD; coordinated program requested but not approved |
| University of Memphis Memphis |
BS Health Studies, dietetics concentration — accredited DPD MS Integrated Nutrition — 36 credits, 12 months, practice built in |
Didactic plus an integrated master’s | Yes — MS only, with a DPD verification statement first | |
| Lipscomb University Nashville |
BS Dietetics — the DPD MS Nutrition and Dietetic Internship — 45 credits, five semesters, with MNT, health promotion and wellness, and sports nutrition concentrations |
$1,065/credit graduate; about $47,925 for the MS/DI (derived) | Hybrid; year two in person | Yes — the combined master’s and internship, after a DPD |
| Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro |
BS Nutrition and Food Science, dietetics concentration — the DPD, closed to new students since Fall 2024 MPS Leadership in Nutrition — online, not an RD route |
$623/credit in-state graduate; about $21,660 for the MPS (derived) | Campus; MPS online | Partial — DPD only, and it is closing; the MPS gives no RD eligibility |
| Tennessee Tech University Cookeville |
BS Human Ecology, nutrition and dietetics concentration — the DPD MS Community Health and Nutrition — with an Experiential Learning Track that is an ACEND graduate program |
About $29,434 to $31,500 for the 42-credit track in-state (derived) | Campus; M.S. coursework online | Yes — the Experiential Learning Track |
| Tennessee State University Nashville |
BS Human Sciences, Food and Nutritional Sciences concentration, with or without dietetics verification — the DPD | $4,734 a semester in-state at 12 credits | Campus, HBCU | Partial — DPD only, then an outside internship |
| University of Tennessee at Martin Martin |
BS Family and Consumer Sciences, dietetics concentration — the DPD, being phased out Dietetic Internship with MS — 36 credits, not accepting new students |
$669/credit in-state graduate at campus rates (derived) | Campus; M.S. coursework online | Partial — closing programs, with a graduate program planned but not accredited |
| Carson-Newman University Jefferson City |
BS Foods and Nutrition, dietetics emphasis — the DPD | $21,250 a semester, private | Campus | Partial — DPD only, then an outside internship |
| University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chattanooga |
M.P.H. Nutrition and Dietetics — an ACEND graduate program with an M.P.H., 42 credits and 1,000 practice hours; the undergraduate DPD closed in 2021 | $5,896 a semester in-state at 9 or more graduate credits | Hybrid | Yes — the M.P.H. only |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville |
Dietetic Internship — ACEND records it as voluntarily closing effective September 30, 2025 | Closed | Closed | No longer available |
| Dyersburg State, Pellissippi State, Nashville State, Southwest Tennessee community colleges |
Associate degrees — nutrition and food science | Transfer | No — transfer pathway |
Tennessee has no ACEND-accredited dietetic technician programs, so the NDTR route would mean studying out of state. Figures are 2026–27 rates from each school’s published tables where profiled, and several are derived. Confirm accreditation status with each school.
Which Tennessee Nutrition Program Fits You
Choose UT Knoxville if you want a defined five-year route. Its Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics master’s is an ACEND graduate program that covers the senior year and the master’s, with practice arranged in Knoxville and a cap of 20 a cohort, mostly for UT students.
Choose Lipscomb if you need the first year flexible. Its combined master’s and internship runs five semesters, with year one available online or in person and year two in person in the Nashville area, and it is one admission through DICAS.
Choose Tennessee Tech if you want online coursework with practice arranged near home. Its Experiential Learning Track is an ACEND graduate program of about 22 months and a cohort of 10, and the degree-only pathway does not give RD eligibility.
Choose Memphis if you live in or near Memphis and want a single 12-month master’s with the practice built in. Its 36-credit MS in Integrated Nutrition places students at Memphis-area sites, many on campus, for more than 1,000 hours, takes a summer cohort of no more than 16, and requires a DPD verification statement first.
Choose East Tennessee State if you already hold a DPD. Its MS/DI is available now. If you are starting the undergraduate dietetics concentration, ask the department what is approved, because the school plans to close the DPD and has asked ACEND to approve a replacement.
Choose Tennessee State or Carson-Newman if you want an accredited DPD and will arrange the rest elsewhere. Tennessee State is a public HBCU in a land-grant college, and Carson-Newman is a small private school with a field experience.
Tennessee Nutrition Schools
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
UT Knoxville runs nutrition through its Department of Nutrition and Public Health Sciences.
- Five-year BS and MS — Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, 34 graduate credits, at least 1,147 supervised practice hours
- BS Nutrition, dietetics concentration — the accredited DPD
- MS Nutrition (biomedical or community), PhD, a Community Nutrition certificate, and an MPH nutrition concentration — not RD routes
Students must be on site in Knoxville. The online community nutrition master’s the hub once listed is no longer offered, and ACEND placed the DPD and graduate program on a reduced term in 2024 that was removed in January 2025.
Full University of Tennessee, Knoxville profile
East Tennessee State University
ETSU in Johnson City runs nutrition through its Department of Nutrition and Integrated Health Sciences.
- BS Nutrition, dietetics concentration — the DPD, with a banner announcing its planned closure effective December 31, 2027
- MS Clinical Nutrition with Dietetic Internship — 40 credits, or 46 with a thesis, about 1,000 practice hours
- Advanced Standing RD/MS and a Sport Nutrition graduate certificate
The department has submitted a request to reorganize the DPD, the master’s, and the internship into a Coordinated Program starting in fall 2027. ACEND has approved nothing and lists none, and the school has not said how current MS/DI students would be treated. ACEND extended the internship’s term to December 31, 2029 in March 2026.
Full East Tennessee State University profile
University of Memphis
Memphis pairs an accredited bachelor’s with a one-year graduate programme that includes the supervised practice.
- BS Health Studies, dietetics concentration — the accredited didactic programme, 120 credits
- MS Integrated Nutrition — 36 credits over three terms, summer start, more than 1,000 practice hours, about $20,200 resident tuition (derived, 2026-27)
The master’s has no formal concentrations; paediatrics, sports, and similar areas are practice exposures, not tracks. ACEND lists it as a Dietetic Internship, and its decisions pages show a reduced term in January 2025 that the school’s own pages do not mention, so confirm the current status. Full University of Memphis profile.
Lipscomb University
Lipscomb in Nashville runs a combined master’s and internship.
- BS Dietetics — the accredited DPD
- MS Nutrition and Dietetic Internship — 45 credits, five semesters, with sports nutrition delivered through a rotation block
- MS Nutrition (non-RD) and a Sport and Exercise Nutrition certificate
The first year can be online or in person, and the second must be in person around Nashville. ACEND lists the combined program as a Dietetic Internship accredited to December 31, 2030.
Full Lipscomb University profile
Middle Tennessee State University
MTSU in Murfreesboro has a dietetics program that no longer admits students.
- BS Nutrition and Food Science, dietetics concentration — the DPD, closed after Fall 2024
- MPS Leadership in Nutrition — online, 30 credits, not an RD route
- A proposed MPH dietetics concentration whose accreditation status is contradictory on the school’s pages
ACEND lists the DPD with a term to June 30, 2028 and closure pending August 16, 2027, and shows no MTSU graduate program.
Full Middle Tennessee State University profile
Tennessee Tech University
Tennessee Tech in Cookeville runs a DPD and an ACEND graduate program.
- BS Human Ecology, nutrition and dietetics concentration — the DPD, 120 credits
- MS Community Health and Nutrition — a degree-only pathway of 30 credits and an Experiential Learning Track of 42 credits
The track includes four practicums of at least 162 hours each and is arranged by the program near the student’s home. The school’s fee basis for the online master’s is unclear, so budget a range.
Full Tennessee Tech University profile
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State in Nashville is a public HBCU with a DPD in a land-grant agriculture college.
- BS Human Sciences, Food and Nutritional Sciences concentration, with or without dietetics verification
ACEND placed the DPD on a reduced term in July 2025 and restored full accreditation in September 2025. The university has no internship or graduate nutrition program.
Full Tennessee State University profile
University of Tennessee at Martin
UT Martin has a dietetics pathway that the school is closing.
- BS Family and Consumer Sciences, dietetics concentration — the DPD, phased out
- Dietetic Internship with MS — 36 credits, closed to new students; the internship concludes June 2027
- BS Family and Consumer Sciences, food and nutrition concentration — not an RD route
A replacement graduate program is in the application stage with ACEND and does not appear in the directory. The school’s closure dates conflict with ACEND’s.
Full University of Tennessee at Martin profile
Carson-Newman University
Carson-Newman in Jefferson City is a private school with a small DPD.
- BS Foods and Nutrition, dietetics emphasis — the accredited DPD, 120 credits
- BS Foods and Nutrition without the dietetics emphasis — not an RD route
There is no graduate program or internship, and the degree is not titled dietetics. A partner master’s in integrative medicine is described, but whether it meets the dietitian graduate-degree rule should be confirmed.
Full Carson-Newman University profile
Other programs and transfer routes
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga no longer has an ACEND-accredited didactic program: ACEND records it closing in June 2021, and its only ACEND program is a graduate M.P.H. in Nutrition and Dietetics (see its profile). The state board’s older list of didactic programs still names the university. National Health Care is listed by ACEND as a dietetic internship in Murfreesboro. Vanderbilt University Medical Center ran an internship that ACEND records as voluntarily closing effective September 30, 2025, and its program site is offline.
Dyersburg State, Pellissippi State, Nashville State, and Southwest Tennessee community colleges offer associate degrees in nutrition and food science as transfer routes. Confirm which courses your intended four-year programme accepts before enrolling.
How to Choose a Nutrition Program in Tennessee
Several programs are changing, so ask what is approved
East Tennessee State, UT Martin, and Middle Tennessee State are each closing or replacing a dietetics program, and the replacements are not yet approved by ACEND. The routes that include supervised practice and are operating now are UT Knoxville’s five-year route, Lipscomb, Memphis, Tennessee Tech’s Experiential Learning Track, and East Tennessee State’s MS/DI for students who already hold a DPD. Apply to those alongside standalone internships rather than instead of them.
Hybrid does not mean remote
Lipscomb’s first year can be online but its second cannot. Tennessee Tech’s coursework is online while its practicums are in person near home. UT Knoxville requires on-site attendance. Supervised practice is in person everywhere.
The master’s requirement changed in 2024
Since January 1, 2024, the Commission on Dietetic Registration has required a master’s degree in any field, plus a verification statement from an ACEND-accredited programme, to sit for the RDN exam, with at least 1,000 supervised practice hours. Tennessee’s newer graduate routes were built around this, which is why so many of its master’s degrees now incorporate the internship.
Nutrition Licensure and Credentials in Tennessee
Tennessee regulates dietetics through the Department of Health’s Board of Dietitian and Nutritionist Examiners, which maintains its own list of accredited didactic programmes and internships in the state. Licensure requires a background check alongside the education and examination requirements.
The national CDR requirements apply alongside: an ACEND verification statement, a master’s degree, supervised practice hours, and a passing exam score. Confirm current Tennessee requirements and the background check process with the board before relying on them.
Before applying anywhere in Tennessee, verify three things directly with the school: whether the program you are entering is open to your intake year, since East Tennessee State, UT Martin, and Middle Tennessee State are closing or replacing dietetics programs, which concentration or option within a broader degree carries the accreditation, and exactly which parts of a hybrid or online program can be completed remotely. Profiles for ten Tennessee schools are linked above.