UNT Health Fort Worth Nutrition Degree Programs

Department of Personalized Health and Well-Being, College of Health Professions • Fort Worth, TX • Hybrid • $350/Credit (Texas Resident Tuition, Derived)

UNT Health Fort Worth offers 2 nutrition-related credentials, and only 1 of them is a route to RD/RDN eligibility:

  • M.S., Clinical Nutrition (Coordinated Program in Dietetics, ACEND candidate)
  • M.S., Lifestyle Health Sciences and Coaching (online, non-RD)

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
M.S. Clinical Nutrition$35.8K in-state, $65.6K out-of-state (program estimate, excluding practicum, books, and supplies)22 months (8-week terms)71
M.S. Lifestyle Health Sciences and Coaching$15.4K in-state, $30.5K out-of-state (program estimate, labeled 2025-26)1 year36

UNT Health Fort Worth’s Clinical Nutrition M.S. is a new Coordinated Program in Dietetics that integrates the master’s, coursework, and at least 1,000 supervised-practice hours, with no separate internship and no DPD requirement. ACEND granted it candidacy for accreditation in July 2025, and the first cohort began in fall 2026, so the program has no graduates or outcome data yet.

ACEND says students who enroll after candidacy is granted are considered graduates of an accredited program on successful completion, and the school says they are eligible to sit for the exam after meeting program requirements. The program is not an M.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics: it is 71 credits over 22 months, not 34 over 17.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
FormatHybrid: asynchronous online coursework plus two weeks at a simulation center and in-person rotations in North Texas
Credit Hours71 (45 in year one, 26 in year two)
ACEND AccreditationCoordinated Program in Dietetics: candidate for accreditation, granted July 2025, directory term to July 18, 2029
RD/RDN EligibilityYes, for students who enrolled after candidacy was granted and complete the program
Supervised PracticeAt least 1,000 hours, about 32 a week, Tuesday to Friday, placed in North Texas
Entrance ExamsNone. The GRE is not required, and no DPD is required
GPA Floor3.0 cumulative, with eight prerequisites at C or higher
IntakeEarly October 1, regular February 1, and later applications to May 15 as seats allow; the next start term is not stated
Tuition2026-27 resident tuition $350 per credit plus a $50 distance learning fee; non-resident $778 plus $50
Institutional AccreditationSACSCOC

Master of Science, Clinical Nutrition

The program page estimates the Clinical Nutrition M.S. at about $35,775 for a resident and $65,595 for a non-resident, excluding practicum, textbooks, and supplies. The published year-one bursar table sums to $20,927 resident and $40,187 non-resident, so the implied second year is about $14,848 and $25,408 (derived). The program is 71 credits, full time and cohort-based over 22 months.

Clinical Nutrition Curriculum

Courses run in eight-week terms and include the Nutrition Care Process, Human Metabolism, Clinical Nutrition I and II, Advanced Life Cycle Nutrition, Nutrition Support, Food Service Operations, Community and Population Nutrition, Leadership and Management, Research Methods, and Emerging Topics in Personalized Nutrition. Students also take two weeks at the UNT Health Regional Simulation Center in the first summer. A required capstone ends in a written report and presentation, with a 70% needed to graduate, and there is no thesis.

Clinical Nutrition Supervised Practice

  • At least 1,000 hours in clinical, community, foodservice management, and specialty rotations such as pediatrics, renal, oncology, obesity, and eating disorders
  • About 32 hours a week, usually Tuesday to Friday during business hours, beginning in the first summer; a site coordinator places students in North Texas
  • Out-of-region or workplace rotations need a formal request at least 12 months ahead and are limited
  • A second background check and drug screen come before rotations

Clinical Nutrition Admissions

  • A bachelor’s from a regionally accredited institution with a 3.0 cumulative GPA; no GRE, and no DPD verification statement
  • Eight prerequisites at C or higher: English composition, statistics, psychology or sociology, physiology (or anatomy and physiology), organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and human nutrition; up to four may be in progress, and DPD holders are exempt
  • DICAS ($50, then $25 each additional), a 350 to 500 word statement, three letters, and a virtual interview for selected applicants; a $200 non-refundable seat fee
  • Deadlines of October 1 (early, passed this cycle) and February 1, with later applications to May 15 as seats allow; cohort size was not found
You Should Know

UNT’s pages give the passing grade for didactic courses as B or higher in one section and C or higher in another. The 28 listed rotation weeks at 32 hours a week come to about 896 hours, which does not clearly reach the stated 1,000, and hours outside those weeks are not itemized. ACEND’s directory says fully online coursework while the school says hybrid. The candidacy grant is dated July 2025 by ACEND and August 2025 in one UNT news item.

Master of Science, Lifestyle Health Sciences and Coaching

The Lifestyle Health Sciences and Coaching M.S. is 36 credits in one year, online with required live coaching sessions, and estimated at $15,367 resident and $30,487 non-resident (labeled 2025-26). It includes one nutrition course, states no RD eligibility or program accreditation, and is not a dietetics route.

Tuition

For 2026-27, the bursar table for the Clinical Nutrition M.S. shows resident tuition of $350 per credit ($50 statutory, $50 board authorized, $250 board designated) and non-resident tuition of $778, each with a $50 per-credit distance learning fee. These are derived by dividing the published term amounts by credits.

  • Year one totals every listed line: $20,927.34 resident and $40,187.34 non-resident, including about $5,177 in fees; year-two rates are not published
  • One-time or annual items include a $600 simulation center fee, a $120 supervised practice platform fee, $33.34 liability insurance, a $750 student services charge, and smaller fees
  • Not in tuition: DICAS $50, background check and drug screen $150, CPR $95, Academy student membership $58 a year, RD exam review $300, and about $2,500 for supplies, laptop, and books

Be aware that:

The program page’s non-resident estimate appears to use an earlier statutory rate: the resident-to-non-resident gap is exactly 71 credits at $420, against $428 on the 2026-27 schedule, so a 2026-27 entrant could pay about $568 more as a non-resident. The page also calls its total both tuition and total tuition and fees. Assistantship rules and any price lock were not found. Official figures are on UNT Health’s tuition and fees page.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for career changers in North Texas who want an integrated route to the credential without a DPD, and who accept being among the first cohort of a program that is still a candidate.

The credential value rests on ACEND’s candidacy language: students who enroll after candidacy is granted are treated as graduates of an accredited program. The risk that remains is practical, because no cohort has graduated, no exam pass rate exists, and full accreditation had no site visit posted.

The cost and logistics are a public-health-science-center resident rate, asynchronous coursework, and rotations about 32 hours a week during business hours in North Texas, with limited exceptions for students living elsewhere.

Accreditation

UNT Health Fort Worth is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees, which matters for transfer credit, graduate admission, and federal financial aid.

ACEND’s July 2025 decisions list the Coordinated Program in Dietetics under grants of candidacy for accreditation, and the directory shows it as a candidate, with a degree of M.S. and a term ending July 18, 2029. No UNT entry appears in ACEND’s 2022 to 2024 or 2026 decisions, and the program is not on the Programs Under Review page, so no site visit is posted. It is a Coordinated Program, not a Future Education Model program.

Candidacy is not full accreditation, and whether and when full accreditation follows was not found. A graduate of the Clinical Nutrition M.S. who enrolled after candidacy was granted is treated by ACEND as a graduate of an accredited program and can sit for the CDR exam on completion, while the Lifestyle Health Sciences and Coaching degree has no ACEND coverage.

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