Virginia State University Nutrition Degree Programs

Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, College of Agriculture • Petersburg, VA • Campus • $440/Credit (Undergraduate, In-State)

Virginia State offers 3 nutrition and dietetics credentials, but no master’s degree:

  • B.S., Family and Consumer Science with a Dietetics concentration (the ACEND Didactic Program in Dietetics)
  • Certificate in Nutrition and Dietetics (a post-baccalaureate DPD for applicants who already hold a bachelor’s degree)
  • Dietetic Internship with a 16-credit Graduate Certificate in Food and Nutrition Science (ACEND-accredited supervised practice)

Program Tracks Overview

ProgramEst. TuitionEst. DurationCredit Hours
B.S. Family and Consumer Science, Dietetics$10,678/yr (tuition and fees, 2026-27, full time)4 years121
Certificate in Nutrition and DieteticsAbout $18,480 at the $440 undergraduate per-credit rate (est.)Must finish within 2 years of applying42
Dietetic Internship, Food and Nutrition Science Certificate$8,500 per the internship cost page; about $10,320 at the 2026-27 graduate rate (derived)About 15 months per the catalog; 37 weeks per the program overview16

Virginia State’s differentiator is that it runs both halves of the older RD route in one department: an accredited DPD, then its own ACEND-accredited internship tied to the state’s land-grant agriculture research station and extension. It is also a public HBCU whose own news release says it has the lowest total in-state tuition and mandatory fees among Virginia’s public four-year universities, citing SCHEV without a figure; that comparison was not independently verified here. There is no nutrition master’s program, so the internship applicant must bring a graduate degree from elsewhere.

Quick Facts

FeatureDetails
FormatCampus; the internship has weekly on-campus classes plus on-site rotations and an 8-week research block on campus, with no online or hybrid delivery described
Credit HoursB.S.: 121; post-baccalaureate certificate: 42; Food and Nutrition Science graduate certificate: 16
ACEND AccreditationYes: a Didactic Program in Dietetics (full and continued accreditation after a January 2020 site visit) and a Dietetic Internship (full and continued accreditation after a January 2023 site visit). Later decisions record continued accreditation after progress or interim reports: DPD in 2022, 2023, and 2024; internship in 2024. No probation, candidacy, or closure entry was found; ACEND’s pages give no term end dates
RD/RDN EligibilityNot directly from the B.S. or certificate, which issue a verification statement. Graduates then need a graduate degree and an accredited supervised-practice program, such as Virginia State’s own internship
Supervised PracticeOver 1,000 hours per the internship overview, mid-August to April, 32 hours a week plus one class day; the catalog says at least 1,200 hours over 15 months. Rotations are within about 70 miles of Petersburg and Richmond, with some sites farther away
DPD AdmissionsSeparate application after VSU admission; 2.85 GPA minimum (conditional) and selection at 3.0 or better plus nutrition-related work or volunteer experience; prerequisites with a C or better in general chemistry, organic chemistry, two biology courses, and math; capped at 30 students; deadlines October 15 or March 15; applicants may apply only twice
Reported OutcomesNo results are published. The DPD lists targets (80% completion within 3 years, 80% one-year exam pass rate) and the internship lists targets (70% employed in the field within 12 months, 80% one-year pass rate), with data “available on request”
TuitionUndergraduate full time: $10,678/yr in-state, $23,988 out-of-state; graduate full time: $14,029 in-state, $26,321 out-of-state (2026-27, tuition plus mandatory fees); part-time per credit: $440 undergraduate and $645 graduate in-state
Institutional AccreditationSACSCOC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges)

Bachelor of Science, Family and Consumer Science, Dietetics Concentration

The estimated cost is $10,678 a year in-state for a full-time student (2026-27), made up of $6,812 in tuition and technology fee and $3,866 in mandatory fees. The degree is 121 credits on a four-year plan. Virginia State does not offer a stand-alone “B.S. in Dietetics”; this concentration is its DPD.

DPD Admissions

  • A separate DPD application after admission to the university
  • Prerequisites with a C or better: general chemistry I and II with labs, organic chemistry, biology (two courses), and math
  • 2.85 GPA minimum (conditional); selection favors 3.0 or better plus nutrition-related work or volunteer experience; 3.0 is needed for unconditional upper-division status and 3.25 is recommended for internship applications
  • Capped at 30 students; deadlines October 15 or March 15, which may flex; applicants may apply only twice
You Should Know

Virginia State’s own pages disagree about when the DPD is next reviewed: its accreditation office lists 2027 for the certificate and 2029 for the internship, while a September 2024 Board of Visitors calendar lists 2028 for both. Its dietetics page says the program is ACEND-accredited without giving a status or dates, so rely on ACEND’s own decisions above. The Board calendar and accreditation office also give different last-review years for the internship (2019 and 2022) than ACEND’s January 2023 site-visit decision.

Certificate in Nutrition and Dietetics

The estimated cost is about $18,480 for 42 credits at the $440 undergraduate per-credit rate, assuming undergraduate billing applies; Virginia State does not publish a certificate-specific figure. This is the DPD for people who already hold a bachelor’s degree in another field, and it issues a verification statement on completion. Applicants must finish within two years of applying.

Dietetic Internship and Graduate Certificate in Food and Nutrition Science

The internship cost page lists $8,500 in tuition ($4,250 a semester), plus a $50 application fee and a $60 graduation fee. At the 2026-27 in-state graduate rate of $645 per credit, 16 credits would be about $10,320; the catalog says certificate students enroll through Continuing Education, so it is unclear which rate applies.

Internship Structure

  • Mid-August to April, with a research concentration; interns work with the Agriculture Research Station and Extension
  • Three practice courses totaling 1,100 hours (400, 400, and 300), within a program described as over 1,000 hours
  • Full time only, with one class day a week; match through DICAS and D&D Digital, program code 448
You Should Know

Virginia State’s own pages give conflicting hours and duration for the internship: over 1,000 hours and 37 weeks on the program overview, at least 1,200 hours and 15 months in the catalog, and 32 versus 36 hours a week across two pages. Its application pages also conflict. The internship application page requires a master’s degree (or one in progress with 12 or fewer credits left, finished within four months of the internship ending), a verification statement, and a 3.0 master’s GPA, with a February 15 DICAS deadline and a $100 combined fee. The graduate catalog instead requires only a bachelor’s degree, a verification statement, a 3.0 GPA, and a GRE taken within five years, which a master’s degree may waive. Cohort size was not found. Confirm requirements with the director before applying.

The Food and Nutrition Science certificate is a certificate, not a master’s degree. Virginia State does not say whether it satisfies the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s graduate-degree rule on its own, and no nutrition or dietetics master’s program exists at Virginia State.

Tuition

Virginia State publishes full-year rates and per-credit rates for part-time students; the part-time per-credit figure is tuition plus an $11 comprehensive fee (2026-27).

  • Undergraduate full time, in-state: $10,678 a year ($6,812 tuition and technology fee, $3,866 mandatory fees); out-of-state $23,988
  • Graduate full time, in-state: $14,029 a year; out-of-state $26,321
  • Part-time per credit: $440 undergraduate and $645 graduate in-state; $1,022 and $1,219 out-of-state
  • 2025-26 full-time totals were $10,418 undergraduate and $13,688 graduate in-state
  • DPD program expenses: textbooks $800 to $1,600, plus a lab coat, shoes, membership, and a $60 graduation fee

Be aware that:

Tuition and mandatory fees rise about 2.5% for 2026-27. Virginia State’s news release says it has the lowest total in-state tuition and fees among Virginia public four-year universities, citing SCHEV without a figure; that comparison was not independently verified here.

Official figures are in Virginia State’s 2026-2027 student tuition and fees guide.

Why Choose This Nutrition Program?

Best suited for students who want a low-cost, in-state start on the RD route and the option of completing the supervised-practice step at the same university.

Students watching cost pay $10,678 a year in-state for full-time undergraduate tuition and fees (2026-27), and part-time graduate credits run $645.

Career changers with a bachelor’s can take the 42-credit certificate DPD instead of a second bachelor’s, then apply to the internship.

The honest trade-off is that no one at Virginia State can finish the RD pathway entirely in-house: there is no master’s degree, outcomes are published as targets only, and its own pages conflict on internship hours, requirements, and review dates.

Accreditation

Virginia State is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which governs credit transfer, graduate admission eligibility, and federal financial aid access across the university.

ACEND records full and continued accreditation for Virginia State’s Didactic Program in Dietetics after a January 2020 site visit and for its Dietetic Internship after a January 2023 site visit, followed by continued accreditation after progress or interim reports in 2022 through 2024. This covers the DPD (the B.S. concentration and the certificate) and the internship. No other Virginia State nutrition program carries ACEND accreditation.

The Commission on Dietetic Registration has required a graduate degree for first-time exam eligibility since January 1, 2024, so a verification statement from either DPD route is only the first step. Graduates also need a graduate degree and accredited supervised practice before the national exam.

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