Nutrition and Dietetics, MS

In just two years, this full-time, coordinated master's program lets you earn your MS in Nutrition and Dietetics while completing the required Supervised Experiential Learning (SEL) hours. Put your textbook knowledge into action as you gain real-world experience concurrently with your coursework.

Upon graduation, you’ll receive the verification statement needed to sit for the RDN credentialing exam. Your dream career in nutrition and dietetics starts here!

Forget the stress of applying separately for an internship or hunting for preceptors. We’ve got you covered! The program integrates SEL with your coursework, and our Clinical Coordinator will handle all your site placements.

Enjoy the best of both worlds with a hybrid program—mixing dynamic in-person experiences with the flexibility of remote learning. Perfect for busy, motivated students like you!

With a wide variety of practice sites throughout the tri-state area, you can customize your internship experience to fit your goals and interests. Dive into a world of opportunities!

With small class sizes (only 14–18 students per cohort), you’ll receive the individualized attention you deserve. This is your time to shine, and we’re here to help you do just that!

Check out our FAQ section or register for a virtual information session.

Gain hands-on experience managing food service operations in diverse settings. Placement sites range from farm-to-table restaurants and health focused, vegan cafes to K-12 and university level school food programs and healthcare food service operations. No matter where your rotation is, you'll develop key skills in food production, menu planning, budgeting, and nutrition management.

Focus on public health nutrition and community-based initiatives aimed at improving access to healthy food. Work with organizations like Federally Qualified Health Centers, teaching kitchens, food assistance programs, and community nutrition programs, helping to design and implement nutrition education and wellness outreach.

Train alongside healthcare teams in regional academic hospital systems, community hospitals, long-term care facilities, and children’s hospitals, providing comprehensive nutrition care for patients of all ages with diverse medical conditions. Practice interprofessional collaboration, conduct nutrition assessments, evaluate lab results, and provide nutrition education to patients and their caregivers, while making evidence-based nutrition recommendations to support recovery and improve health outcomes.

Explore a specialized area of interest in nutrition. Choose from a wide variety of sites such as complementary and integrative nutrition practices, eating disorder centers, sports nutrition facilities, and private practices in numerous other specialty areas, to tailor your experience to your career goals.

Work alongside Pace faculty in the Nutrition and Dietetics Teaching Kitchen, where you'll develop and deliver culinary nutrition education to the entire Pace community. Through interactive cooking demonstrations and hands-on workshops, you’ll help others discover the importance of nutrition in everyday life while building valuable teaching and public speaking skills. The Nutrition and Dietetics Teaching Kitchen is a proud member of the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative (TKC) and connects environmental sustainability with nutrition education through its collaboration with the Pleasantville campus community garden, emphasizing the role of fresh, locally-grown ingredients in promoting health and well-being.

Hone your culinary nutrition skills in the state-of-the-art Zwilling Cooking Studio, where you’ll create nutritious, flavorful meals. Whether you’re learning to prepare a heart-healthy dish or designing balanced menus, you'll gain hands-on experience to use in your future career and help patients make healthier choices through food.

Prepare for real-life interactions with patients and clients at our Center for Excellence in Healthcare Simulation, a state-of-the-art facility designed for hands-on learning and collaboration. Participate in clinical case-study activities, nutrition-focused skills labs, body composition analysis exercises, and realistic simulation experiences. Interact with standardized patients in lifelike settings, honing your communication, assessment, and nutrition recommendation skills while working alongside peers and other aspiring health professionals in a safe, controlled environment.

Experience the power of interprofessional collaboration as you work alongside students from other health professions, including nursing, occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, and physician assistants. These collaborative activities will help you understand how nutrition fits into a broader healthcare context, preparing you for team-based patient care in your future career.

Collaborate with Pace Athletics and provide nutrition education to undergraduate student-athletes, helping them optimize their performance through tailored nutrition plans. You'll gain firsthand experience in sports nutrition, advising athletes on fueling strategies and recovery diets to enhance their training and performance.

Dive into a unique, cross-disciplinary experience with Foodcultureology™, where you'll explore food and eating from the perspectives of nutrition, anthropology, sociology, history, and gastronomy. This immersive study abroad opportunity will broaden your understanding of how food culture impacts global nutrition practices, offering hands-on learning and cultural exploration.

• Applications must be submitted through DICAS, the centralized application service for dietetics.
• A typewritten essay that 1) discusses two professional goals, including how your experiences to date and how the program will help you to achieve them; 2) describes your plans to adjust your professional and/or personal obligations to have the time needed for the required coursework and supervised experiences; 3) identifies a major nutritional challenge in the United States or globally and the role of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists in helping to address this challenge.
• A resume or outline describing at least the past five years of your employment history and any significant community, professional, or college extracurricular activities.
• Applicants need 2 letters of recommendation. Letters should be from academic or professional references that can knowledgeably comment on your ability to successfully complete graduate study. Include recognitions and achievements (e.g. licenses, publications, and awards).
• All Official Transcripts: Transcripts from every accredited college or university attended (not just the degree granting institution) must be sent either to DICAS, directly from the academic institution electronically or by mail, or forwarded by the applicant in sealed envelopes from the academic institution
• Completion of all prerequisite requirements

Per credit: $1,420| Total cost of program: $76,680
*Tuition based on current year and subject to change.

The Application Deadline is January 31.

Applicant interviews are conducted throughout January and February. In person and virtual options are available.

Applicants are notified of acceptance to program by March 1. Applicant acceptance of admission is due by March 15.

Make an appointment to meet with you admission counselor.

Pace has many internal scholarships and awards to help its students meet their college expenses. Some Pace assistance is meant specifically for College of Health Professions undergraduate and graduate students.

Learn more about CHP-specific scholarships and how to apply.

Our two-year Coordinated Program allows students to merge classroom learning with the dietetic internship. We are among a small number of universities accredited to provide students with this condensed, yet rich learning experience. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible to sit for the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s (CDR) national exam to become Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN).

The program admits a cohort of 18 students each year.

Although it is subject to change, students typically have class 2-3 days a week in the first two semesters. In the final three semesters, students typically have class 1-2 days a week, with the remaining weekdays being dedicated to their assigned supervised practice rotation.

This program is only offered full time due to the number of hours required to complete each Supervised Experiential Learning (SEL) rotation. In addition to the SEL hours, students will also be enrolled in didactic coursework at the same time.

No. Once enrolled in the MS program, you are automatically enrolled in the internship portion too. As a student in the program, you will complete at least the 1,000 required SEL hours over four rotations: Food service management, Community, Clinical, and one elective rotation. Currently, Pace is only one of three institutions in New York to offer this format.

Priority consideration is given to applications that are verified before the January 15 deadline. Applications verified after this date will be reviewed based on available space. We begin assessing applications as they are verified by DICAS starting in August when the cycle opens. The department will notify applicants of their decisions by March 1. Admitted students will have until March 15 to submit their deposit.

We do not require an admission exam for consideration (i.e. GRE, TEAS, HESI).

However, if you earned a bachelor's degree in a country where English is not the official language and English is not your first language, you must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) OR the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Pearson PTE that are no more than two years old. In general, a TOEFL score of 100 (Internet-based version) or an IELTS score of 7.5, PTE score of 68, or Duolingo score of 130 is sufficient to demonstrate the requisite proficiency in English for admission into the College of Health Professions academic programs.

Yes. Virtual or in-person interview options are available. Interviews are scheduled during designated weeks throughout the application cycle.

Yes. Any student holding a bachelor level degree may apply for entrance to this graduate program. All students, regardless of educational background or work-related experience, are required to have completed certain pre-requisite courses to be sure that they have the foundational knowledge necessary to be successful in this program and in the field of nutrition.

Although you are welcome to apply, we encourage you to provide a statement as to why your academic history may not represent your ability. For reference, applications are carefully reviewed by the Admission Committee using a holistic approach, which considers qualitative and quantitative factors to ensure that we are fulfilling the program's mission.

You may submit your application for an upcoming term if your degree is conferred before the term starts. Additionally, priority consideration will be given to students who have completed all prerequisites ahead of the March 1 application deadline. However, applicants with prerequisite coursework in-progress will be considered at the department’s discretion. If admitted, the student is expected to complete all outstanding prerequisite requirements ahead of the start of the semester, with a grade of a B or better.

Yes. International students on F-1 Visa status who graduate from this program can remain in the U.S. and receive training through work experience for an additional time on an OPT STEM extension for 24 months (about 2 years).

Pace University's Office of Graduate Admission hosts virtual information sessions throughout the academic year. Events are added regularly and designed to align with the respective program's application cycle. You may register for an upcoming event, as well as review a previously recorded session on the CHP Events portal.

• English Composition or Literature (3 credits)
• Psychology (3 credits)
  • This can include coursework like Introductory, General, and a higher-level elective.
• Statistics (3 credits)
  • This can include coursework like Probability and Statistics and Psychology Statistics.
• Introduction to Nutrition (3 credits)
• Microbiology (3 credits)
• Organic Chemistry with lab (4 credits)
• Anatomy & Physiology I w/ lab (4 credits)
  • A four credit Anatomy course will also be accepted.
• Anatomy & Physiology II w/ lab (4 credits)
  • A four credit Physiology course will also be accepted.
• Biochemistry (3 credits)

To determine if your coursework is equivalent to our prerequisite requirements, we invite you to use our Transfer Credit Equivalency Database. If you do not see your course(s) listed, please send a copy of the course description to graduateadmission@pace.edu for review. Additionally, a list of pre-approved prerequisite courses is available (PDF). This is not an all-encompassing list, and other courses may also be approved.

There is currently no expiration date on prerequisite coursework.

Priority consideration will be given to students who have completed all prerequisites ahead of the March 1 application deadline. However, applicants with prerequisite coursework in-progress will be considered at the department’s discretion. If admitted, the student is expected to complete all outstanding prerequisite requirements ahead of the start of the semester, with a grade of a B or better.

Online coursework taken from a regionally accredited institution is acceptable if it meets the credit and lab minimum requirements.

Outside work is strongly discouraged as this is a rigorous full-time program. The first two semesters you will be enrolled in four 3-credit courses (12 credit hours total). During semesters 3-6, you will be required to dedicate a minimum of 24 hours/ 3 days per week designated to supervised practice (“internship”) rotations in addition to two or three 3-credit courses (6 – 9 credit hours total). The exact days and times you will be completing these hours must be flexible to accommodate the schedules and needs of the rotation sites. In general, supervised practice hours will be completed on weekdays, although in some special circumstances, there may be weekend days required. Classes will be held on weekdays only. Course work and supervised practice must be a priority and any outside employment must not interfere with your academic experiences.