Food and Nutrition Specialization in Nutrition Science - M.S.

Pre-Admissions Advising

Pre-application advising is available and recommended for graduate students interested in Food and Nutrition, individual appointments are available on every other Tuesday evening from 4:30-7:30pm (EST) via Zoom or by phone.. You can schedule an appointment with a Food and Nutrition program advisor online or by calling (508) 626-4501. Be sure to request a Food and Nutrition advisor specially.

Program & Admissions Requirements

The program requires a minimum of ten (10) courses: four (4) core courses and six (6) concentration and elective courses, together with undergraduate prerequisite courses required for students without appropriate academic backgrounds. A minimum of ten (10) courses is required for graduation. An oral comprehensive examination is required as the student's culminating experience.

Students who provide a current ACEND Verification Form indicating completion of the Didactic Program in Dietetics may have some program core and/or concentration courses waived. Students are required to select additional graduate elective courses for a total of ten (10) to replace any waived courses. Those who wish to fulfill the academic requirements (DPD) for becoming a Registered Dietitian should consult the undergraduate prerequisite courses listed under the Coordinated Program in Dietetics specialization.

Concentration Core Courses (4)

NUTR 874 Human Nutrition Science
NUTR 903 Advanced Nutrition and Metabolism
NUTR 911 Research Methods in Nutrition
NUTR 980 Seminar in Food and Nutrition

Specialization Courses (3)

NUTR 918 Nutrition Informatics
NUTR 973 Designing Nutrition Education Programs and Curricula
NUTR 993 Nutrition Education Programs and Curricula II: Implementation and Evaluation

Specialization Electives (3)

Elective courses will not be offered each semester and may not be offered every year. Elective courses require written approval from the student's advisor.

Choose three (3) electives from:

NUTR 883 Medical Nutrition Therapy II
NUTR 920 Pediatric Nutrition
NUTR 940 Geriatric Nutrition: Diet, Functionality, and Disease
NUTR 960 Sports Nutrition
NUTR 978 Public Health Nutrition

Choose one (1) additional electives below:

CPSY 911 Orientation to Counseling Practice
FDSC 805 Food Analysis
FDSC 808 Food Chemistry
NUTR 879 Computer Applications in Nutrition
NUTR 881 Medical Nutrition Therapy II
NUTR 882 Management of Food and Nutrition Services
NUTR 884 Foodservice Systems
NUTR 918 Nutrition Informatics
NUTR 920 Pediatric Nutrition
NUTR 922 Communication in Public Health and Nutrition
NUTR 940 Nutrition and Healthy Aging
NUTR 960 Sports Nutrition
NUTR 970 Technology in Nutrition Education
NUTR 978 Public Health Nutrition
NUTR 990 Directed Study in Food and Nutrition

Applicants must complete the online graduate admission application.
Applicants must have earned a baccalaureate degree and have an overall undergraduate quality point average (QPA) of at least 3.00 on a 4.00 scale including acceptable grades in science courses from a regionally accredited college/university and must submit all official college-level transcripts. Applicants who studies outside of the United State must submit official transcripts and a course-by-course evaluation for US equivalency.
Two (2) recommendations must be submitted electronically through the Recommendation section of the application. One letter must be from an employer or supervisor, and the second letter must be from a faculty member who has taught the candidate at the collegiate level if the candidate attended classes in the last five years; if a faculty recommendation is not possible, the second letter should be another professional recommendation.
Applicants must submit a 300-word personal statement discussing their motivation for seeking a master’s degree in view of prior formal education, current job responsibilities and career plans.Courses in Human Anatomy and Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biostatistics must have been successfully completed within the last five years. Students may inquire about challenge exams.
Students who do not fulfill the QPA requirement, but have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.75 on a 4.00 scale will be considered for admission after they complete two prerequisite courses at Framingham State University. These courses must have prior approval and must be completed with a grade of B or better.

Nutrition Science Concentration Undergraduate Prerequisite Courses

MATH 208 Biostatistics (not required for students having had acceptable statistics courses within the last five years)
Undergraduate courses in Human Anatomy and Physiology and in Biochemistry must have been successfully completed within the last five years. Students may inquire about challenge exams; students have only one opportunity to take and pass the examination.

Coordinated Program in Dietetics concentration Undergraduate Prerequisite Courses (equivalent to the following FSU courses):

BIOL 130 Principles of Biology
BIOL 235 Principles of Human Physiology
BIOL 228 Principles of Microbiology
CHEM 107 Principles of Chemistry
CHEM 108 Principles of Chemistry and Quantitative Analysis
CHEM 207 Organic Chemistry
CHEM 300 Principles of Biochemistry
MATH 208 Biostatistics (not required for students having had an acceptable statistics course within the last five years)
NUTR 002 Orientation to Dietetics (a non-credit 200-hour work experience)
NUTR 110 Fundamentals of Nutrition Science
NUTR 262 Food, Culture and Society (not required for students having had an equivalent food course)
NUTR 364 Experimental Study of Food
NUTR 381 Medical Nutrition Therapy I
NUTR 478 Community Nutrition
PSYC 101 General Psychology OR SOCI 101 Introduction to Sociology OR ANTH 161 Cultural Anthropology

Courses in Human Physiology and in Biochemistry must have been successfully completed within the last five years. Students may inquire about challenge exams; students have only one opportunity to take and pass a challenge examination.

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) Registration Information

Students seeking eligibility for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) examination for becoming a Registered Dietitian must complete the academic requirements for the Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD), including a supervised practice experience in an accredited program. The Coordinated Program in Dietetics (CP) specialization fulfills both of these requirements. Both the CP and the DPD are competitive programs which require a separate application by matriculated students. Additional information can be found at the Food and Nutrition major website. Framingham State University provides advising by the DPD Director for those students who elect to apply to a Dietetic Internship to fulfill the supervised practice experience. These students must complete NUTR 005 Preparation for Academy Dietetic Internship (no course credit) offered each fall.