Designed for dietitians and other nutrition professionals who:

• Want to maintain full-time employment and/or have time for other professional or personal commitments
• Can't relocate to a college campus
• Work well independently
• Are self-motivated and goal-oriented

With high academic standards and a challenging curriculum that focuses on five competency areas:

• Application of nutrition knowledge
• Teaching nutrition information
• Demonstration of the processes of critical inquiry and research
• Application of technology to professional activities
• Demonstration of effective professional communication

Designed with the adult learner in mind:

• A fast track--earn your Master of Science in Nutrition degree in just over 2 years by taking two courses a quarter
• Flexibility to fit your life--allowing you up to 5 years from the date of enrollment into the program to complete all degree requirements
• A thesis option for students who plan to pursue the PhD degree and are interested in research careers--plan on spending at least an additional year to meet thesis requirements

Since the program began in 1993, over 230 students have graduated with a Master of Science in Nutrition degree. The Department of Nutrition enrolled its first nine students into the Master of Science degree program in 1993. At that time, the program was campus-based and was designed to meet the needs of dietitians interested in earning graduate degrees in nutrition. Because many prospective students expressed interest in an off-campus delivery format, a non-traditional program was offered using the same course materials, the same assignments and exams, and following the same course sequence as followed by students on campus. Students submitted course assignments and exams by U.S. mail or fax. On-campus attendance was required but only for three days at the end of each quarter. This option grew in popularity and in 1994, students entering the program expressed interest only in the non-traditional program, so no additional students were enrolled into the traditional program. As technology improved and became more readily available, the non-traditional option transitioned to a distance education Master of Science Program offered online in 1999, eliminating the need for an on-campus component. The first graduating class was in 1995 and at that time the program had 3 graduates.