2023 Most Affordable Online Master's Degrees in Nutrition

Southeast Missouri State University is a public institution offering an online Master of Science in Applied Nutrition that prepares students to become registered dieticians. This 15-month program requires completing 36 credit hours to graduate. Students enroll as cohorts and progress through the program in a specific course rotation.

Southeast delivers its online curriculum via the Canvas online learning management system (LMS). The online applied nutrition program includes courses such as Advanced Application of Medical Nutrition Therapy, Foundations in Dietetics Practice, Strategic Management of Food Service Operations, and Food Science and Technology. Students must also complete a field experience and capstone project in order to graduate. Career opportunities may include clinical dietician, nutrition specialist, wellness coach, and food services director.

The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) is a public institution offering an online Master of Science in Nutrition. Students can choose a 30-credit thesis track or a 36-credit non-thesis track, which may take full-time students about two years to complete.

The Blackboard LMS hosts UCA's online coursework and instruction. Online master's in nutrition students take classes such as Trends in Nutrition, Current Findings in Food, Metabolic Nutrition, and Nutrition Counseling. Graduating also requires completing a graduate portfolio, an internship practicum, and a comprehensive exam — which is oral for thesis students and written for non-thesis students.

The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public institution offering an online Master of Science in Nutrition - Clinical Nutrition, which was founded on the Future Education Model in order to help meet the requirements to become a registered dietitian nutritionist. This accelerated, 18-month cohort program requires completing 46 credit hours.

UCM provides the LMS Blackboard to its students, which allows them to access online course content and instruction. Courses within this online clinical nutrition program include Nutrition Across the Lifespan, Dietary Supplements, Medical Nutrition Therapy, and Special Problems in Food and Nutrition. Students must also complete supervised experiential learning. The clinical nutrition program curriculum helps students earn the verification statement required for the registration exam for dietitian nutritionists by the Commission on Dietetic Registration.

Bowling Green State University - Main Campus (BGSU) is a public institution offering an online Master of Food and Nutrition for students with a bachelor's degree in food, nutrition, or a related field. This 39-40 credit hour program may take full-time students at least two years to complete. Students can choose a thesis or non-thesis option, the latter of which would require completing a comprehensive exam instead.

BGSU students access their online classes via Canvas. The online food and nutrition curriculum courses include Macronutrients for Human Nutrition, Research Methods in Food and Nutrition, and Community and Public Health Nutrition. BGSU hosts a dietetics internship program so students can complete the required experiential learning experience, which has a potential pathway allowing them to become registered dietician nutritionists.

Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public institution offering an online Master of Science in Education: Physical Education - Nutrition that helps prepare students for the International Society of Sports Nutrition Certified Sports Nutrition exam. Students must complete 30 credit hours to graduate with their master's, which typically takes at least two years if attending full time.

Online students at JSU access their assignments and engage in classroom discussions through the popular LMS Canvas. Students in the online master's in physical education program who are taking a nutrition emphasis enroll in courses such as Diet and Performance, Law and Ethics in Wellness and Sports Studies, and Diversity Issues and Trends in Wellness and Sports Studies. The online program curriculum can also help students prepare to enroll in a registered dietician program.