Requirements
Program of Study
The Master of Science program in Nutritional Sciences provides students with a course of study in advanced nutrition topics related to disease prevention and management, health optimization, and food and nutrition sustainability. The program prepares graduates for positions in advanced clinical, community, and management careers as well as careers in various industry settings. Students are able to tailor the degree with additional course options within, and outside of, Nutritional Sciences. This degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours, including six hours of thesis, beyond a Bachelor’s degree. Students must have a 3.0 GPA in prerequisite courses consisting of: General Chemistry I, General Chemistry II with lab, Organic Chemistry, Physiology with lab, and Nutrition. No GRE is required.
Students also have the option to pursue post-baccalaureate Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) verification with the MS in NUTR. The MS NUTR DPD track is specifically designed for students who hold a Bachelor’s degree in a related or unrelated field, and want to pursue Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) accredited supervised practice upon program completion, in order to become a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist (RD/RDN).
The MS NUTR with DPD verification track requires a minimum of 22 hours of undergraduate credit of TCU NTDT courses (NTDT 30313 Food Systems Management, NTDT 30144 Quantity Food Production, 30233 Essentials in Dietetics Practice, NTDT 30333 Medical Nutrition Therapy I, NTDT 40343 Nutritional Biochemistry, NTDT 40333 Medical Nutrition Therapy II, NTDT 40403 Research Methods in Nutrition) as leveling courses, and a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit, including six hours of thesis, beyond a Bachelor of Science degree. In addition to prerequisite courses required for the MS NUTR (General Chemistry I, General Chemistry II with lab, Organic Chemistry, Physiology with lab, and Nutrition) students must also complete additional prerequisite courses of Nutrition Throughout the Lifecycle, Medical Terminology, Microbiology, and either Human Behavior, Psychology, Sociology or Anthropology. Students must apply to, and be accepted into, the TCU DPD. Eligibility for admission to the DPD MS NUTR track is based on completion of prerequisite courses with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 for Nutrition (NTDT) classes; and an Associated Requirements GPA of at least 2.75, no more than 3 grades below a "B-" in the Associated Requirements, 200 hours of documented food or nutrition practical experience and an application packet. Students accepted to the DPD must apply to the MS in NUTR to receive conditional acceptance until they begin graduate coursework before they begin courses at TCU to pursue DPD verification or the MS in NUTR. A student's continuation in the DPD is contingent upon attainment of successful completion of the required courses. To earn DPD verification, the student must attain a minimum Nutrition (NTDT) GPA of 3.0, earn a "C-" or better in all NTDT and Associated Requirement courses, a maximum of three grades below a "B-" in the Associated Requirements, and complete 500 hours of documented food or nutrition practical experience prior to the completion of their final semester at TCU. Students who do not meet the requirements for DPD verification, but complete the requirements of the MS in NUTR, will graduate with the MS in NUTR without DPD verification.
Graduate First Year (Courses are listed by number, title, and credit hour for each semester)
| NTDT 50973 | Nutritional Sciences Seminar | 3 |
| NTDT 60443 | Integrative Functional Nutrition and Nutritional Genomics | 3 |
| NTDT 60453 | Nutrition Ecology, Food, and Sustainability | 3 |
| NTDT 50343 | Biochemical, Physiological, and Molecular Aspects of Human Nutrition | 3 |
| | Electives | 3 |
Graduate Second Year (Courses listed by number, title, and credit hour for each semester)
Elective Course Options
Non-Nutrition Graduate Course Options
*Students can take up to 15 hours of 50000 level credit towards the MS degree.