About the Program
The Purdue University Nutrition and Dietetics program has been in existence for over 100 years with placement of students in supervised practice programs and the first-time pass rate for the National Registration (RD) exam higher than the national average. Nutrition plays a vital role in maintaining health and in the prevention and treatment of diseases. Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN)s are the food and nutrition experts who translate the science of nutrition into personalized recommendations to help people prevent and manage medical conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and many more. To become an RDN, students must complete required coursework and 1000 hours of supervised practice experience, both from accredited dietetics programs as well as complete a graduate degree. Required courses include biology, chemistry, biochemistry, medical nutrition therapy, nutrition assessment, diet selection and planning, and food service systems management.
At Purdue, students complete all required coursework for dietetics in the Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics (DPD), and then apply to either an outside dietetics internship or graduate program or Purdue’s Master of Science in Dietetics to complete the required accredited supervised practice as well as a graduate degree. Purdue’s programs are fully ACEND accredited and thus, the Nutrition Science Department at Purdue offers all the required steps to be eligible to sit for the RDN exam. Scores on the national RDN exam by Purdue graduates are consistently well above the national average.
Upon completion of supervised practice and a graduate degree, students are eligible to sit for the national registration examination for dietitians.
With a focus on preventive health and nutrition, Dietetics is an excellent pre-professional major. More information about the DPD.
Department of Nutrition Science
Nutrition and Dietetics Major Change (CODO) Requirements
World Language Courses
World Language proficiency requirements vary by program. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor. (ASL-American Sign Language; ARAB-Arabic; CHNS-Chinese; FR-French; GER-German; GREK-Greek(Ancient); HEBR-Hebrew(Biblical); HEBR-Hebrew(Modern); ITAL-Italian; JPNS-Japenese; KOR-Korean; LATN-Latin; PTGS=Portuguese; RUSS-Russian; SPAN-Spanish)
Critical Course
The ♦ course is considered critical.
In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major. Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful. These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program”.
