Interested students must complete a Signing Session with the Division of Health Sciences (DHS) Advising Center. 

Students wishing to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition Sciences as the first step to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) must first be admitted to UNLV as a pre-major (NUTR-PRE).  After completing the prerequisite requirements below, students will apply to the Nutrition Sciences' Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics (DPND)/Nutrition for Healthcare degree concentration at the end of their sophomore year (in June) for entry into the program in Fall of their Junior year.  The annual application deadline is June 30th.

The following courses must be completed with the associated grade minimum for admission consideration into the DPND:

  • BIOL 189A/L (grade of C or higher)
  • BIOL 251A/L (grade of C or higher)
  • CHEM 121A/L (grade of C or higher)
  • KIN 223/L (grade of C or higher)
  • KIN 224/L (grade of C or higher)
  • MATH 126 (grade of C or higher)
  • NUTR 223 (grade of B or higher)
  • NUTR 271 (grade of B or higher)
  • NUTR 301 (grade of B or higher)

A grade of C or higher is required for all other general education courses.

An application for the program is required. This application process will be reviewed with you in NUTR 271. A one-page Letter of Intent (LOI) is a required component of the application process, along with a minimum overall GPA of 2.75, and a minimum pre-requisite GPA of 2.75. All application materials must be submitted in a single Word Doc. or PDF (photos of applications submitted as JPEGs or PNGs will not be accepted).

Please note that there is no entrance exam to be admitted into the program at this time.

Once all required courses are successfully completed (see above), students are eligible to apply (and must apply) to the DPND program for program admission. Please note that if either GPA does not meet 2.75, the student’s application will be automatically denied.

The program has a cap (50 students) and this number is subject to change. Students are selected based on overall GPA, GPA of prerequisite courses, earning of minimum grades in prerequisite courses, and a one-page letter of intent.

Once admitted into the DPND (i.e Nutrition for Healthcare degree concentration), students will be considered Nutrition Sciences majors and the designation will change from NUTR-PRE to NUTR in their MyUNLV student accounts.

TOEFL iBT Exam Requirement for Non-native English Speakers

If an applicant is a non-native English speaker, in order to be admitted to the BS Nutrition Sciences and/or DPND, the applicant must provide proof of English language proficiency.

A non-native speaker is an individual whose primary language in the home was a language other than English (or a non-English language) or who received K-12 (or equivalent) education in schools where English was not the medium of instruction.

Prospective students must take the TOEFL iBT (internet) exam and earn a minimum score of 100 to be eligible for this program. No other exam will be accepted.

This is usually a requirement when first applying to the university, and you’ll likely have been notified to take this exam prior to admittance to UNLV. However, if that is not the case and you fall into this category, the TOEFL exam must be completed prior to applying to the major.

Transfer Credits & Assessment of Prior Learning

The UNLV DPND does not assess prior learning or competence except for the possibility of course transfers as explained below.

Students who have completed DPND work at another ACEND-accredited institution and are requesting admission into the UNLV DPND program will be asked to send a request for a letter of good standing to the Dept. Chair and/or Dean of the program from which they are transferring from, and have that letter emailed to the DPND Director (DPND Director contact information available on page 5 of DPND Student handbook).

Note: Program requirements differ from university requirements for graduation. Therefore, it’s possible for a course to be accepted by UNLV for overall credit, but the UNLV DPND Program is not required to accept those transfer credits if they do not meet minimum program accreditation standards, as determined by the DPD Director.

Students requesting admission into the UNLV DPND program from a non-accredited institution will be required to complete all program coursework at UNLV.

Specific courses will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the DPD Director when the program contract is negotiated. Transfer credit for equivalent course work may possibly be granted for admission as a pre-major (PRE-NUTR) in MATH, BIOL and CHEM.

Transfer courses will be evaluated based on course content not course title or description. Specific ACEND foundation knowledge requirements and learning outcomes must be equivalent in order to meet accreditation standards of education and therefore accepted by the UNLV DPND Program. There is no guarantee that a transfer course will be accepted into the UNLV DPND Program, even if from another ACEND-accredited program.

If transferred into UNLV and accepted by the program, the earned grade in the course will count towards the application into the DPND Program, and to the overall graduating GPA.

The application process into the DPND is then the same as specified above despite which courses may or may not transfer to meet program requirements.

From that point, all NUTR-prefix courses must be taken at UNLV for DPND admission and to earn a signed Verification Statement from the DPD Director upon graduation (unless taken at another ACEND-accredited, NSHE institution per the NSHE code transfer agreement - i.e. University of Nevada Reno (UNR); Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC)).

Transfer students will first be admitted to UNLV as a PRE-NUTR major in Nutrition Sciences (PRE-NUTR) despite how many credits the student currently holds, class-standing at previous institution or completion of another Bachelor’s degree. All prospective students applying to the UNLV DPND Program must enroll as a PRE-NUTR major first.

Students must then apply to the DPND program for admission once all required courses are successfully completed (see page 30). Please note that a Summer take of a prerequisite course will not be accepted towards that year’s application, and the student must wait until the following year to apply to the program. In addition, if either GPA does not meet 2.75, the student’s application will be automatically denied.

To be considered for transfer after program acceptance (i.e. taking an online food science course elsewhere for financial reasons), NUTR courses must come from a DPND program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND).

Courses older than five years will not be considered for transference into the program (although UNLV may still accept them to add to the student’s overall credit load). In addition, 100-level introductory nutrition courses will not be considered for transference into the program.

English (ENG), Mathematics (MATH) and Chemistry (CHEM) courses may require placement examinations to determine course sequencing. SAT, ACT or department exams may apply- see catalog for details.

See page 72 of the DPND Student handbook for more information on Assessment of Prior Learning.