The University at Buffalo offers the Clinical Nutrition MS program, a graduate program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) which meets the educational requirements for credentialing by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN).
The majority of states have enacted laws that regulate the practice of dietetics. State licensure and state certification are entirely separate and distinct from the registration or credentialing RDNs obtained from the CDR. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, requirements to become a licensed dietitian nutritionist in most states are generally similar to those required to become a registered dietitian nutritionist. To be licensed as a dietitian nutritionist, all states require documentation of education or equivalent in addition to non-academic requirements such as supervised practice and satisfactory scores on credentialing exams. Beginning in 2024, candidates for the RD/RDN exam will also need a graduate degree, in any area, to sit for the exam. The UB program includes and integrated graduate degree in Clinical Nutrition.
