When we set out to create NutritionEd.org, we saw it as an opportunity to offer utility while fostering a sense of community. This vision has allowed us to create a resource that helps practicing nutritionists and dietitians stay informed while guiding new professionals entering the field.
Our guides follow each step of the path – from the education necessary to get started, to putting knowledge into practice through an internship program, to demonstrating mastery through the exam process, to maintaining RD credentials throughout your career. On NutritionEd.org you’ll find:
- Step-by-step guides to the national Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) credentialing process and the applicable dietitian licensing or certification requirements in each state
- Listings and guidance for ACEND-accredited Dietetic Internships and Coordinated Programs, with information on program options and admission requirements (for the most current accreditation status, consult ACEND’s official Accredited Program Directory)
- State-by-state salary information for dietitians and nutritionists using occupational wage estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Details on degree options that meet the requirements for national registration and state certification
- Details on the CDR Exam content and guidance on how to prepare to pass
- Detailed career guides that help explain the unique role of nutritionists and dietitians, and other health and wellness professions whose work intersects with the field of nutrition
How We Work
NutritionEd.org is written and maintained by our editorial staff. Our editorial approach combines academic rigor with practical guidance. Our editorial standards call for human review and fact-checking of articles and updates using authoritative sources, including the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND), the Commission on Dietetic Registration, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, state licensing authorities, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We aim to identify and correct outdated accreditation information, credentialing requirements, and occupational statistics.
We publish career and education guidance. We do not give clinical or dietary advice, and nothing here substitutes for a consultation with a credentialed practitioner. Where the evidence is genuinely mixed, we say so instead of picking the tidier answer.
Everything we publish follows our editorial standards: where our facts come from, how we use AI, and how each article is fact-checked by a person before it’s published.
Experts We’ve Interviewed
Academics and nutrition professionals have shared their expertise with us in interviews, including:
Anastasia Snelling, PhD, RD
Professor, Department of Health Studies · American University
Dr. Snelling has been a registered dietitian for more than 30 years and is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition. She directs American University’s Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities Lab, where her research examines behavior change in nutrition education and approaches to managing chronic-disease risk factors. She is the author of Introduction to Health Promotion (2014), and she shared her perspective on health promotion with us.
Featured in: What Is Health Promotion?
Dara Ford, PhD, RDN
Program Director, MS in Nutrition Education; Professorial Lecturer · American University, Department of Health Studies
Dr. Ford earned her PhD in Nutritional Sciences from Pennsylvania State University, where she examined relationships between health-related quality of life and mortality among older adults and contributed to a diet-quality evaluation tool. Her teaching experience includes courses in Nutrition for Health, Strategies for Weight Control, Nutrition Program Design, and Sports Nutrition, and she has shared her perspective with us on diet and quality of life, informed skepticism in nutrition, and nutrition careers.
Featured in: Make It Meaningful: How Nutritionists Balance Diet and Quality of Life · The Importance of Informed Skepticism in Nutrition · Nutrition Careers · Dietitian vs. Nutritionist
Denise Howard, EdD
Associate Professor and Department Chair, Kinesiology · Concordia University, St. Paul (CSP Global)
Dr. Howard earned her Doctor of Education in Kinesiology from CSP Global in fall 2023, becoming the program’s first graduate. She has more than 30 years of experience in health and fitness, including work in corporate, commercial, hospital, and college settings, and her academic interests include ultrarunning, endurance performance, and exercise science. She shared her expertise with us for our guide to ultrarunning.
Featured in: What Is Ultrarunning?
Writers Who Have Contributed
Over the years, these writers helped build NutritionEd.org, turning accreditation standards, credentialing rules, and expert insight into guides readers could use to plan their next step. Today our content is produced and updated by our editorial staff, following our editorial standards.
Rebecca Turley
Rebecca is a full-time writer and editor with a BA in Journalism and Communications. Her career highlights include ghostwriting several published books, editing for a national book publishing company, and writing for many high-profile websites and blogs aimed at the education, healthcare, and social sciences fields.
Scott Wilson
Scott is an author and IT consultant based in the Pacific Northwest. He holds a BA in English from the University of Washington and has spent more than 20 years in information technology, experience that gives him a sharp eye for clear, precise explanations of technical subjects.
Susan Maphis
Susan has worked as a freelance writer and editor since 1986 and has written for education and career guidance websites since 2009. Her work spans newspaper reporting, press releases, academic and technical articles, and healthcare, mental health, and career content. She holds a BA in psychology from West Chester University.
Jennifer Cione-Kroeschel
Jennifer spent more than a decade as a freelance writer, editor, and designer, producing web content, blog posts, case studies, and marketing materials for education, technology, and business clients. She holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of the novel Civil Dawn.
Laura Wrede
Laura is an author, artist, and photographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area who has been writing professionally since 2007. She holds bachelor’s degrees in leadership and theology.
Sam Medley
Sam is a freelance writer with a passion for learning about any and everything he can. He holds a degree in mathematics from Sam Houston State University and has worked in finance, technology, and education. He and his wife tend bees, ducks, and chickens on their Kentucky homestead.
Jack Levinson
Jack is a writer born and raised in Los Angeles. He holds a BA from Vassar College, and has written professionally on education, business, and career topics.
Our Commitment to You
In developing NutritionEd.org, we learned from RDs and nutritionists who gave their time generously in interviews, and from writers who worked to turn complex credentialing rules into clear guides and resource pages. Together, we worked to anticipate the questions students and aspiring professionals are likely to have and to answer them in one place.
We hope NutritionEd.org helps you prepare for your career in nutrition and dietetics, and we update our guides as accreditation standards, credentialing requirements, and occupational data change. At NutritionEd.org, we believe that when nutrition professionals are better informed, everyone benefits.
If you find something that looks outdated, tell us. Reach us at [email protected].
– The NutritionEd.org Team
Not sure where to start? Our state-by-state requirements and guide to becoming a registered dietitian are good first stops.