January 1, 2024 is an important date for prospective Registered Dietitians–the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) is making some changes. On that date, the CDR will be requiring prospective Registered Dietitians to hold a graduate degree; previously, the requirement was a bachelor’s degree.

The new change means if you are seeking eligibility to take the exam to become a certified registered dietitian, you must already hold a Master’s or Doctoral degree. However, if you are a currently practicing dietitian or will be registration eligible before January of 2024, these changes will not directly affect you. However, your upcoming professional peers will have graduate degrees which may be incentive enough for you to explore your graduate school options as well in order to stay competitive in the job market.

This will be the only change to the requirement eligibility and Dietetic Technicians, Registered (DTRs) are also not affected by this change.

The new change in the education requirement follows in the footsteps of other disciplines in healthcare who have already moved towards requiring an advanced degree. CDR wanted to match the decision for dietitians in order to keep pace with the rest of the healthcare industry. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics believes this change will hold dietitians in a higher regard and allow them to step into a leadership role within the healthcare field.

In addition, according to The Academy– in 2011, dietitians with a master’s degree were paid an average of $5,000 more per year than those holding only a bachelor’s degree.

Looking ahead, prospective registered dietitian students should expect the following requirements as of 2024: professional development portfolio coursework, graduate degree, supervised practice program and the registered dietitians exam.

It is possible to earn your advanced degree online through the University of Georgia.  You can visit the online Master of Science in Foods and Nutrition, Community Nutrition webpage for more information. Graduates from this program assume a variety of roles including those of Extension and Outreach professionals, school nutrition directors or coordinators, and other nutrition related positions in the public and private sectors.

View the original article at Dietitians on Demand.