Undergraduate Degree Program

The Department of Nutritional Sciences was established in 1970 and has a distinguished record of teaching, research, and public service. Faculty, professional, and support staff are dedicated to excellence in undergraduate education. Each student has the opportunity for personal growth through the balance of strong academic programs, independent studies, field experiences, and for those who meet the requirements, the department’s Honors Program.

What is Nutritional Science?

Nutritional Sciences is a broad field that studies the utilization of foods and nutrients by cells, individuals, and communities. A major focus of nutritional sciences is to understand factors that influence the use of foods to provide nutrients for optimal health and treatment of disease. This includes the study of socioeconomic and biological factors affecting food utilization. The breadth of the field of nutritional sciences is reflected in our mission statement, which is to improve the nutritional well-being and health of individuals, families, and populations.

What can I do with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutritional Sciences?

We offer five tracks within the Nutritional Sciences Undergraduate Major, Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD); Food and Health Sciences; Pre-Physical Therapy; DPD and Physician’s Assistant and Pre-Medical Profession.

Nutrition has a wide spectrum of applications in the world today. Following are some areas where nutrition serves as either primary or preparatory education:

  • Dietetics, including clinical nutrition, community nutrition, nutrition education, food service management, sports nutrition, long-term care, business, and media
  • Medicine, Physical Therapy, Physician’s Assistant and other related health professions requiring a solid background in the sciences and general humanities
  • Food industry and Business, including product development, entrepreneurialism, management, and research
  • Nutrition Education, teaching both in academic settings as well as through community outreach programs
  • International Nutrition, working with nutrition issues related to hunger, food policy, food security and food safety in developing countries
  • Research, nutritional research incorporating knowledge from disciplines such as chemistry, biology, genetics, physiology psychology, and sociology

Many Nutritional Sciences students continue their education in a variety of graduate programs (nutrition, public health, medical and dental schools, nursing, and allied health) after completing their Bachelor’s Degree.

Minors offered through the Department of Nutritional Sciences

Food Science

This minor addresses food science as an academic discipline, which addresses applied science problems associated with the acquisition and processing of food. The Departments of Animal Sciences and Nutritional Sciences offer this minor.

Students in this minor must pass: ANSC/NUSC 1645; ANSC 4341 and NUSC 3233; and either ANSC 3343 or 3641. Also, students need to complete additional courses from the following to meet the 15 credit total minimum requirement: ANSC 3318, 5641; ARE 2260; NUSC 5500; SPSS 2100. Students must earn a combined grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 or higher for all courses listed above. The minor is offered by the Animal Sciences Department and the Nutritional Sciences Department.

Nutrition for Exercise and Sport

For students interested in careers in exercise and sports nutrition, the department offers a minor in Nutrition for Exercise and Sport. In addition to the Nutritional Sciences core curriculum, students complete a plan of study, which includes courses in sports nutrition and exercise physiology. Please see the Plan of Study on page 21.

This minor has been established in cooperation with the Departments of Kinesiology and Allied Health. Students interested in earning this minor will need to complete the prerequisite coursework.. These include NUSC 1165, PNB 2264, 2265, and MCB 2000. All students are required to complete a minimum of 18 credits for the minor.

Students in this minor must complete: NUSC 4236, 4250; KINS 4500, 4510; and any two of the following courses for an additional 5 credits: NUSC 4260 or 4299; KINS 3098, 3099, 3320, 3530, 3545; AH 3101, 3231 or 3234.

Students who are interested in pursuing this minor should contact Dr. Michael Puglisi.

Mission Statement of the Department of Nutritional Sciences

The vision of the Department of Nutritional Sciences is to be a premier academic department that excels in the discovery, dissemination, and translation/application of knowledge in nutrition.

Our mission is to provide integrated instruction, research and outreach programs to improve the nutritional well-being and health for individuals, families, and the public. This is accomplished within the land-grant college mission through undergraduate and graduate teaching, research, and outreach programs in human nutrition. Undergraduate program tracks include Didactic Program in Dietetics, Food and Health Sciences, Pre-Medical Profession, Pre-Physical Therapy and DPD with Physician’s Assistant. Graduate (M.S. and Ph.D.) programs cover a wide range of basic and applied approaches, including molecular and cellular nutrition, nutritional biochemistry, personalized nutrition and public nutrition. Our department offers 4+1 options to complete a master’s degree. Outreach programs are integrated with teaching and research, and administered through inter-agency collaborations and professional and public services.

Additionally, the Department of Nutritional Sciences offers two Graduate level 12-credit certificate courses. Plant Based Food and Nutrition, and Precision Nutrition can both be completed online within 1-2 years.

Note: Credits earned within the Plant-Based Food and Nutrition program’s NUSC 5200 and NUSC 5300 courses can later be applied to UConn’s MS in Personalized Nutrition. Credits earned within the Precision Nutrition Online Graduate Certificate program can later be applied to UConn’s MS in Personalized Nutrition