Internship Oversight
Students, with the program director’s guidance, will select the facilities where they
will complete their practice experience and will play a role in designing their program
of study. Although each intern has their own program of study, all of the Required
Competencies and Assignments must be completed by all interns, in not less than 1,200
practice hours. A minimum of 300 hours each must be scheduled in each of the Clinical,
Community and Foodservice sets of rotations. The selected concentration area must
have a minimum of 200 practice hours.
UNC Courses
To see a typical list of courses by term, visit an example Current Students page for this program.
Online Courses and On-Campus Orientation
In addition to oversight of your internship requirements, this program provides four
credit hours of academic coursework. These credits are required courses to be completed
online during the first two weeks of the internship, followed by a three-day orientation
in Greeley, Colorado. The courses are designed to orient you to the program standards
of practice and to ensure that you have the resources to attain competence in each
area of practice.
FND 510 Foodservice Management (2)
FND 512 Medical Nutrition Therapy Skills (2)
Combine the Internship with an MS Degree
The Dietetic Internship is also available as part of a Dietetics MS degree (for those who have already completed an approved-DPD program and who want to combine
their internship with a graduate degree).
Supervised Practicum Course
You will enroll in a practicum course for support of your internship. Completion of
the internship requires 20 credit hours total to cover supervision completion.
FND 592 Dietetics Supervised Practice (20 credits total)
For more information about the Required Competencies and Assignments, program schedule
and areas of concentration, visit the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics website.
The official program description is available in the UNC Graduate Catalog.
Admission Requirements
To be admitted to the program, the student, sponsoring facility AND the preceptors
must all meet certain requirements. TOGETHER they are evaluated for potential success.
Minimum Requirements for the Applicant
- E-mail address that is active throughout the internship experience, as well as internet
access.
- If your undergraduate GPA is below 3.0: Graduate Record Exam (GRE) with minimum score
of 286 (50th percentile) on the combination of the verbal and quantitative sections
of the exam. Proof of score is required. (Not required for combined undergraduate
and graduate course GPA of 3.0 or higher, or with completed graduate degree.)
- Grade Point Average (GPA): Undergraduate cumulative minimum must be 2.8 on a 4.0 scale;
graduate cumulative if you have attended graduate school must be 3.0.
- Verification of Completion form or Intent to Complete form signed by DPD Program Director
of college/university where dietetics courses were taken.
- Completion of an approved / accredited undergraduate program resulting in a Baccalaureate
degree from a U.S. regionally accredited college/ university or a foreign degree equivalent
to at least a U.S. baccalaureate degree.
- Exceptions to these minimum requirements may include:
- Documented learning disability.
- Combination of TOEFL scores of not less than 260 on the Computer-based test OR 600
on the paper-based test, with GRE Verbal scores of 144-146.
- Exceptions will be considered, and acceptance will be decided, by the review committee.
Minimum Requirements for Preceptors
- Three "core" Preceptors must be registered dietitians
- Core Preceptors must be able to document appropriate continuing education for the
previous two years.
- Preceptors must have adequate time to provide required supervision of the student.
- Primary Preceptor (1) must have not less than five years professional experience and
be a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
- Secondary Preceptors (2) must be employed full- or part-time wherever they are employed,
have not less than three years professional experience and be a member of the Academy
of Nutrition and Dietetics or another appropriate dietetics related professional organization.
- Primary and Secondary Preceptors must be employed full-time wherever they are employed.
- “Other” preceptors may be employed full-time or part-time and do not need to be RDs.
- For any preceptor having supervisory responsibility for the intern or verification
of work completed, a Preceptor Application form must be submitted.
Eligibility by State
At this time, UNC can serve online education to students from every state, the U.S.
Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. We are not currently accepting students to our online
programs who reside in the CNMIs.
Because some states may have additional requirements or limitations for certain programs,
please check the following page to verify your eligibility. Note: if your state is
showing "limited authorization" it means you are likely eligible with additional documentation,
but please contact lisa.grimes@unco.edu for details.
Current State Authorizations for This Program
International Student Eligibility
International students residing outside of the United States are eligible to apply
to our online programs. Applicants for online programs must demonstrate English proficiency
in order to be considered. Possible ways to demonstrate proficiency:
- Qualifying test scores: TOEFL iBT: 80, IELTS: 6.5, PTE: 60
- Completion of a degree in the U.S., or from an English speaking country (parts of
Europe, Canada), within the last two years.
For this program, you do not need to submit financial documentation with your initial application. You will need to submit financial documentation about 6-8 weeks before you plan to arrive
in the U.S. for your coursework (and again each time you travel to campus). The financial
documentation needs to demonstrate that you can pay for the cost of tuition and living
expenses for the days that you will be in the U.S. This is required before we can
provide you with a DS-2019 form, which you will need when you apply for a J1 visa.
Estimated Program Costs
Tuition
This is an Extended Campus program, which means:
- A flat per-credit tuition rate for all students (in-state or out-of-state)
- There are no student fees – they are incorporated into our flat tuition rate
- Certain courses may carry specific course fees for additional services and materials
Program tuition for the 2020-21 academic year (which runs Fall, Spring, and Summer
terms) is $350 per credit hour. Tuition for the 2021-22 academic year will be determined
mid-June 2021.
Additional Expenses
To help you plan your internship experience, here is a summary of related costs for
internship application and completion:
- Professional Liability Insurance
- Health Insurance (personal)
- Costs of coming to the University of Northern Colorado campus for orientation. This
includes transportation, housing and food
- $50 non-refundable application fee to internship
- $45/$20 application fee to DICAS
- $50 application fee to D&D Digital
- Textbooks
- Costs for email access/account
- Postage to mail completed projects and evaluations to Program Director once a month
- Background checks, tuberculosis test, drug tests, and immunizations (e.g., MMR, Hepatitis
B, Tetanus). Facilities have different requirements; therefore, interns should check
with preceptors at each facility.
- $200 Application fee to CDR for registration exam at completion of program.
Financial Aid
Please note: there are no federally funded financial aid programs available for the
internship through UNC at this time.
- Applicants may apply to ADA for scholarships at the same time they apply to the internship
program.
- Limited scholarship funds are available for UNC didactic program graduates.
- Additionally, several major banking institutions provide educational loans.
For more specific help, Extended Campus students may contact Lisa Schuller in Financial
Aid: schedule a meeting or email her at OFA.Extended@unco.edu. You can also reach the Office of Financial at 970-351-4862 or via the UNC Financial Aid website.
Students can also find helpful information such as the Guide to Federal Student Aid
at https://studentaid.gov/resources. Most of the resources are available in English, Spanish, and Braille.