About Nutrition and Dietetics

The AS-T in Nutrition and Dietetics prepares students to transfer to the California State University (CSU) System in the field of nutrition and dietetics, and other health-related majors. Students who earn this degree and meet the CSU minimum eligibility requirements are guaranteed admission to a CSU, but not to a particular campus or major.

Effective Fall 2022, The Health Education Department is no longer offering the Nutrition Assistant Certificate. Students interested in pursuing the field of Nutrition and Dietetics are encouraged to enroll in HLTH 170, Introduction to the Dietetics Profession, a 1-unit Health Education course offered both fall and spring semesters and/or BIO 134, Introduction to Nutrition for Health Sciences, a 3-unit Biology course offered every semester. Students may also consider enrolling in HLTH 177 "Intro to Child Nutrition" (or CDEV 107) (3 units),  a fully online 3-unit course. This is course is an excellent elective to take to supplement nutrition studies.

Explore Potential Careers

Studying nutrition can lead to a variety of different jobs or career paths.  An AS-T in Nutrition/Dietetics prepares students for careers in the field of nutrition and dietetics, and pathways to becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), working in clinical settings such as hospitals, HMOs, private practice or other health care facilities; or in community and public health settings, academia, research; or other non-traditional settings such as in the food and nutrition industry, business, journalism, sports nutrition, or corporate wellness programs.

Program Options 

Click on the degree or certificate you're interested in earning to see a sample map of courses to take to complete your goal from start to finish.

Please note that the course maps provided are just an example to help you get started. Please meet with a counselor to personalize the plan to you and your Academic goals.

Program Requirements

The AS-T in Nutrition and Dietetics is open to all students who are admitted to City College of San Francisco and have satisfied any prerequisites required for classes listed in the major. 

The minimum time to completion is 4 semesters. Completion time will vary based on student preparation and the number of units completed each semester.

Students who wish to earn the AS-T must complete 60 CSU transferable semester units with at least a 2.0 grade point average. This must include the units required for full completion of the IGETC or CSU General Education (GE) curriculum and the units for the major as specified below. Each course in the major must be completed with a grade of “C” or better. Courses used to meet the major requirement may also be used to meet IGETC or CSU GE requirements.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, students will be able to:

  • Integrate scientific concepts of biology and chemistry related to the functioning of nutrients in the human body.
  • Apply knowledge of metabolism and nutrient functions, food sources, and physiologic systems to communicate evidence-based nutrition information.
  • Analyze the relationship between diet, lifestyle, and health outcomes within the framework of the social determinants of health.

Required Courses (21 units)

  • BIO 134 - Introduction to Nutrition for Health Sciences (3 units)
  • PSYC 1 -  General Psychology (3 units)
  • CHEM 101A - General College Chemistry (6 units)
  • CHEM 101B - General College Chemistry (5 units)
  • BIO 120 - Introduction to Microbiology (4 units)

List A: Select one course (4-6 units)

  • CHEM 208A - Chemical Structure and Reactivity I (4 units) or CHEM 212A - Organic Chemistry (6 units)
  • BIO 108 - General Human Anatomy (4 units) or BIO 111 - Human Physiology (5 units) or
    BIO 112 - Introduction to Human Physiology (4 units)
  • ECON 5 - Introductory Statistics for Economics, Business and Social Sciences (5 units) or LALS 5 - Introduction to Statistical Methods in Latin American and Latino/a Studies (5 units) or MATH 80 - Probability and Statistics (5 units) or
    PSYC 5 - Statistics for Behavioral Sciences (5 units)

List B: Select one course (3-5 units)

Or any science course from List A not already completed.

  • CHEM 40 - Introduction to Chemical Principles (5 units) - This course is the prerequisite to CHEM 101A
  • ENVS 31 - Introduction to Environmental Science (3 units)
  • SOC 1 - Introduction to Sociology (3 units)
  • SOC 35 - Sex, Marriage, and Family Relationships (3 units)
  • ANTH 3 - Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology (3 units)
  • ECON 1 - Principles of Macroeconomics (3 units)
  • ECON 3 - Principles of Microeconomics (3 units)
  • CDEV 53 - Child Growth and Development (3 units)

Transfer Options

The program coursework you complete at City College will satisfy lower-division requirements for related majors at several colleges and universities. Start planning your transfer by exploring Nutrition Assistant programs at the following institutions: 

  • San Francisco State University

Have questions about transfer? Visit the Transfer Center for help, transfer information, and/or to speak with college representatives.