TL;DR: BS Nutrition and Dietetics (BSND) is a four-year degree under CHED Memorandum Order No. 14, series of 2017, with a CHED minimum of 165 units (many schools' actual curricula run to 181 units), built around a required 1,200-hour internship split into 600 hours of Hospital Dietetics, 300 hours of Foodservice, and 300 hours of Community Nutrition practicum in fourth year. Graduates sit for the Nutritionist-Dietitian Licensure Examination (NDLE) under RA 10862; 945 of 1,361 examinees passed in November 2025, a 69.43% passing rate. Entry-level hospital dietitian pay is reported around ₱330,000 per year by compensation trackers, well above general nutritionist-role averages closer to ₱285,000 per year.
BS Nutrition and Dietetics is a smaller, more specialized health sciences degree than Nursing or Medical Technology, but it follows a similar structure: a licensed profession with a defined national board exam and a heavy clinical internship requirement. Students searching "BS Nutrition and Dietetics subjects" or "nutritionist-dietitian board exam" usually want the real curriculum, the internship hour breakdown, and whether the career pays enough to justify the licensure path. This guide covers all three using CHED's actual memorandum order and PRC's own board exam data. For related health-science course options, see our in-demand courses in the Philippines guide.
What Does BS Nutrition and Dietetics Cover?
BS Nutrition and Dietetics (BSND) trains students in the science of human nutrition and its clinical, institutional, and community applications: nutritional biochemistry, meal planning and food service management, nutritional assessment, and nutrition therapy for medical conditions. It is a licensed health science profession, distinct from a general Nutrition or Food Science degree, because it is built specifically to prepare graduates for the Nutritionist-Dietitian Licensure Examination.
The program is governed by CHED Memorandum Order No. 14, series of 2017, "Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics (BSND) Program." Like most post-2015 CHED program policies, it uses an outcomes-based framework: schools have latitude in curriculum delivery and specific course design as long as they can demonstrate the required program outcomes are met.
Disclaimer: curriculum specifics can vary by school within CHED's minimum framework. Confirm the current curriculum directly with your target school's nutrition and dietetics department.
BSND vs "BS Nutrition" vs "Human Nutrition"
Three names get tangled together in search results, and the distinction matters before you enrol.
| Name | What it actually is |
|---|---|
| BS Nutrition and Dietetics (BSND) | The programme CHED prescribes through CMO No. 14, s. 2017, offered by most Philippine schools with a nutrition programme. This guide is about this one. |
| BS Nutrition (BSN) | A four-year, 145-unit bachelor's degree offered by the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food (IHNF), College of Human Ecology, UP Los Baños |
| Human nutrition | The name of the discipline, and of graduate degrees. UPLB's doctorate is a PhD in Human Nutrition |
There is no CHED memorandum order prescribing a bachelor's programme called "BS Human Nutrition." If a school advertises one, ask which memorandum order its curriculum follows and whether that programme name carries CHED government recognition, in writing.
UPLB's BS Nutrition is the closest sibling to BSND. IHNF describes its distinguishing feature as a holistic approach with ecological, rural, and agricultural orientations and a strong linkage with the food system, and its core courses include both hospital dietetics practicum and a combined foodservice and community nutrition practicum, plus an undergraduate thesis as a core requirement rather than an option. The practical differences are orientation and research load: BSND under CMO 14 is built around the conventional clinical route and its 1,200-hour internship; the UPLB programme leans toward food-system, agriculture-linked, and research work.
The licensure caveat is the part to get right. RA 10862 requires an applicant to hold a bachelor's degree "in nutrition and dietetics or its equivalent" duly recognised or accredited by CHED. That phrase is what admits programmes carrying a different degree name, and IHNF lists nutritionist-dietitian practice first among its graduates' career opportunities. But institute material is not a PRC ruling. For any programme whose name is not "nutrition and dietetics," get written confirmation of exam eligibility from PRC and the Board of Nutrition and Dietetics before you enrol, not after you graduate.
How Many Units Does BS Nutrition and Dietetics Require?
CMO 14 sets a minimum of 165 units. Actual school curricula commonly run higher once lecture, laboratory, and related learning experience (RLE) units are counted separately. Far Eastern University's Manila BSND curriculum, for example, totals 181 units across four years, distributed roughly as:
| Year | Lecture + Lab Units (approx.) | Notable Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| 1st year | ~19-19 lecture + 5-6 lab per semester, plus summer | Anatomy and Physiology, Basic Foods 1-2, Basic Nutrition |
| 2nd year | ~20-21 lecture + 3 lab per semester, plus summer | Meal Management, Assessment of Nutritional Status, Nutrition Care Process |
| 3rd year | ~14 lecture + 6-7 lab per semester | Nutrition Therapy I-II, Foodservice Systems I-II, Public Health Nutrition |
| 4th year | 12 lab/RLE units (no lecture) | Internship/practicum only (see below) |
That fourth-year structure, no lecture courses at all, only supervised practicum, is the clearest sign of how internship-heavy this degree is compared to a typical business or IT program.
What Is the Internship Requirement?
BSND's defining feature is a 1,200-hour supervised internship, split across three practicum areas completed in the first and second semesters of fourth year:
| Practicum Area | Hours | Units (FEU example) |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital Dietetics Practicum | 600 | 12 |
| Foodservice Practicum | 300 | 6 |
| Community Nutrition Practicum | 300 | 6 |
| Total | 1,200 | 24 |
This gives graduates direct, supervised exposure to clinical nutrition therapy in a hospital setting, institutional food service management, and public-health/community nutrition work, the same three domains the licensure exam and the profession's scope of practice cover. Because the entire fourth year is committed to this practicum sequence, students should plan for limited capacity to hold part-time work that year.
Disclaimer: exact practicum hour splits can vary slightly by school's specific implementing curriculum. Confirm with your target school's nutrition and dietetics department.
What Is the Nutritionist-Dietitian Licensure Examination?
The Nutritionist-Dietitian Licensure Examination (NDLE) is a nationwide exam given twice a year by the PRC and the Professional Regulatory Board of Nutrition and Dietetics (BoND), required under Republic Act No. 10862, the Nutrition and Dietetics Law of 2016, to practice as a Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian (RND) in the Philippines. Passing the NDLE and completing BSND are both required for licensure; practicing without registration is not legally permitted under RA 10862's regulatory framework.
Who may sit it. Section 15 of RA 10862 requires an applicant to be a citizen of the Philippines (or of a country with a reciprocity policy for Filipinos), of good moral character, a holder of a bachelor's degree in nutrition and dietetics or its equivalent duly recognised or accredited by CHED, and not convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude by a court of competent jurisdiction.
What it covers. Section 16 names three subject areas: Nutrition and Dietetics; Foods and Food Service Systems; and Community and Applied Nutrition. The Board may revise, exclude, or add subjects with the Commission's approval, so check PRC's current programme of examination rather than relying on an older list.
What counts as passing. Section 17 requires a general weighted average of 75 percent with no rating below 50 percent in any subject. There is a conditional provision: an examinee who misses the average but obtains at least 75 percent in each of at least half the subjects given may, within two years of the examination date, retake only the subjects scored below 75 percent. Fail that repeat set and you must take all subjects again in the next examination.
Recent results:
| Exam Period | Passing Rate | Examinees |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | 69.43% | 945 of 1,361 passed |
Disclaimer: passing rates vary by exam cycle, and PRC publishes exam dates and venues in its own annual schedule. Verify the current schedule and requirements directly with PRC before applying. For a deeper walk-through of the exam itself, see our nutritionist-dietitian board exam guide.
Can RNDs Work Abroad?
There is a formal reciprocity pathway to the United States: the Philippine Board of Nutrition and Dietetics maintains a reciprocal relationship with the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, allowing Philippine-licensed RNDs to pursue US licensure with reduced additional requirements compared to starting from scratch. This is a genuine differentiator for BSND compared to many other Philippine licensed professions, though applicants should confirm current reciprocity terms directly with the relevant US state licensing board, since requirements can shift.
How Much Does BS Nutrition and Dietetics Tuition Cost?
Nutrition and Dietetics is typically priced as a health sciences program, generally running higher than a standard business or IT degree because of laboratory, clinical affiliation, and internship supervision costs. Health sciences programs at private universities in the Philippines broadly run ₱70,000 to ₱130,000 per semester, with elite private universities charging ₱90,000 to ₱160,000 per semester for health-related degrees. State universities and colleges charge little to nothing under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. Always confirm the current published rate directly with the school, since tuition changes yearly and lab/internship fees for this program can be substantial.
Disclaimer: tuition and fee figures change by school year. Verify the current rate with the school's admissions office before budgeting.
What Jobs Can a BSND Graduate Get?
Registered Nutritionist-Dietitians work as clinical/hospital dietitians managing patient nutrition therapy, foodservice managers overseeing institutional meal planning (hospitals, schools, corporate cafeterias), and community/public health nutritionists working with local government nutrition offices, the National Nutrition Council system, development agencies, and NGOs running nutrition programmes. Beyond direct clinical practice, BSND graduates also move into food industry roles (product development, nutrition labeling, food safety), research institutes and universities, corporate wellness programs, and increasingly sports nutrition and private nutrition consulting.
It is worth being clear about where the licence is actually the gate. Clinical dietetics practice and use of the protected title require registration under RA 10862. Many nutrition-adjacent jobs do not: food product development, quality and labelling roles, research, and nutrition programme work in development agencies are generally open without the licence. In practice, health-sector employers often ask for it anyway, and for government posts the Civil Service qualification standards for the specific position control. If you want to see where nutrition and dietetics sits among the other regulated professions, our list of courses with board exams puts it in context.
How Much Do Nutritionist-Dietitians Earn?
Compensation data shows a real spread depending on setting. Third-party compensation trackers report an entry-level (1-3 years' experience) Hospital Dietitian salary around ₱331,311 per year, and a broader entry-level Dietitian average around ₱330,800 per year. General Nutritionist roles, which may include less clinically intensive positions, reportedly average lower, around ₱23,762 per month (roughly ₱285,000 annualized) per Jobstreet-sourced data.
| Role | Reported Average Pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital Dietitian, entry-level (1-3 yrs) | ₱331,311/year | SalaryExpert |
| Dietitian, entry-level (1-3 yrs) | ₱330,800/year | PayScale |
| Nutritionist (general) | ~₱23,762/month | Jobstreet |
That gap, roughly ₱330,000 versus ₱285,000 annualized, suggests hospital/clinical dietetics roles pay a premium over general nutrition positions, though sample sizes and job scope likely differ between these figures.
Disclaimer: compensation figures are third-party survey averages, not guaranteed pay for any individual graduate. Actual offers vary by employer, sector, and location.
Is BS Nutrition and Dietetics Right for You?
Before committing to BSND, weigh these questions:
- Are you drawn to health sciences specifically? BSND's curriculum is clinically oriented (anatomy, physiology, nutrition therapy), closer to a health sciences degree than a general food or business program.
- Can you commit to a practicum-only fourth year? With 1,200 hours split across hospital, foodservice, and community placements, your final year leaves little room for part-time work; plan your finances accordingly.
- Do you want the clinical dietitian track or a broader nutrition career? Hospital dietetics pays a reported premium over general nutrition roles, so consider which practicum area (hospital, foodservice, community) interests you most before graduation.
- Are you interested in eventual overseas practice? The reciprocal pathway to US licensure is a real advantage if working abroad is part of your career plan, but confirm current terms before assuming it applies automatically.
Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare tuition and programs across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.
Sources
- CHED CMO No. 14, s. 2017 — Policies, Standards and Guidelines for BS Nutrition and Dietetics (PRC-hosted copy)
- CHED CMO No. 14, s. 2017 — Policies, Standards and Guidelines for BS Nutrition and Dietetics (official PDF, via legacy.ched.gov.ph)
- LawPhil — Republic Act No. 10862, Nutrition and Dietetics Law of 2016 (full text)
- UPLB Institute of Human Nutrition and Food — programme brochure (official PDF)
- Far Eastern University — Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics Curriculum
- PRC — November 2025 Nutritionist-Dietitians Licensure Examination Results
- PRC — Nutrition and Dietetics Professional Regulatory Board
- Republic Act No. 10862 — Nutrition and Dietetics Act of 2016
- SalaryExpert — Hospital Dietitian Salary in Philippines
- PayScale — Average Early-Career Dietitian or Nutritionist Salary in Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Nutritionist-Dietitian Board Exam Guide
- SchoolFinderPH — In-Demand Courses in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Highest-Paying Courses in the Philippines
