The nutrition education certificate program is designed for students who have earned a bachelor's degree and are interested in expanding their work to include nutrition education or for professionals who are involved with creating programs and implementing policy to address the obesity epidemic. This certificatie is closely aligned to the M.S. in Health Promotion Management, which educates students to be leaders in the field of health promotion. Select courses in the certificate program are offered online throughout the year; however other courses will be offered in the classroom. 

Admission to the Program

Applications must include transcripts of all college work demonstrating a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 (on a 4.00 scale) in the last 60 hours of undergraduate work and in all graduate work. In addition, applicants are required to submit a statement of purpose and two letters of recommendation. 

Certificate Requirements

• 18 credit hours of approved course work with at least 6 credit hours at the 600-level or above, with grades of C or better 

Grades of C- or D in certificate program courses are not accepted toward the fulfillment of certificate requirements, although these grades will be included in the calculation of the GPA. Students must have at least a 3.0 GPA in certificate courses in order to be awarded a certificate. Students in certificate programs must take a minimum of 6 credit hours during each 12-month period and complete the certificate in four years. International students must enroll in 9 credit hours each semester (except for summer). A maximum of 3 credit hours earned at an accredited college or university may be applied toward the certificate as transfer credit. 

Course Requirements

Core (12 credit hours)

• HFIT-550 Programming for Health Promotion (3) 
• HFIT-570 Strategies for Weight Control (3) 
• HFIT-615 Lifecycle Nutrition (3) 
• HFIT-645 Nutrition for Health (3) 

Electives (6 credit hours)

• 6 credit hours from the following: 

HFIT-510 Applied Physiology and Testing I (4) 

HFIT-540 Health Communication (3) 

HFIT-575 Global Health (3) 

HFIT-580 Health Policy and Behavior Change (3) 

EDU-620 Theories of Educational Psychology and Human Development (3)