How to become a registered dietitian, step by step

1. Earn the degree. New candidates need a graduate degree; the table below gives the date the rule began and who is exempt from it.
2. Complete accredited coursework and supervised practice. A coordinated program or a graduate program combines the two in one place; the didactic program route pairs the coursework with a separate dietetic internship; a doctorate opens the individualized supervised practice pathway. The program, not the student, has to hold ACEND accreditation, so check a program's status before you enroll.
3. Get authorized to test. CDR first confirms your eligibility, and Pearson VUE then emails an Authorization to Test, which is what lets you book a seat.
4. Pass the exam. It is computer adaptive, so its length varies from one candidate to the next, and a pass requires a scaled score of 25 on a 1–50 scale. The RD exam info page covers length, time limits and retakes.
5. Sort out your state. The RD is a national registration, not a state license. States that license dietitians do so under their own rules, so licensure means a second application, made to the board of that state.
6. Keep the credential. Registration is renewed every 5 years with a Professional Development Portfolio that logs at least 75 CPEUs, and CDR charges a yearly registration fee of $80, rising to $90 on June 1, 2027.

Graduates of programs outside the US follow a separate evaluation route, and registrants of a few countries qualify through reciprocity; both rows are in the table below.

No single number of years is correct, because program length is set by each school and route rather than by the exam owner. What changes the total most is the route. A coordinated program or a graduate program builds the supervised practice into the degree, while the DPD route adds a separate dietetic internship after the coursework.

After the program, testing adds comparatively little time, since the exam runs year-round, within a one-year Authorization to Test. Choosing a route is the decision that sets your timeline.

The CDCES (CBDCE) is not a step on the way to the RD. It is a second credential for clinicians who already practice and spend much of their time teaching and supporting people with diabetes. The board asks for an eligible license or registration, 2 years of practice in that discipline, 1,000 hours of diabetes care and education within 5 years, and 15 hours of diabetes-related CE within 2 years.

The RD or RDN is one accepted discipline among several; registered nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, physicians and others qualify through their own license or registration. For a new graduate it is a later goal. The time rule is 2 years to the day of practice in your discipline, or 1 year with a health-related master's degree or above, so a dietitian whose graduate degree is health-related needs only the one year. Both the practice time and the diabetes hours count only from the point you hold the qualifying license or registration, so those hours are earned on the job, not in school.

Both exams above come with five pages: overview, free practice test, study guide, format and scoring, registration and cost. Other credentials of this field, named below with their boards, get the same set of pages as they are written, and a name becomes a link once its pages are live: CDM, CFPP from the Certifying Board for Dietary Managers, CNSC from the National Board of Nutrition Support Certification, BC-ADM from the diabetes board, NDTR from CDR and IBCLC from the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners.

The NDTR is no shortcut to the dietitian title, since holding the NDTR does not meet the RD requirements, which ask for a graduate degree, ACEND coursework and supervised practice. The CNS sits outside that system altogether, as a credential from a separate board.

"Nutritionist" is a general word rather than a credential, and no single national body stands behind it. CDR's explanation of the optional RDN title puts it this way: "all registered dietitians are nutritionists but not all nutritionists are registered dietitians." Whether the word is a protected title depends on state law, which this site has not compiled.

RD and RDN are one credential under two names: the same exam, the same registration, and no extra fee or requirement for using the longer title. If a job posting asks for either, it is asking for the same thing.

Specialist board certification comes after the RD. CDR certifies specialists in pediatric, renal, gerontological, pediatric critical care and oncology nutrition, digestive health, sports dietetics, and obesity and weight management.

CBDCE also awards BC-ADM, Board Certified-Advanced Diabetes Management, for advanced practitioners who manage complex diabetes and cardiometabolic care; the board took it over from ADCES, which is a membership body. The CDCES is the board's broad credential, open to many professions and centered on education and self-management support. BC-ADM is its advanced credential, aimed at clinicians who manage complex diabetes care themselves. This site has not yet covered the BC-ADM eligibility rules, so it does not restate them here; they will be set out from the board's own documents on the BC-ADM pages.