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Nutrition
Nutrition
Dig into the science behind food and its impact on health
If you want to understand the role food plays in health — how micro and macronutrients affect metabolism, health and performance — then a career in nutrition will feed your hunger for knowledge.
The Oregon State University nutrition program prepares you to help others thrive.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there were 81,00 people working as dietitians and nutritionists in 2024, and jobs are projected to grow at a rate of 7 percent between 2022–2033. As of May 2024, Oregon is the second highest paying state for dietitians and nutritionists, with an annual mean wage of $87,000.
Oregon State University offers the only Didactic Program in Dietetics in Oregon.
Nutrition Graduates Lead in Employment
According to a February 2025 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, recent graduates with degrees in nutrition sciences had the lowest unemployment rate among all college majors at just 0.4%.
This is significantly lower than the overall unemployment rate of 5.8% for recent graduates aged 22 to 27.
Nutrition news and stories
Ashley McKelvey switched from nursing to nutrition research at OSU. Learn how her work on preterm infant digestion and human milk peptides impacts infant health.
The SHIME simulates human digestion in the lab, helping researchers study how foods break down, release nutrients, and affect gut bacteria. Learn how this remarkable technology is advancing nutrition science.
See how nutrition researchers use the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME) to understand how dietary fibers promote healthy gut bacteria and improve infant nutrition.
Moore Family Center launches Nutrition Career Mentorship Program for 2025-26, pairing students with nutrition professionals. Apply as mentor or mentee today.
Anna Hayes combines carbohydrate chemistry and neuroscience to understand the gut-brain axis. Her research on ancient grains and dietary fiber reveals surprising connections between what we eat and how we think.
Nutrition doctoral student Brianne Wai's work focuses on identifying the retention and release of these components in the gastrointestinal tracts of term and preterm infants fed with either their parents' own milk or donor milk.