Massachusetts·Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations·SOC 29-2051

Best Dietetic Technician programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment

Assist in the provision of food service and nutritional programs, under the supervision of a dietitian.

11 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 333 people a year. The job pays a median of $39,760 in Massachusetts across about 910 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDietary AideNutrition TechnicianDiet Tech (Dietetic Technician)Diet Technician Registered (DTR)Diet AideDiet ClerkMenu PlannerDietary Clerk
Graduates / yr
333
in Massachusetts
Median pay · Massachusetts
$39,760
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
910
people employed
Schools
11
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
64%
across those schools
Median net price
$24,848
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

4 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Massachusetts page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1256
76.9%
8$30,508$24,586
250
15.0%
2$32,286$25,275
323
6.9%
2$33,554$24,625
44
1.2%
1$33,554$24,625

Top 11 schools in Massachusetts

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 11 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Tufts University
Medford, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
66Nutrition Sciences94%$23,57011%
2Framingham State University
Framingham, MA Public · 2 feeder programs
62Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies, General$41,93248%84%
3University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Amherst, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
56Nutrition Sciences$24,74683%60%
4Simmons University
Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
54Nutrition Sciences72%$24,84870%
5Boston University
Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
51Nutrition Sciences89%$21,95611%
6University of Massachusetts - Lowell
Lowell, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
29Nutrition Sciences65%83%
7Northeastern University Professional Programs
Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Nutrition Sciences
8Merrimack College
North Andover, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Nutrition Sciences70%$33,87770%
9North Shore Community College
Danvers, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Dietetic Technician18%
10Holyoke Community College
Holyoke, MA Public · 1 feeder programs
1Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies, General29%
11Regis College
Weston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Nutrition Sciences72%$26,64770%

All 11 schools in Massachusetts

Every school in Massachusetts with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Massachusetts that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Tufts UniversityMedfordPrivate not-for-profit661
Framingham State UniversityFraminghamPublic622
University of Massachusetts - AmherstAmherstPublic561
Simmons UniversityBostonPrivate not-for-profit542
Boston UniversityBostonPrivate not-for-profit511
University of Massachusetts - LowellLowellPublic291
Northeastern University Professional ProgramsBostonPrivate not-for-profit51
Merrimack CollegeNorth AndoverPrivate not-for-profit41
North Shore Community CollegeDanversPublic41
Holyoke Community CollegeHolyokePublic11
Regis CollegeWestonPrivate not-for-profit11

What dietetic technicians earn in Massachusetts

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Massachusetts
$39,760
Mean annual
$43,420
Jobs in state
910
What the range looks like
10th pct$37,210Median$39,76090th pct$54,820
Versus the national median
+5.6%

U.S. median $37,640. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.23×

Concentrated here: Massachusetts employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Massachusetts

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
$40,130median
720 jobs
Worcester, MA
$43,190median
90 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+2.5%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
4,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
800
30,900 → 31,700
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Dietetic Technicians page.

How to become a Dietetic Technician

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

SpeakingActive ListeningLearning StrategiesMonitoringReading ComprehensionWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Massachusetts

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Dietetic Technicians5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 19.0501Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies, General
  • 30.1901Nutrition Sciences
  • 51.3101Dietetics/Dietitian
  • 51.3103Dietetic Technician
  • 51.3104Dietitian Assistant

Common questions

Answers for people weighing dietetic technicians programs in Massachusetts.

What degree do you need to become a Dietetic Technician?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Nutrition Sciences, which awarded 256 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 76.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Dietetic Technician?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Nutrition Sciences, Foods, Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services. Together they graduate about 333 people a year in Massachusetts.

How much do dietetic technicians earn in Massachusetts?+

The median is $39,760 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.6% above the U.S. median of $37,640. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for dietetic technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +2.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 4,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+

11 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do dietetic technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Dietary Aide, Nutrition Technician, Diet Tech (Dietetic Technician), Diet Technician Registered (DTR) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2051.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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