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

Best Dietetic Technician programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment

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

18 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 953 people a year. The job pays a median of $30,280 in Texas across about 1,360 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDietary AideNutrition TechnicianDiet Tech (Dietetic Technician)Diet Technician Registered (DTR)Diet AideDiet ClerkMenu PlannerDietary Clerk
Graduates / yr
953
in Texas
Median pay · Texas
$30,280
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,360
people employed
Schools
18
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$26,342
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job

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

4 programs in Texas that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (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 Texas page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 30.1901In Texas
600
63.0%
10$30,508$24,586
2
CIP 19.0501In Texas
204
21.4%
5$32,286$25,275
3
CIP 51.3101In Texas
118
12.4%
8$33,554$24,625
4
CIP 51.3103In Texas
31
3.3%
1$33,554$24,625

Top 18 schools in Texas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 18 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
156Nutrition Sciences$40,50484%57%
2Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
138Nutrition Sciences$23,84369%73%
3The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
136Nutrition Sciences89%27%
4Lamar University
Beaumont, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
125Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies, General37%86%
5Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
115Nutrition Sciences$34,72649%96%
6Texas State University
San Marcos, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
45Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies, General$36,60155%89%
7The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
43Nutrition Sciences51%94%
8Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
33Nutrition Sciences86%$25,82344%
9The University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
33Dietetics/Dietitian$49,20553%87%
10Tarrant County College District
Fort Worth, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
31Dietetic Technician34%
11Stephen F Austin State University
Nacogdoches, TX Public · 3 feeder programs
26Dietetics/Dietitian53%94%
12Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
19Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies, General55%90%
13Abilene Christian University
Abilene, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
17Dietetics/Dietitian59%$26,34266%
14Baylor University
Waco, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Nutrition Sciences80%$35,68251%
15Tarleton State University
Stephenville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
11Nutrition Sciences48%90%
16University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Nutrition Sciences51%$21,74598%
17Texas A&M University - Kingsville
Kingsville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
3Dietetics/Dietitian42%91%
18Texas Southern University
Houston, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
3Dietetics/Dietitian22%97%

All 18 schools in Texas

Every school in Texas 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 Texas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Texas A&M University - College StationCollege StationPublic1561
Texas Tech UniversityLubbockPublic1382
The University of Texas at AustinAustinPublic1361
Lamar UniversityBeaumontPublic1251
Texas Woman's UniversityDentonPublic1152
Texas State UniversitySan MarcosPublic451
The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyEdinburgPublic432
Texas Christian UniversityFort WorthPrivate not-for-profit331
The University of Texas at San AntonioSan AntonioPublic331
Tarrant County College DistrictFort WorthPublic311
Stephen F Austin State UniversityNacogdochesPublic263
Sam Houston State UniversityHuntsvillePublic192
Abilene Christian UniversityAbilenePrivate not-for-profit171
Baylor UniversityWacoPrivate not-for-profit141
Tarleton State UniversityStephenvillePublic111

What dietetic technicians earn in Texas

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

Median annual in Texas
$30,280
Mean annual
$34,340
Jobs in state
1,360
What the range looks like
10th pct$23,940Median$30,28090th pct$47,800
Versus the national median
-19.6%

U.S. median $37,640. Texas pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.48×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Texas

San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
$31,910median
120 jobs
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$31,340median
490 jobs
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
$31,380median
240 jobs
El Paso, TX
$29,270median
30 jobs
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
$29,120median
60 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 Texas

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 Texas.

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 600 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 63.0% 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 953 people a year in Texas.

How much do dietetic technicians earn in Texas?+

The median is $30,280 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 19.6% below 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 Texas?+

18 institutions in Texas 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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