The University of California at Davis is a fully accredited, four-year institution that offers all of the courses required to become an animal nutritionist. The Department of Nutrition at UC Davis has four minor programs for students to concentrate their major in the area of food and nutrition. UC Davis also has a graduate program in nutritional biology for students that have a B.S. degree and are pursuing an M.S. or PhD. degree.
Virginia Tech is located in Blacksburg on a high plateau between the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains. The college is home to a 200-ewe sheep flock, a 150-cow beef herd, a 40-sow swine herd, a five-building turkey center, 1,500 adult chickens and a herd of 75 to 120 horses, providing resources for teaching animal nutrition. Graduate teaching and research assistantships are encouraged, with base monthly stipends that range from $1,561 for first-year M.S. students.
The University of Tennessee at Knoxville is a 560-acre campus that provides over 300 degree programs. The College of Agriculture offers advanced degrees in Animal Science on the master's and PhD levels. Coursework for the graduate program includes nutrient evaluation and ration formulation and animal nutrition and metabolism. The university provides students with free medical care and transportation, housing and meal plans, and one of the largest student gyms in the country.
Graduate students focused on becoming equine nutritionists can enroll in the University of Kentucky's Equine Nutrition program offered at the UK College of Agriculture in Lexington. Students work on a 100-acre horse farm that houses approximately 60 head of horses. Graduates from the Equine Nutrition program have received national and international recognition and held positions in companies associated with the feed industry, research and other universities.