The South Carolina Panel for
Dietetics regulates registered dietitians in the state. Only dietitians who meet the panel’s requirements for licensure may practice dietetics in South Carolina. Under South Carolina law, dietetics is defined as “the integration and application of dietary principles derived from the science of nutrition, biochemistry, physiology, food, and management and from behavioral and social sciences to achieve and maintain a healthy status. The primary function of dietetic practice is the provision of dietary nutrition care services.”
What are the nutrition care services that only a licensed, registered dietitian may provide in South Carolina? They include:
- Assessing individuals’ and groups’ nutritional needs
- Establishing goals, priorities, and objectives to meet nutritional needs
- Offering nutritional counseling
- Developing, implementing and managing nutrition care systems
- Evaluating, changing and maintaining standards of quality in food and nutrition services
- Transcribing a verbal order into patient records for co-signature by a physician and implementing physician’s written and verbal orders pertaining to dietetic practice
- Implementing nutrition-related orders under a protocol approved by the staff of a licensed health care facility
Here, we will tell you how you can become a licensed, registered dietitian in South Carolina.
Schooling Necessary for South Carolina Dietitians
The South Carolina Panel for Dietetics requires all dietitians to meet the mandates of the, Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) before they may apply for state licensure. The CDR requires all who wish to be registered dietitians to graduate from an ACEND-accredited dietetic education program. [ACEND stands for the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics, and a list of all accredited programs in South Carolina may be found here (link to Registered Dietitian Schools)]. Some listed programs are still offering bachelor’s degrees, but it is important to mention that the CDR is changing its degree requirement as of Jan. 1, 2024 to a master’s degree.
South Carolina offers the following types of programs:
- Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) – This type of program offers didactic coursework in dietetics but without the internship. In South Carolina, there are 3 DPDs.
- Dietetic Internship (DI) – Dietetic Internships offer students at least 1000 hours of supervised dietetic practice. South Carolina currently offers one approved DI.
Examination for South Carolina Dietitians
The next step in becoming a licensed, registered dietitian in South Carolina is to pass the CDR’s Registration Exam for Dietitians. You will be provided with the Registration Examination for Dietitians Handbook for Candidates which will help you to navigate the registration process and study for the exam.
Pearson VUE is the company that will take your registration online (including the $200 testing fee) and administer the test. Any Pearson VUE testing center can administer the exam. Ones in South Carolina include Columbia, North Charleston, and Greenville.
You will find out at the end of the exam whether or not you have passed. If you do succeed in passing the CDR exam, the CDR will mail your registered dietitian card a few weeks after you take the exam.
Licensing for South Carolina Dietitians
You are finally set to file for licensure as a South Carolina registered dietitian. Complete the licensure application, and include the $175 application fee via check or money order only, payable to SC Panel for Dietetics. You must also include a copy of your driver’s license, copy of your CDR card, a recent passport-sized photo of yourself, and any documentation of name change, if applicable. Verification of your education must be sent directly from your school to the Panel. Mail everything to South Carolina Panel for Dietetics, 110 Centerview Drive, Columbia, SC 29210.
South Carolina does not require you to complete any additional continuing education to renew your license, other than the 75 continuing education hours the CDR requires during each five- year period.
Salaries for South Carolina Dietitians
South Carolina’s annual mean wage for dietitians, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (circa May 2021) is $54,820. The state’s annual median wage for dietitians is $59,280. Those working in cities across South Carolina make wages higher or lower than these averages, as is evident in this table:
| Metropolitan area | Annual mean wage | Annual median wage |
| Charleston/North Charleston | $60,640 | $63,180 |
| Hilton Head/Bluffton/Beaufort | $59,650 | $61,580 |
| Greenville/Anderson/Mauldin | $57,390 | $60,390 |
| Spartanburg | $55,660 | $53,540 |
| Columbia | $55,510 | $59,550 |
| Florence | $53,140 | $48,690 |
| Lower Savannah nonmetro | $53,040 | $57,820 |
| Myrtle Beach/Conway/North Myrtle Beach | $52,070 | $57,380 |
| Upper Savannah nonmetro | $47,680 | $46,900 |
| Northeast nonmetro | $47,030 | $46,830 |
Employment Opportunities for South Carolina Dietitians
Dietitians across the state make varying annual salaries, as you can see from the table above. You can also examine what actual licensed, registered dietitians in South Carolina are making by looking at employment opportunities listed in the help wanted ads. Some examples of these, as of October 2022, are:
- Registered Dietitian, Full Time – DiningRD.com, Lake City
- Salary: $59,500 to $75,300 annually
- Must have RDN credentials
- Must be licensed in South Carolina
- Prefer applicants with two years of consulting experience
- Director of Nutrition Services – Chester County School District, Chester
- Salary: $64 hourly
- Must have bachelor’s degree
- Prefer candidate with RDN credential
- Prefer candidate with South Carolina licensure
- Must have three years of experience as department head or manager of food service establishment
- Registered Dietitian – University of South Carolina, Richland
- Salary: $37,237 to $59,400 annually
- Prefer candidates with master’s degree and one year experience
- Must have at least bachelor’s degree and if so, three years of experience
- Must have RDN credentials
- Must be licensed in South Carolina
- Clinical Dietitian (Inpatient), Food & Nutrition – AnMed, Anderson
- Salary: $47,700 to $60,500 annually
- Must have bachelor’s degree
- Must have RDN credentials
- Must be licensed in South Carolina
- Acute care experience preferred
- Registered Dietitian, Corporate – Prisma Health, Clinton
- Salary: $46,200 to $58,600 annually
- Must have bachelor’s degree
- Must have RDN credentials
- Must be licensed in South Carolina