Cost-effectiveness of undergraduate programs in dietetics.

This study compares traditional undergraduate programs in dietetics with the new coordinated programs in six institutions which offer both. Cost is defined as the direct cost of instruction; effectiveness is defined as the proportion of graduates who pass the Registration Examination. Results show that although traditional and coordinated programs were equivalent in cost and in number of graduates, traditional programs produced fewer students eligible to take the examination and therefore fewer who passed it. Traditional undergraduate programs were, then, less effective in providing professionally qualified entry-level dietitians, according to this survey.