March 3, 2026
| By Sydney Bentz, communication assistant
Lauren Brumfield loves food, developing recipes and the ways a strong nutrition program can positively impact everyday life. Her desire to further her education in Missouri led her to enroll at Northwest Missouri State University with Prior Learning Credit (PLC) for her extensive internship experience.
Lauren Brumfield
A resident of Fair Grove, Missouri, Brumfield completed her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics education from Missouri State University last year and then enrolled in the Gulf Coast Dietetic Internship program.
Initially, Brumfield did not want to enroll in a master’s program until she fully completed her dietetics internship. Then, she discovered Northwest’s online master’s degree program in nutrition.
Northwest gave Brumfield the opportunity to transfer six hours of Prior Learning Credit (PLC) from supervised practical experience hours she completed in Mississippi to help fulfill the requirements of the University’s dietetics internship and help her complete her master’s degree.
Brumfield is finishing graduate coursework in conjunction with the last requirements for her internship and will graduate from Northwest in May – less than a year after beginning the master’s program.
“I originally was not going to pursue my master’s degree during my internship, because I thought it was way too much at one time,” she said. “But then once I saw that I could take just one class at a time and that Northwest had six start dates throughout the year, I realized I could just do one. I interned during the day, and it was very doable to work on schoolwork on my own time.”
PLC meets needs of nutrition professionals
Lauren Brumfield is pictured while giving a presentation about Alpha-gal Syndrome while she worked as a summer intern at a hospital last year. (Submitted photo)
Brumfield’s work highlights the flexibility and commitment of Northwest’s Master of Science in Nutrition program to meet the evolving needs of today’s nutrition professionals. The master’s program helps eligible students transfer up to six hours of PLC from accredited internship programs and apply them toward the dietetics internship portion of the degree, while still fully engaging in Northwest’s rigorous and supportive graduate curriculum.
The Master of Science in Nutrition program at Northwest is designed to serve two distinct populations: Students who have completed a Didactic Program in Dietetics and are seeking to fulfill internship-related requirements and students who wish to deepen their knowledge of nutrition for professional advancement or personal interest.
The Master of Science in Nutrition is especially suited for working professionals. Courses are offered in an accelerated seven-week format and delivered online, allowing students to balance career, family and academic goals while progressing efficiently through the program.
Jessica Anderson, a Northwest instructor of dietetics and nutrition who advises graduate students, helped ensure Brumfield received credit for her extensive internship experience.
“Northwest focuses on meeting the students where they’re at,” Anderson said. “For us to give her credit for all her hard work in that internship piece, to recognize that, it’s just a great thing. It helps her meet her goals for her dietetic journey to become a dietitian.”
Northwest’s student-centered approach
During her supervised 1,000-hour internship, Brumfield gained exposure to food service through work in restaurants, medical nutrition therapy at hospitals and nursing homes, and community health programs at schools and health departments.
The PLC recognizes the value of Brumfield’s hands-on experience and enables her to complete her graduate degree at a pace that fits her lifestyle. She enjoys the speed of Northwest’s program and appreciates having advisors who have supported her since her first day.
“The advisors were so helpful in ways that I didn’t even know I needed help in,” she said. “Multiple times, I would have questions and start to reach out to my advisors. I would see that they had already reached out to me. They were two or three steps ahead of me. That was so impressive to have advisors that were so proactive. They always emailed or called me back almost instantly, and it felt like I was the only student that they had.”
The course content and the seven-week schedule also help Brumfield feel comfortable and prepared for her future.
“It’s a wide variety of classes, which is great because a dietitian can do a wide variety of jobs,” she said. “It’s very interesting; every class is different. I have had several different professors, so that’s cool, too, instead of one professor teaching all the classes.”
Northwest’s program equips students with advanced, evidence-based knowledge and practical skills that are essential for success in diverse nutrition and health-related careers. With that experience, Brumfield hopes to develop recipes in a professional role or pursue women’s health after completing her degree.
“Northwest’s mission is ‘student success – every student, every day,’ and I repeat that all the time when I talk to student tours or to open houses,” Anderson said. “The master’s in nutrition, or even Lauren’s Prior Learning Credit example, is a great way of just trying to support students where they are at.”
For more information about Northwest’s master’s in nutrition program, visit https://online.nwmissouri.edu/programs/business/master-science-in-nutrition/.
