An In-Depth Review of the ISSA Nutritionist Certification

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The International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) is a certification company that specializes in education for fitness and wellness professionals, including personal training, nutrition and wellness certifications. Here, we’ll take a deep dive into the ISSA Nutrition Certification.

The ISSA Nutrition Certification course covers a wide breadth of topics related to nutrition, from cellular biology to trending diets to the business side of nutrition coaching and more. Most students complete the course in six to eight weeks. And ISSA offers an impressive guarantee: certified students get a job or get their money back.

To help you determine whether the ISSA Nutritionist Course is the right fit, I put it to the test, enrolling in the program myself. I’ve read through the chapters, watched videos, participated in the online student forum and chatted with the online support team to share an in-depth look at my experience. I’ll note that I have not taken my final exam yet, but will update this review once I have. In the meantime, I’ll share my thoughts on the course materials, quizzes, online support and more.

ISSA Nutritionist Certification at a Glance

• Cost: $799.00 (without discounts)
• Course Length: 8 months total time allotted, on average completed in 6–8 weeks
• Pass Rate: 70 percent (based on 2022 data)
• Accreditation: National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), Distance Education Accrediting System (DEAC), European Register of Exercise Professionals (EREPS)
• Best for: People looking to get a nutrition certification from home, certified personal trainers who want to boost their credentials, current nutritionists and fitness professionals looking to expand their business

What Is the ISSA Nutritionist Certification?

The International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) Nutritionist Certification course is an online course that provides, as the name suggests, a certification as a nutritionist. Most students complete the course in six to eight weeks. It is accredited by multiple third-party agencies including the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the Distance Education Accrediting System (DEAC) and the European Register of Exercise Professionals (EREPS). Its certifications are accepted by a number of fitness centers including Orangetheory, Equinox, Blink, Anytime Fitness, Gold’s Gym and many more.

The course covers the fundamentals of nutrition science, fitness nutrition, health coaching, the business of nutritionists and more. Study materials include an online textbook, quizzes, practice exams and an instructor-led online student forum. The course has a total of 18 chapters, which are divided into 10 modules. Each module includes reading, videos and a 10-question multiple-choice quiz. The chapters go in-depth on topics including: metabolism, micronutrients, macronutrients, supplements, dietary guidelines, trending diets and more. I’ll go into more detail on those chapters later on in this review. By the end of this course, ISSA says its graduates will have all the tools they need to be successful nutritionists.

This course is offered online, but ISSA partners with a number of universities for students who want to take advantage of in-person instruction. Students have up to eight months to complete the course, so those with busy schedules should still be able to benefit from the program.

Check out our ISSA Health Coach Certification review if you're interested in health coaching.

Level of Difficulty of Course Material

According to ISSA, its nutrition course has no prerequisites (not even a high school diploma), meaning even those without any fitness or wellness background can jump right into the course. As a health and wellness editor, my job requires background knowledge on fitness and wellness topics, so I believe that gave me a leg up in my studying. I would describe the course material as moderately challenging, which I liked—I felt like I was learning a lot. The second chapter, which covers cellular biology, reminded me of my high school AP Biology textbook.

If you don’t have any nutrition background and/or struggle with scientific terms and concepts, the course will be more difficult for you. The great thing about this program is that it gives you eight months to complete it, so keep your learning style in mind and take it at your own pace. I’d recommend taking diligent notes throughout and taking your time looking over them before completing the 10-question, multiple-choice quizzes that are at the end of each chapter.

Course Layout

The course is broken down into 10 modules with 18 total chapters. Here are some examples of the chapters and content you’ll see.

• Nutrition: How people choose foods, functional foods and religious and cultural foods
• Cells, Organ Systems and Digestion: Cell composition and the digestive system
• Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates, glycogen, how the body digests carbohydrates, food sources of carbs, daily values of carbohydrates and how athletes use carbohydrates
• The Role of the Nutrition Coach: Explanation of nutrition coaching, how to refer clients, qualities of an effective nutrition coach and ethical considerations
• Product and Supplement Labels and Claims: Dietary supplements, foods vs supplements, food and supplement labeling, the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission, food and supplement claims and organic agriculture
• Supplements: Explanation of supplements, vitamins and minerals, sports nutrition and weight management
• Navigating Successful and Trending Diets: Defining diet, fad diets, current diet trends, navigating successful diets and the most effective diets
• Special Nutrition Scenarios: Health management, life span considerations, food allergies and sensitivities and other special scenarios

Support/Customer Service

ISSA offers customer service by phone, email and through live chat on its website. I interacted with the customer support team a number of times while engaging with the material and verifying details for this review. I used the live chat at first, where I was immediately connected with a real person. I appreciated that, since it can be tedious when sites automatically connect you to a bot before you’re able to chat with an agent. The customer service professionals were polite and answered all my questions, and when they couldn’t, they directed me to call an ISSA representative. The person I spoke to on the phone answered all of my questions and provided me with additional resources. In my experience, ISSA has excellent customer service.

Beyond traditional customer service, ISSA also offers student support through its Nutrition Bootcamp. The Nutrition Bootcamp consists of five one-hour study sessions offered live in an online student forum or on-demand, as well as five one-hour Q&A sessions. The study sessions are held by what ISSA calls its “Nutrition Geniuses” who show you how to succeed in the course. The Q&A sessions allow students to get answers to any questions they may have about the course, exam and more.

Exam Type

The ISSA Nutritionist certification exam is open-book and administered online. It has a pass rate of 75 percent, according to 2022 data. The exam has a total of 220 questions and no time limit. You must get at least 70 percent of the questions correct to pass. ISSA offers unlimited attempts on the final exam, so you can retake it as many times as you need in order to pass.

The first retest attempt is free, but all attempts following incur an administrative fee of $99. It’s worth remembering that this course is self-paced, so be sure to take your time studying so that you can pass on your first or second attempt, and avoid that $99 fee. Again, the exam is open-book, so taking the time to create a detailed study guide could be immensely helpful.

Our Experience with the ISSA Nutritionist Certification

As mentioned above, I have been taking the ISSA Nutrition Coach Certification course for five weeks and I have been through five of the 10 modules. The material I’ve covered so far includes the fundamentals of how humans eat; cells, organ systems and digestion; metabolism and macronutrients. The chapters are relatively easy to get through, but I did notice that some of the material seemed a bit dated. Even though the textbook is dated from 2020, I believe it would be better to have an updated version each year, as our understanding of nutrition and supplements is constantly changing.

In terms of the course difficulty, I found that the first module was by far the easiest—following that the material covers complex information about human biology and the science of nutrition. I found myself taking about five pages of notes for all chapters following the first one (I’ll note I have relatively large handwriting). Before taking a quiz, I like to spend about 30 minutes looking over my material. The quizzes are open-note and I did reference them while taking the quizzes.

I also participated in the Nutrition Bootcamp, which takes place over Zoom. There were two ISSA instructors leading the session, and they answered questions that had been submitted by students. I found that they gave really detailed answers, and though I didn’t ask my own questions, it was really helpful to hear what others were asking. It’s clear the instructors are experts in their fields—I appreciated how they used their own professional experience to answer a lot of the questions.

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Benefits of the ISSA Nutritionist Certification

The ISSA Nutrition course gives students an NCCA-accredited certification in nutrition that is accepted at a number of fitness institutions. Students are also provided with 20 continuing education credits, which they can use when they need to recertify two years after completing the course.

The course itself is comprehensive, covering everything you need to know as a nutritionist, including how to run your business. ISSA offers excellent student support, from its easy-to-access customer service to its instructor-led online student forums.

How Much Does the ISSA Nutritionist Certification Cost?

The ISSA Nutritionist Certification costs $799 before discounts. However, at the time of writing, ISSA is running a promotion for a total course cost of $639.20. ISSA also offers six-month and 12-month payment plans. The 12-month plan costs $66.58/month ($52.27/month with the current discount) and the six-month plan costs $133.17/month ($106.53/month with the current discount).

The price includes the course material, final exam and 20 continuing education units, which students will need, as ISSA nutritionists need recertification every two years.

What Customers Say About ISSA Nutritionist Certification

Customers on TrustPilot have given the ISSA Nutritionist Certification course 4.8/5 stars. Most reviewers have positive things to say about the course, praising its in-depth material, customer service and easy-to-use online interface.

One happy reviewer writes: “What made it great was that I was able to pace myself properly despite my busy schedule and was provided the tools I needed.”

Some negative reviews mention that their certifications were not accepted at their local gyms, but many positive reviewers say they secured jobs after getting their certifications.

What We Like About the ISSA Nutritionist Certification

• Course is self-paced and can be taken in up to eight months
• Quizzes and exams are open-book
• Nutrition Bootcamp offers live or on-demand instructor help and live Q&A sessions
• Great customer service
• Job guarantee or your money back

What to Consider About the ISSA Nutritionist Certification

• Those without any experience in nutrition may want more education if they are hoping to have a well-paid career in the industry
• Textbook material could be updated

Who the ISSA Nutritionist Certification Is Best For

This course is a great option for people looking to start their career as a nutritionist from home and fitness and wellness professionals who want to boost their business. In our opinion, the course has the most potential for those who have at least some experience in the fitness/wellness industry. That’s not to say that it isn’t a good option for complete beginners, but they shouldn’t expect the certification alone to lead to a high-paying career as a nutritionist. It won’t replace an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in nutrition, but it comes at a vastly reduced price. If you’re looking to get a well-rounded education on the fundamentals of nutrition, this program is a great option.

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How We Tested

I enrolled in the ISSA Nutritionist Certification course. I was looking to get a nutritionist certification anyway, so the opportunity to try out this course came at a perfect time. I have so far spent about five weeks with the course, completing about a chapter a week (which is ideal timing for me since I’m doing the course while employed in a full-time position). Though ISSA does partner with universities that offer in-person learning, I am doing the fully remote online version of the course, which is also the more popular option. I plan to complete the course by the end of February.

ISSA vs. NASM

The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), like ISSA, is a fitness education provider that offers certifications in personal training, nutrition, wellness and other related specializations. While NASM is based in the United States, its certifications are also accepted abroad, according to the institution. NASM and ISSA are both highly accredited programs, and their nutrition courses are very similar in both content and price.

NASM costs $899 before discounts, which is $100 more than ISSA. And NASM offers a premium option for $1,099 that includes a 90-day job guarantee and a one-year subscription to NASM EDGE Trainer Plus, an app that includes a macro and micronutrient calculator and lets trainers easily connect with their clients and personalize workout plans.

The NASM Nutrition course offers a digital learning platform and a curriculum it claims is “consistently reviewed and updated with the most up-to-date material available.” While that may give it a leg up over ISSA, it does not offer the online student forum that ISSA does.

The NASM Nutrition course has a 100-question multiple-choice open-book final exam that is timed for 90 minutes. Like ISSA’s exam, you need a score of at least 70 percent to pass. NASM offers three free attempts on the final exam.

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ISSA Nutritionist Certification FAQs

Is the ISSA nutritionist certification worth it?

It depends on your budget, but we believe the course is worth it. Without discounts, it costs $799. While that may seem like a lot up-front, when you consider the earning potential the course provides, it’s actually pretty affordable. And ISSA does offer a money-back guarantee if you are unable to find a job after completing this course.

Is the ISSA nutritionist exam open book?

Yes, the exam is open-book, meaning you can use your notes and the course material while taking it. It has no time limit, so you can take as much time as you need to complete it.

How long does it take to complete the ISSA nutritionist certification course?

According to ISSA, most students complete the course in six to eight weeks. You have a total of eight months to complete the course. However, ISSA offers extensions of up to four months. Each month extension costs $10.49 plus tax.

What salary can I expect to make after taking the ISSA nutritionist course?

The average nutrition coach salary in the United States is $44,415 per year, with a range between $39,197 and $49,978, according to Salary.com. Salaries are dependent on factors like certifications, additional skills and experience.

The Takeaway: Is the ISSA Nutritionist Certification Course Right for You?

If you’re looking to boost your business as a personal trainer or fitness instructor, this ISSA course is one of the most cost-effective ways to do so. And if you’re looking to begin your career as a nutritionist, this ISSA course is a great place to start.

If you don’t have a fitness or nutrition background, you may need more education to secure a well-paying job in the industry, but this highly accredited program will help jumpstart your career.