Requirements and Details

Admission information

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders conducts the admission process once per year. 

• Due to accrediting agency standards, the program cannot admit part-time students.
• Qualified candidates are invited to interview with faculty members and tour the facilities. Applicants unable to visit campus due to travel distance will have the opportunity to interview via Skype.
• Selection is heavily based on the applicant's undergraduate GPA, educational and professional experiences, and on recommendation letters from faculty familiar with the applicant's potential for success in graduate school.
• Applicants must reapply each year they wish to be considered for admission.
• Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Wait list information

• Competition for limited places in the program requires the necessity of a wait list. The wait list decision date is April 30. 

Phase I and Phase II

The Master of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders is subdivided into Phase I and Phase II. A student must have applied and been accepted into the CSD graduate program in order to complete courses in either phase of the degree program. Admission standards and application deadlines are the same for students accepted into Phase I and Phase II.

Students begin study at Phase I if they are accepted into the graduate program without an undergraduate degree or preparation in the professional discipline or with less than 25 credits of CSD course work. Students with an undergraduate major or minor in communication disorders initiate study at Phase II.

Phase I overview

The courses in Phase I are prerequisites for Phase II courses. Students will not be permitted to enroll in Phase II courses until Phase I courses have been completed. Phase I consists of a minimum of 33 semester credits. Additional Phase I credits would be required for students with baccalaureate degrees that did not include at least one course in each of the following four areas:

• Human biology
• Physical science
• Mathematics
• Social/behavioral sciences

Phase II overview

Phase II consists of 49 credits that entail 37 credits of academic course work and a minimum of 12 credits of practicum. Phase II credit requirements may exceed 49 credits if prerequisites have not been met, students elect to complete additional course work, or an additional practicum is required to meet clinical clock hour requirements for certification. 

Advising

Once admitted to the program, you will be assigned an adviser. Your adviser will help you plan out your course of study. It is critical that incoming graduate students meet with their adviser as soon as possible to begin planning their course of study.

Program approval

Admitted students will develop a program of studies which must be approved by their adviser and graduate dean. Program approval must take place after the students have been admitted and prior to the completion of 16 credits of graduate study. Most students submit their program for approval in their first spring semester.