Doctor of Philosophy Speech-Language Pathology

The Ph.D. program in Speech-Language Pathology consists of academic, research, and clinical experiences, with an emphasis on basic and applied science. Sponsorship of the Ph.D. student by a faculty member must be agreed upon prior to the time of enrollment. Interested students should contact the department to match with a faculty sponsor prior to applying.

Coursework for the Ph.D. degree in Speech-Language Pathology is individually designed. It may include courses within the Audiology/Communication Sciences and Disorders curriculum as well as a variety of courses in complementary areas such as psychology, engineering, computer science, statistics, sensory processes, neuroscience and gerontology. An additional specialty area of concentration may be obtained in some of these areas, such as in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Graduate Program or as part of the Aging Studies Institute. Each student’s program of study will be uniquely tailored to their interest and research areas.

The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 83 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree. Students begin their research experiences early in their programs and are mentored in faculty laboratories by completing a guided research experience in the first year, culminating in a submitted research paper. All Ph.D. candidates must pass a pre-qualifying exam at the end of their first year of full-time study and qualifying exams at the end of their coursework. These academic and research experiences lead to the dissertation, which is typically begun in the third year. The Ph.D. program is typically completed in 4-5 years of full-time study.

Admission Requirements:

Candidates for admission to the Ph.D. degree should possess a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 semester credits of their undergraduate degree. If a candidate has a Master’s Degree or AuD, a minimum GPA of 3.5 in their graduate work is required. In addition, the candidate should obtain a minimum percentile score of 40% in the Verbal section, 50% in the Quantitative section, and a 4.0 in the Writing section on the Graduate Record Examination taken within the last 5 years. Acceptable TOEFL scores (105 Internet based) must also be submitted by applicants who are not native speakers of English. Three strong letters of recommendations and a personal statement indicating enthusiasm for pursuing research in the fields of Audiology or Speech Language Pathology will also be required when submitting application materials. In order to be admitted to the Ph.D. program, a CSD faculty member must agree to initially mentor a student. Therefore, prospective students must discuss their research interests with a faculty member of their own choosing in order to determine if these interests could be met within the department. The Ph.D. is a research degree and very little or no clinical training is offered. If a candidate is interested in obtaining such training, he or she should apply to the Master’s program or AuD in the department.