Program Requirements in CSD
For the Master of Science degree, the following requirements must be met:
- Completion of a minimum of 31 graduate credit hours in academic coursework, with additional credits from clinical practica and externships.
- Completion of two unique externships, typically full-day placements extending throughout the semester at an approved off-campus site.
- Completion of a minimum of 400 total clinical hours (including 375 direct clinical contact hours).
- Demonstration of clinical competency as judged by the Program faculty.
Students selecting the thesis option must also complete six hours of thesis credit. The student must design, implement, and produce a written thesis on a research topic in accordance with guidelines of the Department of Applied Human Sciences, and successfully defend the thesis in an oral examination.
Students selecting the non-thesis option complete Research Fundamentals and a Research Experience during one semester of their graduate program, and also successfully complete the comprehensive written examination and oral examination, if indicated.
Prerequisite Coursework
The courses listed below or approved equivalents are the required undergraduate courses for graduate study in communication sciences and disorders:
- CSD 347 Introduction to Phonetics
- CSD 360 Structure and Function of the Speech Mechanism
- CSD 361 Hearing Science
- CSD 442 Developmental Psycholinguistics
- CSD 443 Language Assessment and Intervention I
- CSD 446 Speech Sound Disorders
- CSD 515 Laboratory in Acoustic Phonetics
- CSD 549 Clinical Procedures in Communication Disorders
- CSD 560 Clinical Research in Communication Sciences and Disorders
- CSD 567 Basic Audiology
- CSD 580 Neurological Basis of Communication and Swallowing Disorders
Deficient coursework is integrated within a program of study for students admitted for graduate studies in CSD.