PhD in Speech Pathology or Audiology (Research)

The doctoral (Ph.D.) programs in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology consist of academic, research, and clinical experiences, with an emphasis on basic and applied science. Candidates for admission to the Ph.D. degree must possess a bachelor's degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 semester credits of their undergraduate degree. If a candidate has a Masters Degree, a minimum GPA of 3.0 in their graduate work is required. In addition, the candidate must obtain a combined score of 800 in the Verbal and Quantitative sections on the Graduate Record Examination taken within the last 5 years, three strong letters of recommendations and a personal statement indicating enthusiasm for pursuing research in the fields of Audiology or Speech Language Pathology. 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, they should apply to the Master's program in the department. Acceptable TOEFL scores (620 or higher) must also be submitted by applicants that are not native speakers of English. Courses for the Ph.D. degree are selected from a number of areas related to communication disorders, such as psychology, engineering, linguistics, computer science, statistics, sensory processes, and special education, as well as audiology and speech-language pathology.

Students begin their research experiences early in their programs and are mentored in faculty laboratories. The doctoral degree requires a minimum of 90 credits beyond the bachelor's degree. Students 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. The academic and research experiences lead to the dissertation, which typically is begun in the third year. The doctoral programs may be completed in four years of full-time study. Part time doctoral study is also feasible upon approval by faculty.