Communication Sciences and Disorders Department College of Communication The University of Texas at Austin About the Department Speech and Hearing Center Contact Us CSD Home

Graduate Program

The Communication Sciences and Disorders Department has over 200 undergraduate majors, 100 graduate students, and a faculty and staff of 30.

Students in the Department hail from all over the nation. Upon leaving the University, our graduates enter the clinical, teaching, and research fields throughout the United States. While in school, Communication Sciences and Disorders graduate students conduct original research, participate in symposia, and may serve as research assistants, teaching assistants, or assistant instructors. Many of our students publish scholarly articles or deliver papers at professional meetings. We are proud of the high level of professional involvement of our students. All of those who have earned a PhD in our Department have obtained faculty or other professional positions.

CSD faculty member Ann Brown teaching a class

We offer Speech Language Pathology (PhD, MA) and Audiology (PhD, AuD) programs. The AuD and MA-SLP programs are both accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. Our graduate program is tailored to individual students. Students develop a plan of study in consultation with their faculty advisory committees. Ordinarily, an MA program is completed in five semesters, an AuD degree in four years and a PhD in three or four years after completion of the MA. We encourage most students in the doctoral program to create a four year full-time PhD work plan since it is quite difficult to produce a high quality dissertation if the student is not in residence.

Specializations - MA program in SLP

In response to changes in the ASHA certification standards, we have restructured the curriculum to provide more comprehensive coverage of the field. The course and clinics enable students to gain the knowledge and skills needed engage in the full scope of practice in speech-language pathology. Specialization is still possible, and it is encouraged. But it is done on a more individual basis and with more flexibility than was possible under the previous system of "tracks".

Bilingualism

Effective Fall 2007 the CSD department will offer a Bilingual / Multicultural certificate (with an emphasis on Spanish/English bilingual populations) to students at the MA level in Speech Language Pathology. The purpose of the certificate is to foster the development of the competencies required to serve bilingual individuals with communication disorders.