Master's Program – Speech-Language Pathology

Speech-language pathology, in its broadest sense, is concerned with research, assessment, and treatment of speech and language disorders. This includes the basic areas of voice, fluency, articulation, neuropathologies, developmental disabilities, and structural deviations. Additional areas of study within our Department are those of bilingual speech language pathology and family-focused treatment. Study and training in a full range of evaluation and remediation techniques are integral parts of the curriculum. Closely allied to the speech language pathology curriculum are the fields of speech science, neurolinguistics, and normal child language acquisition.

All SLP Master's students seeking certification take a core set of required courses that ensures competencies in a wide variety of professional areas, as required for the new Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) standards for certification. In addition to the core, students take additional coursework as electives, allowing them to pursue a special area of interest. The program is designed to be completed in two full years (see course sequence).

Fall-Spring-Summer Year 1

Fall-Spring-Summer Year 2

A total of 39-42 hours of academic coursework over two full years are required for the completion of the MA. All students are required to complete their observation hours before entering the Graduate program in CSD here at UT Austin.

Advising

A special feature of the SLP program is the Advising Team concept. Beginning with the orientation for new graduate students held prior to the start of each Fall semester, each graduate student is advised on a regular basis by an Academic faculty member and a Clinical faculty member working together within the student's specialty area. This mentoring team assists the student with course selection and registration for the following semester and helps to coordinate course work and practicum experiences so that the student derives maximum benefit from his or her experience in the program. A Handbook for graduate students in CSD is given to all new students. Periodically, the Department Chair and the Graduate Advisor meet with the entire group of M.A. students for question/answer and feedback sessions.

Specialization

In response to changes in the ASHA certification standards (the new Knowledge Assessment-KASA-framework), we have restructured the curriculum to provide “foundations” courses with comprehensive coverage of the field. These are supplemented by elective coursework, enabling a student to go more deeply into topics of special interest or to broaden his or her expertise. Specialization is still possible and it is encouraged. But it is done on a more individual basis with more flexibility than was possible under the previous system of “tracks”.

Bilingualism

Students can build a bilingual program to suit their specific areas of interest. For example, a student who is interested in bilingualism can elect the Language Theories and Bilingualism course, instead of the Cognitive and Linguistic Foundations of Language Disorders, in the core courseload, and Collaborative Models of Assessment and Intervention for Bilingual Populations for one of the two electives. Students who are interested in working with adults can select two additional electives that focus on the adult population, whereas students who are more interested in children can choose electives that focus on the child population. Students who are interested in lifespan issues might select a mix of elective courses.