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The Ph.D. degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders prepares professionals for academic careers, and therefore its emphasis is on research and the scholarly study of the science of human communication and its disorders. All students in the doctoral program must pursue their studies on a full-time basis, conducting scientific experiments in one or more of the department’s laboratories under the guidance of a research mentor. Ph.D. students also gain experience in curriculum development and classroom teaching.

Learning Outcomes

Degree Requirements (57 Post Masters Hours)

Doctoral students must complete a minimum of 45 semester hours of graduate course work beyond the master’s degree in speech-language pathology plus 12 semester hours of dissertation preparation (COMD 899 ). Students who are nationally certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association generally pursue two years of academic/research preparation followed by one or more years to complete the dissertation. Master’s-level speech-language pathologists who are wishing to pursue their ASHA certification while enrolled in the doctoral program will take slightly longer. Finally, students with bachelor’s degrees from other related scientific disciplines (e.g., psychology, linguistics, engineering, exercise science), who aspire to become speech-language-hearing scientists with no interest in clinical practice, take three years of course work (up to 18 additional semester hours, as determined by their doctoral planning committee) prior to the dissertation year. In addition to the courses listed below, all Ph.D. students must take PUBH 700 .