Information for students wishing to pursue graduate studies in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

Many MA programs in SLP have GPA requirements. These vary by program, and can be found on the program webpages or by contacting the relevant school. (Review this document from UCLA’s Linguistics Department, which includes many SLP programs in the U.S., which includes their GPA and other requirements.)

Besides GPA requirements, most programs require that you take a graduate school entry exam, such as the GRE or (for some California programs) the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST). You can find more details about how to register and prepare for these tests on their respective webpages.

Although it may not be required for admission to an SLP Master’s program, many schools prefer that applicants gain clinical experience. This is especially true for applicants who have not earned their undergraduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology or Communication Sciences and Disorders. Showing that you have observed a speech-language pathologist reinforces the notion that you are aware of what SLPs do in their everyday work environment, and that you are sure that this career path is right for you.

There are many possibilities for gaining clinical field experience in the San Diego area. One possibility includes looking though the San Diego Unified School District’s list of schools, clicking on their websites to locate who are the SLPs working there, and emailing or calling them to see if you can observe them or if they are looking for volunteers. These SLPs know how important it is to observe an SLP  – they once had to do the same! – so don’t be shy.  (If you are aware of other internships or volunteer opportunities, please contact Marc Garellek so that he can add them to the list.)

Some SLP programs require that you earn at least 25 hours of ASHA-approved observation. (The clinicians you wish to observe will know if the observation you do under them is ASHA approved, so ask before!)  It's recommended that you get your supervisor to sign off on your observation hours immediately after gaining the field experience (rather than while applying to programs). Here is an ASHA-approved hours sheet.

Alternatively, Utah State offers an online course, COMD 2400 "Observation and Orientation", that enables students enrolled to complete 25 hours of shadowing online via live observation. See link here for more information.

ASHA is the association that governs clinical certification of students who have completed a clinical Master’s degree in SLP. ASHA requires that applicants have prerequisite skills and knowledge of life sciences, physical sciences, behavioral sciences, and math. Evidence of at least one course in each of the following four areas is required:

1. Statistics
2. Physical science
3. Biological science
4. Behavioral science

You can take these courses for Pass/No Pass, and AP courses will also count so long as they have transferred over to UCSD and appear on your transcript. Master’s programs in SLP will require you to have completed these requirements before you apply. There are many courses you could take at UCSD that should satisfy these requirements. Click on the course names for sample syllabi:

1. Statistics:

1. • PSYC 60 – Introduction to Statistics
     • 4-unit course
     • Typically offered in Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters
   • MATH 11 – Elementary probability and statistics
     • 4-unit course
     • Typically offered in Spring quarter
   • COGS 14B – Introduction to statistical analysis
     • 4-unit course
     • Typically offered in Fall and Spring quarters
   • BIEB 100 – Biostatistics
     • 4-unit course
     • Typically offered in Fall quarter
2.  Physical science: Any 4-unit CHEM or PHYSICS course should satisfy this requirement.
3.  Biological science: Any 4-unit BILD course should satisfy this requirement.
4.  Behavioral science: Any 4-unit course in anthropology, sociology, psychology, or cognitive science should satisfy this requirement. LIGN 146 or 148 will also satisfy this requirement.

Some of common undergraduate courses that you will be expected to have taken prior to admission to Master’s programs include:

1. Speech Science
2. Phonetics
3. Anatomy and Physiology of Speech and Hearing Mechanism
4. Development of Speech and Language
5. Articulation Disorders and language disorders
6. Basic Clinical Audiology
7. Cognitive Neuroscience

However, each program has its own requirements, which you should consult carefully if you are considering applying. Other required courses may include:

1. Fluency disorders
2. Voice disorders
3. Augmentative and Alternative Communication
4. Aural Rehabilitation

Some of these courses are regularly offered at UCSD, whereas others are not. Therefore, without an undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders, graduates from UCSD’s Linguistics program have to decide between (a) completing additional coursework required for most SLP Master’s programs online, or (b) completing the additional coursework after graduating from UCSD. We discuss online courses and post-graduate options in other sections.

There are courses offered at UCSD that should satisfy some of the common prerequisite undergraduate courses listed above, either in full or in combination with other courses. Note: every program sets its own criteria for which undergraduate courses satisfy its prerequisites. The following is meant as a guideline — be sure to check with each school you plan on applying to in order to ensure that the courses below satisfy a particular program’s requirements. Once admitted to a Master’s program, also be sure to confirm with your advisor that you have satisfied those prerequisites; there have been cases of students being admitted to a Master’s program only to find out later that they need to take additional coursework to catch up!

1. Speech Science / Phonetics:

• LIGN 110 – Phonetics
  • 4-unit course
  • Typically offered in Fall quarter
• LIGN 112 – Speech sounds and speech disorders
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Winter quarter

• LIGN 110 – Phonetics
  • 4-unit course
  • Typically offered in Fall quarter
  • N.B. This course will only cover anatomy and physiology of speech
• LIGN 112 – Speech sounds and speech disorders
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Winter quarter
  • N.B. This course covers anatomy and physiology of both speech and hearing
• LIGN 113 -- Hearing Science and Hearing Disorders
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Spring
  • N.B.  This course covers anatomy and physiology of hearing.

• LIGN 119 – First and second language learning: from childhood through adolescence
  • 4-unit course
  • Typically offered in Winter quarter
• LIGN 171 – Child language acquisition
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered either in Spring quarter of this year
  • Not offered every year
• COGS 156 – Language development
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered either in Fall or Spring quarter
• HDP 120 – Language development
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered once a year, either in Winter or Spring quarter
• LIGN 179 – Second language acquisition research
  • 4-unit course
  • Typically offered in Spring quarter
• LIGN 180 – Language representation in the brain
  • 4-unit course
  • Typically offered in Spring quarter
• LIGN 181 – Language processing in the brain
  • 4-unit course
  • Typically offered in Spring quarter

4. Articulation Disorders and language disorders

• LIGN 110 – Phonetics
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Fall quarter
• LIGN 111 – Phonology I
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Winter quarter
• LIGN 112 – Speech sounds and speech disorders
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Winter quarter
• LIGN 119 – First and second language learning: from childhood through adolescence
  • 4-unit course
  • Typically offered in Winter quarter
• LIGN 171 – Child language acquisition
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered either in Spring quarter of this year
  • Not offered every year
• HDP 120 – Language development
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered once a year, either in Winter or Spring quarter
• COGS 154 – Communication disorders in children and adults
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Summer session

• COGS 107C – Cognitive neuroscience
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Spring quarter and Summer

• LIGN 112 – Speech sounds and speech disorders
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Winter quarter
• COGS 154 – Communication disorders in children and adults
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Summer session

• LIGN 112 – Speech sounds and speech disorders
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Winter quarter
• COGS 154 – Communication disorders in children and adults
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Summer session

• COGS 154 – Communication disorders in children and adults
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Summer session
• LIGN 113 -- Hearing Science and Hearing Disorders
  • 4-unit course
  • Offered in Spring
  • N.B.  This course covers anatomy and physiology of hearing.

The Linguistics department offers a major and minor in Speech and Language Sciences, which are designed specifically for students considering careers in speech-language pathology. A student majoring in Speech and Language Sciences is required to take many of the courses listed above, helping to potentially satisfy prerequisites for postgraduate SLP programs.

Therefore, we highly encourage students who might be interested in an SLP career to enroll in the major or minor. However, please note that this major is not equivalent to a major in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Even with the Linguistics major concentration in Speech and Language Sciences, or having taken the above courses, you are likely to still be missing a course on speech anatomy and physiology (i.e., an anatomy/physiology course focusing on the structures ranging from the diaphragm up to the brain), a course on audiology, and a course of child language development (if M.A. programs require that clinical assessment methods in child language disorders are taught). Therefore, if you choose to take three online courses, these should be the ones you focus on!

Below¹ is a list of which UCSD courses could satisfy the prerequisites for students without an undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders for admission to SDSU’s SLP program (see also SDSU’s program for more details).

Below¹ is a list of UC San Diego courses that will satisfy the prerequisites for students without an undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) for admission to Cal State San Marcos (CSUSM)’s SLP M.S. program (see also CSUSM’s department for more details). IMPORTANT: CSUSM also has a post-bacc program, but the UC San Diego courses listed below are meant to satisfy requirements for entry directly into the SLP M.S. program.

If you wish to take any CSUSM classes while still at UC San Diego, you can enroll in their prep classes by joining their SLP Course Prep Waitlist (click on link for more details and instructions). 

Disclaimers:

No guaranteed acceptance to CSUSM

Course approvals are subject to change at any time.

UW Speech and Hearing Sciences - Prerequisites for Admissions

1. COURSEWORK:  Applicants should report coursework in the following areas. This means topic coverage within an academic course; not necessarily an entire course devoted to each topic. We accept coursework in any modality - in person, hybrid or online. 

2. 25 Hours of Guided Observation in Speech-Language Pathology Practice

Per the ASHA 2020 requirement, you must complete a minimum of 25 hours of guided, clinical observation in the speech-language pathology scope of practice. These hours must be completed and approved by an ASHA-certified speech-language-pathologist before starting the master's degree program and engaging in direct client/patient care. Students cannot begin graduate clinical rotations without these hours completed.

3. Basic Science and Statistics Coursework

Complete a minimum of one course in each of the following areas. Courses used to fulfill these requirements should:

• Be taken outside the speech and hearing sciences department.
• Appear by name/number on your official college transcript with a final grade.
• Consist of any number of credits.
• Be taken for a grade, credit/no credit, pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory. You must achieve a “credit,” “pass” or “satisfactory” ranking or a numeric grade of at least 0.7. Competitive applicants should have a GPA of at least 3.0 in the prerequisite undergraduate speech and hearing coursework, with no single course graded less than 2.0. We highly recommend that all prerequisite coursework grades be at 2.5 or above.

For further detail regarding acceptable coursework, visit ASHA’s Prerequisite Course Content Areas Related to SLP Certification Standards:  https://www.asha.org/certification/course-content-areas-for-slp-standards/ 

To satisfy requirements for courses not offered at UCSD, you can choose to take online courses from an accredited school or to enroll in an on-campus, accredited, post-baccalaureate equivalency program; see Maxine Van Doren's helpful guide to CSD Post-Bacc programs.

For example, below are three examples of online post-bac programs that have proved useful to our students (note that you can take these courses while still enrolled at UCSD):

1. San Diego State University
   • SDSU recommends that Linguistics students from UCSD take SLHS 305 (if LIGN 113 wasn't taken), 321, 340, 511, and 514.
2. University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire
3. Utah State
4. University of Washington

Cal State Northridge has a comprehensive list of online post-bac programs, and another list (with both online and on-campus post-bac programs). Note that there are many schools in the Southern California area that offer on-campus, one-year post-baccalaureate programs:

1. CSU Los Angeles
2. CSU Long Beach
3. CSU Northridge

Be sure to check with a particular SLP Master’s program first to ensure that the online courses you wish to take (or post-bac program you wish to attend) will be accepted for admission.

1. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). ASHA EdFind allows you to search for SLP programs based on various criteria (location, area of study).
2. San Diego State University’s clinical program in Speech-Language Pathology
3. Master of Science in Communication Disorders and Sciences: Speech-Language Pathology at Cal State Northridge
4. UCLA Linguistics’ list of SLP post-bac and Master’s programs (currently a Google Doc, courtesy of Alejandra Garcia. If you notice any empty links in this document, please contact Alejandra Garcia to let her know.)
5. Tips for what to do if you are not admitted to an SLP program
6. Speech-Language Pathology Fact Sheet prepared by UCSD Linguistics alumna Arlene Aguilar
7. Many west coast states offer in-state tuition for postgraduate programs like SLP Master’s programs, so if you consider applying out of state, you may want to look into programs in certain states. Find out more about the Western Regional Graduate Program. Western Regional Graduate Program FAQs.
8. Maxine Van Doren's CSD-PostBacc page has plenty of links to online and in-person post-bacc programs, as well as a blog with lots of useful tips.