Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ph.D.

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.

Speech, Language, & Hearing Science (9 Hours Minimum)

Course Title Credits
COMD 820Advanced Speech Science3
COMD 821Advanced Hearing Science3
COMD 822Normal Bases of Speech Production3
COMD 823Normal Bases of Language3
Total Credit Hours12

Advanced Professional Course Work (24 Hours Minimum)

Examples include, but are not limited to the following. Courses in other departments may also be included, as approved by the students Doctoral Planning committee.

Course Title Credits
Select a minimum of 24 hours from the following courses:
PUBH 700Perspectives in Public Health3
COMD 714Gerontology and Communicative Disorders1-3
COMD 760Cochlear Implants3
COMD 800Seminar in Speech Pathology3
COMD 801Advanced Topics in Speech Pathology3
COMD 805Advanced Study of Language Disorders in Adults3
COMD 827Connections between Oral and Language Literacy3

Research/Statistics Preparation (12 Hours minimum)

Course Title Credits
Select a minimum of 12 hours from the following courses:
BIOS 700Introduction to Biostatistics3
BIOS 757Intermediate Biostatistics3
COMD 791Research Methodology3
EPID 700 Introduction to Epidemiology3
EPID 701Concepts and Methods of Epidemiology3
EDRM 700Introduction to Research in Education3
EDRM 710Educational Statistics I3
EDRM 711Educational Statistics II3
EDRM 712Nonparametric Statistics3
EDRM 718Research and the Statistical Packages1-3
EDRM 789Principles and Applications of Structural Equation Modeling3
EDRM 801Principles and Applications of Educational Research3
EDRM 816Correlational and Multivariate Methods3
EDRM 878Seminar in Research Techniques1-3
PSYC 580Intermediate Statistics for Psychologists3
PSYC 709Basic Quantitative Methods in the Analysis of Behavioral Data I3
PSYC 710Basic Quantitative Methods in the Analysis of Behavioral Data II3
PSYC 823Multivariate Analysis of Behavioral Data3
BIOS 770Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis3
BIOS 825Multivariate Biostatistics3
HPEB 715Qualitative Research Methods in Public Health3

Dissertation Preparation (12 Hours)

Course Title Credits
COMD 899Doctoral Research and Dissertation Preparation12
Total Credit Hours12

Additional Information

Upon the completion of a program of study, approved by both the student’s academic program committee and The Graduate School, and prior to embarking upon a dissertation, doctoral students must successfully pass written and oral comprehensive examinations. The doctoral program culminates in the successful defense of the dissertation, consisting of the collection and analysis of original scientific data.