Speech-Language Pathology, PhD
Chair
Kathy Vander Werff, Ph.D.
621 Skytop Road, Suite 1200
315-443-9637
Faculty
Stephanie McMillen, Yalian Pei, Jonathan Preston, Ellyn Riley, and Victoria Tumanova, Emeritus Professors, Mary Louise Edwards, Janet Ford, Raymond Colton and Linda Milosky
Doctor of Philosophy Speech-Language Pathology
The Ph.D. program in Speech-Language Pathology consists of academic, research, and clinical experiences, with an emphasis on basic and applied science. Sponsorship of the Ph.D. student by a faculty member must be agreed upon prior to the time of enrollment. Interested students should contact the department to match with a faculty sponsor prior to applying.
Admission Requirements
Candidates for admission to the Ph.D. degree should possess a bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale in the last 60 semester credits of their undergraduate degree. If a candidate has a master’s degree or AuD, a minimum GPA of 3.5 in their graduate work is required. In addition, the candidate should obtain a minimum percentile score of 40% in the Verbal section, 50% in the Quantitative section, and a 4.0 in the Writing section on the Graduate Record Examination taken within the last 5 years.
International students, except those from English-speaking Canadian schools, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, must submit TOEFL or IELTS scores (less than two years old) as proof of English proficiency. This requirement is waived for non-residents who have completed four years of undergraduate or two years of graduate study in the U.S. The recommended minimum scores are 105 on the TOEFL iBT and 7.5 on the IELTS.
Three strong letters of recommendation, a CV/resume, and a detailed personal statement responding to all required prompts will be required when submitting application materials. The student should also submit at least one example of research writing, which may include a research paper, literature review, significant writing assignment from a course, article critique, or other demonstration of research-related writing to provide the advisor with an indication of the student’s written communication skills and level of experience with research-related writing prior to agreeing to serve as their research mentor.
To be admitted to the Ph.D. program, a CSD faculty member must agree to initially mentor a student. Therefore, prospective students must discuss their research interests with a faculty member of their own choosing in order to determine if these interests could be met within the department. The Ph.D. is a research degree and very little or no clinical training is offered. Candidates interested in obtaining such training should apply to the Master’s (M.S.) in Speech-Language Pathology program in the department.