How long is the graduate program in speech-language pathology?
What are the academic credit requirements to graduate? Thirty six (36) graduate hours (30 academic and 6 clinic) are required for graduation.
Can I transfer graduate credit from another school and receive credit at NIU? While the graduate school will accept up to 15 hours of transfer credit, the department is able to set their own standard and typically will accept up to 9 hours of transfer credit. However, this decision is completed on a case by case basis?
What is the typical size of a graduate class in speech-language pathology? Our graduate courses are only offered once per year. Therefore, class size in required classes is 25 to 40. Elective courses may have fewer students with 8 to 20 students enrolled. The average course is approximately 25.
What do you see as a strength of the program? Students know that they have excellent access to faculty. The faculty are available to work with graduate students and go out of their way to be available. NIU has a terminal master’s program (no Ph.D. in SLP), so the faculty can spend a lot of their time with the master’s level students.
Do all students take comprehensive exams at the end of their program? Most students take comprehensive exams although all students are also encouraged to complete a master’s thesis if they desire. A master’s thesis involves working closely with an academic faculty member pursuing a research interest that is usually generated by discussions between the student and faculty member. When started early in a student’s program, a student can complete their thesis, academic course work, and clinical requirements in five semesters. However, when a student begins a thesis later in their program (e.g. third or fourth academic semester) there is a good possibility that the student will require an additional semester to complete their program.
Are graduate students at Northern encouraged to specialize in their studies for working with children or adults? Students are not encouraged to specialize in hospitals or schools. We train students to be well rounded clinicians who are skilled to work in both schools and hospitals.
If I am interested in gaining additional information about a specific disorder, will I have those opportunities? Some students may decide that they enjoy pursuing additional academic and clinical interests in a specific area (e.g. stuttering, child language, phonological disorders, autism). These students are encouraged to follow these interests by talking with academic and clinical faculty and working to increase their expertise by getting additional clinical experiences or academic course work in the area. Participation in research projects focused on specific populations is another means of gaining specific expertise with a specific population.
How many clients can I expect to have during my first semester? Most students begin their first semester working with one client. The number of clients a students works with will increase as his/her skills develop. Some first semester students have more than one client.
What clinical opportunities might I have during my first four semesters? Clinic opportunities can be on campus – NIU Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic or off campus sites (e.g., Kishwaukee Hospital for swallow studies, County Home for geriatric rehabilitation, contracts with local schools and Easter Seals).
Where might I be placed during my fifth and final semester? Fifth semester students are placed off campus at sites all over the greater Chicagoland and Northern Illinois area. Students have been placed at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Marianjoy Rehabilitation Facility (Wheaton, IL), Hines VA hospital and most other hospitals or rehab centers that you can think of. On occasion, a student will request an out of state, off campus placement and the department will try and accommodate these requests.
How many student-at-large credit hours may be applied towards degree requirements? A maximum of 12 semester hours of student-at-large credit may be applied to degree requirements. In addition, the maximum combined total of student-at-large hours plus transfer credit may not exceed 12 semester hours.
What is the process if I have a complaint? Any student who has specific concerns regarding their course of study should first attempt to resolve the situation with the academic or clinical faculty member most directly involved with the issue/s. If further support or clarification is required the student's academic and/or clinic advisor should be involved. When the severity of the situation warrants, the Program Director, Clinic Director, School Chair, and Dean may become involved. The student may be asked to put the complaint in writing with a specific description of the concern/s. The document must be signed by the individual issuing the complaint. Students may also forward their complaints to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Complaints about the NIU graudate program in Communicative Disorders may be submitted by any student, instructor, staff member, speech-language pathologist, audiologist, and/or member of the public. Complaints must be signed and submitted in writing to the: Chair, Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard #310, Rockville, Maryland 20850.
What is the program completion rate for Speech-Language Pathology program students? The program completion rate for 2007 is 91.7%.
What is the pass rate on the PRAXIS examination? The pass rate for the 2007 examination is 96.7%.
What is the employment rate of Speech-Language Pathology graduates? The employment rate for 2007 is 100%.
How many faculty are there in Communicative Disorders (including speech-language pathology, audiology, rehabilitation counseling)? There are 13 academic faculty, 13 clinical faculty supplemented by highly qualified temporary staff where needed in the COMD department.
Are there special clinical programs associated the specialized clinical expertise of the faculty? Students have the opportunity to participate in variety of specialized clinical programs:
Are there active research programs in specific areas of study? There are active programs of research in several areas. Students are encouraged to talk with faculty about these research projects and can participate in research projects as volunteers, independent study, or related thesis projects.
Are graduate assistantships available? A number of students receive half time (10 hr) graduate assistantships from the department. The student will be required to assist faculty with teaching responsibilities, research projects, or assist faculty/staff with office work to satisfy the requirements of the assistantship. Students will receive tuition and a small monthly stipend in return. These assistantships are typically awarded based on graduate admission criteria (e.g. GPA, GRE scores, letters of recommendation, letter of intent). Some students also apply for and receive graduate assistantships in other departments. These can include allied health, special education, etc.
Are research assistantships available? Faculty with externally-funded research grants also hire students to assist on their projects. Students work for the faculty member in return for tuition and a monthly stipend.
What are the statistics for graduate admission? In the 2007-2008 academic year, 208 students applied, 26 were admitted. The average GPA of admitted students was 3.42 and the average composite GRE score (verbal + quantitative) was 948.
What is the process for evaluating the graduate applications? The typical student admitted to our program has a 3.4 GPA and around 500 on each of the GRE exams. As this is an approximate average, there are students below and students above these values as well. In addition, the grad admissions committee evaluates the letters of recommendation and the student’s letter of intent. All of the submitted information is numerically rated by the grad admissions committee with a composite score compiled. These scores are rank ordered and reevaluated during the admissions process according to the number of openings available for a particular semester. The number of students admitted is based in part on the department’s ability to effectively assign clients and supervise these students in the speech and hearing clinic. We typically admit 25 to 30 speech language pathology graduate students in the fall out of about 200 applications.
Does the department have an admissions quota for non-NIU students? We do not have an admission quota that requires special consideration for NIU undergraduate students. Admission is competitive and based on the aforementioned criteria.
When will I find out if I was admitted? Students are typically informed during in March regarding admission for the fall semester.
Who should I contact if I have additional questions? Contact: Dr. Sue Ouellette at souellet@niu.edu (preferred) or (815)753-1484.