Admission

Undergraduate Admission

Prospective undergraduate students interested in majoring in Speech Pathology and Audiology should visit Miami's Office of Admission for general information, applications, and deadlines. There are no additional steps required for admission to the department.

Graduate Admission

There are distinct requirements and procedures for admission to the graduate program in Speech Pathology. Please visit the Graduate Admissions Page for more information.

Our program has one admissions cycle per year (applications due in December) and all admitted students begin the program in the Fall semester. Our graduate program uses the CSDCAS central application for admissions.

Out-of-State Residents

Ohio House Bill 110 was recently passed, updating residency qualifications for public universities in Ohio. Per Section 3333.31 (please read for details), students who satisfy ALL of the following criteria will be considered Ohio residents for tuition purposes:

  • Was considered out-of-state for tuition purposes, although they lived in Ohio and completed a bachelor’s degree in Ohio
  • Upon completing a bachelor’s degree, immediately enrolled in a graduate program in Ohio
  • Continue to live in Ohio while completing the graduate program

Therefore, if you attended a public undergraduate institution in Ohio and lived in Ohio during that time, and immediately begin a graduate program at a public university in Ohio (while continuing to live in Ohio), you will be considered an in-state resident for tuition purposes.

Graduate Program Admission Requirements

Our graduate program admission requirements involve both the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) requirements and Departmental requirements.

  1. To fulfill ASHA course requirements, prospective graduate students are required to:
Have a Bachelor's degree (BA or BS) from an accredited institution. As part of their undergraduate program, a student must take at least one course from each of the following areas and ALL COURSES MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO BEGINNING THE GRADUATE PROGRAM:
  1. biological science (biology, physiology, zoology)
  2. physical science (physics or chemistry)
  3. college-level quantitative statsitics
  4. social science
  5. behavioral science

Guidelines for some of these courses can be found on the ASHA website

  1. In addition to the courses required by ASHA, our Department also requires the following Major courses be completed PRIOR to beginning the program. You may apply before they are completed provided that you willl have them completed before you begin in the fall.
  1. Language development
  2. Anatomy and physiology of the speech mechanism (distinct from speech science)
  3. Neuroscience/Neurology (may be completed outside a CSD department; must include information on motor and sensory neural pathways)
  4. Phonetics
  5. Introduction to Audiology (3-hour course)
  6. Aural rehabilitation (3-hour course)
  7. Quantitative research methods (separate from a statistics course-this course will focus on research design; working in a research lab does not fulfill the requirement)
  1. GPA (overall and in the major): A minimum overall GPA of 3.3 and a minimum GPA of 3.4 in the communication sciences undergraduate degree are recommended.
  2. Graduate Record Exam (GRE): The GRE will NOT be used during the selection process. 
  3. Required Guided Observation hours: Per American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), students should obtain and provide documentation for a minimum of 25 hours of guided clinical observations. These hours generally precede direct contact with clients/patients. Evidence of guided observations includes documentation of hours, dates, activities observed and signature(s) from the clinical educator(s). In addition, beginning January 1, 2021 ASHA mandated that clinical educators who are leading the guided hours (i.e. signing off on your hours) must have completed 2 hours of continuing education in supervision. Access to ASHA supervision courses may be found at https://asha.org/professional-development/supervision-courses. For our program, PRIOR TO THE START of graduate school, students must have completed their 25 observation hours. Students are also encouraged to get a range of observations hours in different settings with different populations. In addition, we require a valid ASHA accreditation number and state number of the clinical educator(s) as part of the documentation of your hours. Shadowing: Students may also track informal observation hours. These can be reported on their resume.
  4. Outside Experience: In addition to excelling academically, students applying to our program should demonstrate extra-curricular, volunteer, and leadership activities outside of the classroom. Such experiences may include, but are not limited to: employment, volunteer work, research, student/community organizations, leadership roles, sports, performing arts/music. As part of your application we will be requiring a detailed resume that will highlight these experiences.

Additional Prerequisites for Non-Majors

(AKA leveling students or a student with an undergraduate degree other than speech-language pathology or communication disorders)

In addition to the above requirements listed under Bachelor Degree (#1 above) students have to have completed all of the Major courses (#2 above) PRIOR to entering the program. Grades for a minimum of 3 (at least 9 credit hours) of these courses have to be submitted AS PART OF application phase, with a detailed plan to be provided upon request during the review process of how the remaining coursework will be obtained. Students can submit their plan in the CSDCAS portion of the application as "Planned" for both Spring and Summer. The graduate director may contact a prospective leveling student to obtain this information.

Other Frequently Asked Questions

Does your program have rolling admissions? We do not have rolling admissions.

Does your program allow for study abroad during the graduate program? No, there is not enough time during our rigorous program for students to travel abroad during the program.

Where do most students complete their externships? Oxford, Ohio is located between Cincinnati, Ohio and Dayton, Ohio. Most externships are completed in these two cities and the surrounding areas.

What is the difference between an MA/MS degree at Miami University? Students who are applying to our program will be asked if they are completing an MA or MS degree. Students who wish at the time of applying to complete a thesis (i.e., wish to conduct research) should select MA. Students who are taking our alternative option (Evidence-Based Practice Course) should select MS. You may change this distinction during the course of your program without difficulty.

Am I able to take ASL or any of the certificate programs offered at Miami while completing the graduate program? ASL courses are only offered at the undergraduate level. For students interested in a certificate program, most students find that completing additional coursework is not possible within the current curriculum and clinical experiences.