Admission Requirements and Procedures
The applicant for the degree should have completed an undergraduate concentration in communication sciences and disorders or the equivalent, and have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0. Applicants who do not have an undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders or the equivalent must complete prerequisite course work as per advisement by the graduate program director. Course work includes:
- SPCH 005A (Phonetics)
- SPCH 006 (Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism)
- SPCH 102A (Normal Language Development)
- SPCH 103 (Introduction to Speech Science)
- SPCH 131 (Introduction to Communication Disorders)
- SPCH 133 (Clinical Methods in Speech and Language Disorders)
- SPCH 137 (Introduction to Audiology)
Successful completion of prerequisites, even if taken at Hofstra, does not guarantee admission to the Master of Arts programs. The application must include:
- A personal essay (500 words).
- GRE scores, including the writing subtest (obtained no more than five years prior to application).
- Current letters of recommendation from the institution from which the candidate received the baccalaureate degree, are also required. These three letters should be from faculty members or university administrators who are familiar with the candidate’s academic work.
- An interview may be required.
Approval of admission by the Graduate Admissions Office at Hofstra and the graduate program director of the department are also required.
Admission to the MA program in Speech Language Pathology occurs in the fall semester. Applications received by January 15, will be given priority. Applications received after January 15 will be reviewed if space becomes available. Upon acceptance, a nonrefundable tuition deposit of $500 is required of all part-time and full-time matriculated students. When registering for the semester for which the student has been admitted, the deposit will be credited toward tuition.
The department understands that any single criterion may not reliably predict a candidate’s potential for success in a graduate program. As such, candidates who do not fully satisfy one of the admission criteria are still open to apply.
General Education Core Requirements
In order to ensure that prospective teachers have a broad education in the liberal arts and sciences, all students must have completed undergraduate course work from each of the content areas below.
- Artistic Expression/Humanities (3 s.h.)
- Communication (3 s.h.)
- Information Retrieval or placement exam (0-3 s.h.)
- Concepts in History/Social Science (3 s.h.)
- Language other than English (3 s.h.)
- Scientific Processes (3 s.h.)
- Mathematical Processes (3 s.h.)
- Literature, Analysis and Written Expression (6 s.h.)
Course work for the general education core in the liberal arts and sciences must have a GPA of 2.75 or above with no grades below a C-.
Please note that programs may have general education requirements that exceed the minimum registered with the state. Degrees will not be conferred unless all general education core deficiencies have been met.
Scholarships and Assistantships
Scholarships and assistantships are available for qualified students. Awards are made annually based on merit. Students are considered for scholarships on the basis of their application to the program. Opportunities for scholarships and assistantships are announced when they become available.
Program Policies
All semester hours after acceptance must be completed in residence. The MA degree must be completed within a five-year period from the date of completion of the student’s first MA level course. No more than nine semester hours of graduate courses from another university will be accepted toward Hofstra’s MA degree. These semester hours must have been completed prior to acceptance into the graduate program. Course work which was completed more than
five years prior to admission into the graduate program will not be accepted toward the degree in Speech-Language Pathology.
All programs of study in speech-language pathology must be designed under advisement by a faculty member and approved by the graduate program director. All part-time students are strongly encouraged to complete at least 6 semester hours per semester. Candidates must maintain a minimum 3.0 average throughout their course of study. Any candidate falling below a 3.0 average will be placed on probation. A probationary status may not be maintained for more than one semester, inclusive of summer sessions. Any candidate who fails a required course in the program is subject to dismissal.
Students who have accumulated 2 or more incomplete grades at the start of a semester, including summer sessions, may not begin clinical practica. Clinical practica in students’ minor area are excluded from this policy. Students who have an incomplete grade for any clinic course in the major area may begin the next clinic practicum in the sequence only after the incomplete clinic grade has been eliminated and a satisfactory letter grade has been assigned.
All students are required to successfully complete the comprehensive examination during the last full semester of graduate study. Applicants must file for the examination within the first month of the semester in which they plan to take the examination.
For further information regarding graduate programs and scholarships, contact the graduate program director.
Program Requirements
Speech-language pathology majors require a minimum of 52 semester hours of graduate work taken within the department. Students who have completed a 3 semester hour undergraduate course in aural rehabilitation are required to complete only 4 graduate level semester hours of audiology. All other speech-language pathology students are required to complete 7 semester hours in audiology including aural rehabilitation.
Each student must complete 25 hours of supervised clinical observation prior to registering for graduate clinical practica. A minimum of 375 clock hours of direct contact are required at the graduate level with at least one practicum scheduled during a fall or spring semester. Within the first year of study, speech-language students must complete at least 10 hours of clinical work in audiology. Each student must provide documentation of: inoculation for measles/mumps, rubella, hepatitis B and, annually, documentation of a negative TB test and physical examination.
The MA program in SLP offers students two options. Option I is intended for students who seek ASHA certification and New York state licensure as a speech-language pathologist in clinical, hospital and private practice. Option II is for students who plan to work in educational settings, and seek ASHA certification and New York state licensure as a speech-language pathologist.
Option I - The MA Program in Speech-Language - Semester Hours: 52
Students who have not completed an undergraduate-level course in aural rehabilitation are required to take SPCH 138 in addition to the 52 graduate credits.
In addition to graduate course work, ASHA requires at least 3 s.h of undergraduate course work in each of the following areas: biological sciences, physical sciences (must be a course in physics or chemistry), statistics, and social/behavioral sciences. Deficiencies in any of these areas must be made up prior to graduation.
The following are required courses.
Choose one course from the following - Semester Hours: 1
Choose two courses from the following - Semester Hours: 2
Additional program requirements
Option II - MA in Speech-Language Pathology (With Teacher Certification) - Semester Hours: 57
Students who have not completed an undergraduate-level course in aural rehabilitation are required to take SPCH 138 in addition to the 57 graduate credits. In addition to the course work for Option I, students who choose Option II must complete the following courses:
Notes
Undergraduate transcripts are evaluated by Hofstra’s Certification Office for compliance with New York State Department of Education requirements for teacher certification. Students will be notified of any deficiencies and will be required to complete any identified missing course work prior to graduation.
In their final semester of study, students must successfully complete all required New York state teacher examinations. Following completion of the MA degree and the teacher education requirements, students should submit their application materials directly to Hofstra’s Office of Educational Support Services.
Additional program requirements
Graduation Requirements:
- Completion of all program requirements.
- A minimum grade point average of 3.0 in overall graduate course work.
The Advanced Certificate: Teacher of Students With Speech-Language Disabilities is available for students who have completed a Master of Arts: Speech-Language Pathology but who do not hold a teaching certificate for Teaching Students With Speech and Language Disabilities.