The Master of Education (M.Ed.) program in speech-language pathology (residential), at the University of West Georgia, is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard # 310, Rockville, MD 20850 800-498-2071 or 301-296-5700.

In the graduate program at UWG, students complete closely supervised practical and/or internships in a variety of settings and with persons of varying ages. The Comprehensive Community Clinic that is housed in the College of Education provides opportunities for students to complete a number of clinical hours on the campus. However, students are required to complete clinical hours in other settings.

For more information, please see the Academic Catalog.

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The Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Speech-Language Pathology (residential) program is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). In the graduate program at UWG, students complete closely supervised practical and/or internships in a variety of settings and with persons of varying ages. The Comprehensive Community Clinic that is housed in the College of Education provides opportunities for students to complete a number of clinical hours on the campus. However, students are required to complete clinical hours in other settings.

The program prepares students for a professional career in the identification, assessment, and treatment of all communication disorders, including language, articulation, voice, resonance, fluency, and swallowing disorders. Successful completion of the program and other professional requirements is designed to lead the applicant toward obtaining a Master of Education degree (M.Ed.) in Speech-Language Pathology, Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) certification, Georgia Licensure in Speech-Language Pathology, and ASHA's Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC).

Entry Requirements

The work of a speech-language pathologists is further enhanced by graduate education, which is mandated for certification by the Council For Clinical Certification (CFCC) of ASHA. Applicants in speech-language pathology must earn a graduate degree, successfully complete the required clinical experiences and pass a national examination. Additionally, the individual must acquire the requisite knowledge and skills mandated by certification standards while enrolled in a program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA).

Do you have what it takes to be a Speech-Language Pathologist?

To enter this career, one must have a sincere interest in helping people, an above-average intellectual aptitude, and the sensitivity, personal warmth, and perspective to be able to interact with a person who has a communication problem. Scientific aptitude, patience, emotional stability, tolerance, and persistence are necessary, as well as resourcefulness and imagination. Other essential traits include a commitment to work cooperatively with others and the ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

The graduate program currently seeks to admit approximately 30-40 full-time students each summer semester.

Student Outcome Data

Praxis Pass Rates

Academic Year   Number Taking the Exam    Number Passed Exam Pass Rate
*2020-2021 63 56 88.89%
*2021-2022 15 9 60%
2022-2023 33 26 78.79%

3-year average pass rate: 81.89%

*There was a plan of study change in AY 20-21 which led to portions of two cohorts taking the Praxis exam that year and fewer graduating students taking it in AY 21-22.

On-Time Program Completion Rates

Academic Year Number Completed within Expected Time Frame Percentage Completed Within Expected Time Frame
2020-2021 32 100%
2021-2022 35 97.2%
2022-2023 35 100%

Total Three-Year Percentage Completing Program On Time: 99.03%

Employment Rates of Graduates

Academic Year Number of Graduates From Prior Year Percentage of Graduates Employed From the Prior Year
2022-2023 31 100
2021-2022 31 100
2020-2021 29 100

Total Three-Year Employment Rate: 100%

 

Nature of the Work

Working with the full range of human communication and its disorders, speech-language pathologists:

  • Evaluate and diagnose speech, language, cognitive-communication and swallowing disorders.
  • Treat speech, language, cognitive-communication and swallowing disorders in individuals of all ages, from infants to the elderly.

In addition, speech-language pathologists may:

  • Prepare future professionals in college and universities.
  • Manage agencies, clinics, organizations, or private practices.
  • Engage in research to enhance knowledge about human communication processes.
  • Supervise and direct public school or clinical programs.
  • Develop new methods and equipment to evaluate problems.
  • Establish more effective treatments.
  • Investigate behavioral patterns associated with communication disorders.
  • Speech-language pathologists often work as part of a team, which may include teachers, physicians, audiologists, psychologists, social workers, rehabilitation counselors and others. Corporate speech-language pathologists also work with employees to improve communication with their customers.

Work Sites

The practice and work of speech-language pathologists may take place in various settings:

  • Public and private schools
  • Hospitals
  • Rehabilitation centers
  • Short-term and long-term nursing care facilities
  • Community clinics
  • Colleges and universities
  • Private practice offices
  • State and local health departments
  • State and federal government agencies
  • Home health agencies (home care)
  • Adult day care centers
  • Centers for persons with developmental disabilities
  • Research laboratories

Career Opportunities

Link to Additional Career Information:
https://www.buzzfile.com/Major/Audiology.And.Speech-Pathology External Resource

Program Location

Carrollton Campus

Method of Delivery

Most courses are delivered face to face with a small selection of courses being offered that are hybrid (partially online) or fully online.

Accreditation

The University of West Georgia is accredited by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

The Master of Education (M.Ed.) program in speech-language pathology (residential) at the University of West Georgia is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard, #310, Rockville, MD 20850, 800-498-2071 or 301-296-5700.

Please visit http://www.asha.org/academic/accreditation/ for more information on CAA.

Credit and transfer

Total semester hours required: 63
A transfer credit evaluation will be completed by the UWG Transfer Team (transfer@westga.edu). Course application to a program is subject to review by the department.

Graduate students may be able to reduce their cost through prior learning, previous degrees earned at UWG, or transfer credits. We have created a tool to help students estimate their tuition costs.                

This program may be earned entirely face-to-face. However, depending on the courses chosen, a student may choose to take some partially or fully online courses.

Save money

UWG is often ranked as one of the most affordable accredited universities of its kind, regardless of the method of delivery chosen.

Details

  • Total tuition costs and fees may vary, depending on the instructional method of the courses in which the student chooses to enroll.
  • The more courses a student takes in a single term, the more they will typically save in fees and total cost.
  • Face-to-face or partially online courses are charged at the general tuition rate and all mandatory campus fees, based on the student's residency (non-residents are charged at a higher rate).
  • Fully or entirely online course tuition rates and fees my vary depending on the program. Students enrolled in exclusively online courses do not pay non-Resident rates.
  • Together this means that GA residents pay about the same if they take all face-to-face or partially online courses as they do if they take only fully online courses exclusively; while non-residents save money by taking fully online courses.
  • One word of caution: If a student takes a combination of face-to-face and online courses in a single term, he/she will pay both all mandatory campus fees and the higher eTuition rate.
  • For cost information, as well as payment deadlines, see the Student Accounts and Billing Services website

There are a variety of financial assistance options for students, including scholarships and work study programs. Visit the Office of Financial Aid's website for more information.

General

Enrollment requires advisor permission. A study of etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of fluency disorders in children and adults. This course is designed to cover causal factors of fluency disorders in children and adults, and cover assessment, treatment and prevention procedures appropriate for children and adults.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course is a study of etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of voice and resonance disorders in children and adults. It is designed to cover the major functional, organic, and neurogenic voice and resonance disorders and the most current, evidence-based therapeutic approaches.

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This course provides an advanced study of the etiology, characteristics, typical course, assessment, intervention, and outcomes of neurogenic communication disorders in adults. Topics include neuroanatomy and neuropathology of language and cognition, evidence based practice, aphasia, traumatic brain injury, dementia, executive functioning, right hemisphere disorder, motor speech disorders, and other neurological disorders in adults.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course covers the communicative and educational management of children and adults with hearing loss. Areas of specific focus include the impact of hearing loss on development, intervention models, amplification, auditory training, visual/manual communication, deaf education, and central auditory processing disorders.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. Advanced articulation and phonological disorders is designed to offer students information and practice in gaining clinical skills in speech-language pathology techniques for intervention with difficult-to-manage articulation/phonological disorders in schools or other clinical settings. Prior clinical practice and successful completion of an undergraduate/introductory course in articulation/phonology are required as prerequisites for this course.

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This course provides an overview of the role that cultural variables play on verbal and nonverbal communication. Students will develop a detailed understanding of their own culture and the characteristics of the four major cultural groups in the United States. Cultural variables related to speech, language, and swallowing that may affect service delivery when working with clients from diverse backgrounds across the lifespan will be emphasized.

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This course includes the study of the structure and function of the central and peripheral nervous systems involved in normal speech, language, hearing, and swallowing with an overiview of embryologic development of the nervous system.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course studies motor speech dysfunction in children and adults. Emphasis is on etiologies, characteristics, prevention, assessment/ differential diagnosis, and intervention approaches to management and habilitation/rehabilitation.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course studies swallowing disorders in pediatric and adult populations. Emphasis is on etiologies, characteristics, prevention, assessment/differential diagnosis, cultural factors, and intervention approaches to management and habilitation/rehabilitation. Interdisciplinary approaches to the assessment and treatment of swallowing disorders are discussed.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course is a study of the auditory disorders in children and adults. Areas covered include characteristics, assessment, etiology, and treatment of disorders of the external ear, middle ear, inner ear, and central auditory nervous system.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. Introduction to speech/language clinical practice emphasizing professional conduct, therapy techniques and procedures, equipment, and scheduling.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course offers students formal and informal opportunities to increase professional knowledge and skills in speech-language pathology through readings, seminar interactions, and other educational delivery formats. Portions of the course may be delivered on-line. Students enrolled in this course may engage in professional seminars designed to increase expertise in designated areas of emerging and traditional trends of the profession through guided professional interactions.

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This course introduces graduate students to quantitative and qualitative methods of research commonly used in speech-language pathology. Students learn the fundamentals of research including how to select appropriate samples, collect various types of data, and conduct analyses using quantitative and qualitative methods. Students are also provided introductions to quantitative and qualitative analysis software packages.

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This course provides direct clinical experience in which the graduate clinician practices under the supervision of CCC-SLP/A clinicians with individuals exhibiting a diverse range of mild communication disorders. Assignments of clients will be dependent upon student's prior academic, and clinical experiences, and verified by the clinic director. This experience is accumulated in a variety of on- and off-site clinical settings. The acquisition and management of information on etiology, characteristics, assessment, prevention, and intervention is emphasized for approximately 1-3 clients with mild speech/language disorders seen in individual sessions twice weekly.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course provides continued direct clinical experience a graduate clinician practices under the supervision of CCC-SLP/A clinicians with individuals exhibiting a diverse range of moderate communication disorders; assignments of clients will be dependent upon student's prior success in SLPA 6790, and upon prior academic, and clinical experiences and verified by the clinical director. This experience is accumulated in a variety of on-and off-site clinical settings. The acquisition and management of information on etiology, characteristics, assessment, prevention, and intervention is emphasized for approximately 4-5 clients with moderate impairments seen in group and individual settings twice weekly.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course provides extended and direct clinical experience in which the graduate clinician practices under the supervision of CCC-SLP/A clinicians with individuals exhibiting a diverse range of moderate-severe communication disorders; assignments of clients will be dependent upon student's prior success in SLPA 6790, SLPA 6791, and upon prior academic, and clinical experiences and verified by the clinical director. This experience is accumulated in a variety of on- and off-site clinical settings. The acquisition and management of information on etiology, characteristics, assessment, prevention, and intervention is emphasized for approximately 7-8 clients with moderate-severe disorders in group and individual settings 2-3 times weekly.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course provides extended and direct clinical experience in which the graduate clinician practices under the supervision of CCC-SLP/A clinicians with individuals exhibiting a diverse range of severe-profound communication disorders; assignments of clients will be dependent upon student's prior success in SLPA 6790, SLPA 6791, SLPA 6792, and upon prior academic, and clinical experiences and verified by the clinical director. Students in this clinic are likely to serve adults with neurogenic communication disorders as well as the severely-profoundly communication impaired child/adolescent. This experience is accumulated in a variety of on- and off-site clinical settings. The acquisition and management of information on etiology, characteristics, assessment, prevention, and intervention is emphasized for approximately 7-8 clients with severe-profound communication disorders in group and individual settings 2-3 times weekly.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. This course provides supervised clinical experience in speech/language therapy for the speech pathology student and satisfies medical/clinical extended placement requirements. Speech-language assessment, intervention, and case management are emphasized. Students will attend a weekly seminar designed to augment concurrent classroom experiences.

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This course provides supervised clinical experience in speech/language therapy for the speech-language pathology major and satisfies student teaching requirements. Speech- language assessment, intervention, and case management are emphasized. Students will attend a weekly seminar designed to augment concurrent classroom experiences.

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Enrollment requires advisor permission. A study of etiology, characteristics, assessment, diagnosis, intervention, and prevention of speech and language disorders in children, including those children with multicultural backgrounds and special needs. This course is designed to focus on characteristics of growth, norm-reference and criterion-referenced measures, and assessment and intervention procedures and strategies related to reading and literacy development.

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Aleah S. Brock, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Aleah S. Brock, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Assistant Professor of Speech-Language Pathology and Assistant Chair of CHS

Lama Farran, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Lama Farran, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Jenny Gordon, CCC-SLP

Jenny Gordon, CCC-SLP

Instructor

Brittany Janowski, M.Ed., CCC-SLP

Brittany Janowski, M.Ed., CCC-SLP

Medical Externship Coordinator & Instructor, Speech-Language Pathology

Jairus-Joaquin Matthews

Jairus-Joaquin Matthews

Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology

Levi Ofoe, Ph.D.

Levi Ofoe, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Speech-Language Pathology

Twyla Perryman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Twyla Perryman, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology

Summer Thompson

Summer Thompson

Clinical Supervisor and Instructor

Guidelines for Admittance

  • All graduate applicants must complete the online Grad Application. A one-time application fee of $40 is required.
  • Applicants should also review the Graduate Studies Website for individual program specific requirements and tasks that must be completed prior to admission. See Graduate Studies Application Process.
  • International applicants are subject to additional requirements and application deadlines. See Procedures for International Students.
  • Official transcripts from all post-secondary schools attended are required and should be sent directly to the UWG Graduate Admissions Office.

Program Specific Admittance Guidelines

Eligible applicants must fit one of the following two categories, or provide reasonable evidence at the time of application that they will meet these requirements by the end of the current academic year:

  1. You must have completed a bachelor's degree in communication sciences and disorders, speech and hearing sciences, speech-language pathology, or equivalent.
  2. If you have completed a bachelor's degree in another area, you MUST have also completed post-baccalaureate prerequisite coursework. The following coursework or equivalents (as judged by the program faculty to be adequate to provide knowledge and skills equivalent to those typically gained in a bachelor's degree program) are required: 1. Speech and Language Acquisition or Language Development, 2. Phonetics, 3. Anatomy and Physiology of Speech and Hearing, 4. Audiology, and 5. Three additional speech/language courses. 6. Acceptance to the program requires prior completion of courses in a) the biological sciences (e.g. biology, human anatomy and physiology, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, human genetics, veterinary sciences), b) physical sciences (physics or chemistry), c) social/behavioral sciences (e.g. psychology, sociology, anthropology, public health), and d) a stand- alone course in statistics. All prerequisite coursework will be reviewed by faculty to ensure that the requirements are met. 

Please note that admission to the speech-language pathology program is highly competitive. All applicants must also meet the following minimum criteria: 

  • 3.0 or better GPA
  • 2 Letters of Recommendation from professional references. Applicants should use the electronic Recommendation Request Forms available in their accounts after their application has been submitted. 
  • Personal Statement/Essay (click here for official guidelines)
  • Interview - By invitation only if selected as a finalist candidate.
  • Satisfactory results on the College of Education Criminal Background Check.

Application Deadlines

*No incomplete applications will be reviewed for admission. 

This program admits only for the Summer semester each year. 

The deadline to submit the application and all materials for Summer 2023 is January 16, 2023. 

Admission Process Checklist

The Graduate Studies Application Process checklist is available here

Contact

Graduate Admissions
graduate@westga.edu
678-839-1394

College of Education
Dr. Aleah Brock
Coordinator for Speech-Language Pathology
Email: abrock@westga.edu 

Specific dates for Financial Aid, Fee Payment, Registration, Start/End of Term Dates, Final Exams, etc. are available in THE SCOOP.

Specific Graduate Admissions Deadlines are available via the Graduate School

Mission Statement

The mission of the Communication Sciences and Disorders is to prepare speech-language pathology professionals to deliver and promote the highest professional standards in a variety of clinical and educational settings, across a culturally and linguistically diverse client population. This is accomplished through the integration of traditional and emerging pedagogy, technologies, an a focus on excellence across a wide spectrum of communication disorders, from infancy through adulthood.

CSD Strategic Plan