MSSLHS Prerequisites

The following undergraduate courses and 25 observation hours at The University of Texas at Austin, or their equivalents elsewhere, are prerequisites for students seeking admission to the MSSLHS program. These background courses in the basic science and clinical aspects of the field form the foundation for graduate study. All students are expected to complete the ASHA certification standards prior to enrolling in the MSSLHS program.

• Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanism. In-depth study of the anatomy and physiology of structures involved in speech, language, hearing, and swallowing. Includes anatomical and physiological mechanisms of respiration, phonation, articulation, and hearing; and the central nervous system and blood supply to the speech and hearing mechanism.
• Phonetic Description of Speech. Speech production, physiological analysis and description of speech sounds, voice quality, and voice dynamics; notation; phonetic theory; applications of phonetics.
• Developmental Language Science. Introduction to assessment procedures and treatment strategies for children with speech and language disorders.
• Hearing Science. Acoustical, physiological, and psychological bases of normal human hearing; theories of audition; laboratory techniques in hearing science research.
• Speech Science. Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the encoding and decoding of speech.
• Language and the Brain. A comprehensive survey of topics dealing with the neurobiological basis of speech and language. Topics include neuroanatomy/neurophysiology; theories of language representation in the brain, aphasiology, and hemispheric lateralization.
• Principles of Audiology. Causes of hearing disorders; diagnostic procedures and treatment. (Prerequisite: SLH 313L)
• Aural Rehabilitation. Rationale, methods, materials, procedures, and criteria for aural rehabilitation for hearing-impaired persons. (Prerequisite:  SLH 341 including Upper-division standing and twelve semester hours of lower-division coursework in communication sciences and disorders.)

Observation Hours

Twenty-five (25) hours of guided clinical observation hours must be completed in the undergraduate program and generally precede direct contact with clients/patients. Guided clinical observations may occur simultaneously during the student’s observation or afterwards through review and approval of the student’s written reports or summaries. Students may use video recordings of client services for observation purposes. Examples of guided clinical observations with a clinical educator who holds the CCC-SLP may include but are not limited to the following activities:

• debriefing of a video recording
• discussion of therapy or evaluation procedures that had been observed
• debriefings of observations that meet course requirements
• written records of the observations

It is important to confirm that there was communication between the clinical educator and observer, rather than passive experiences where the student views sessions and/or videos. The student is encouraged to (a) observe live and recorded sessions across settings with individuals receiving services for a variety of disorders and (b) complete debriefing activities as described above. The undergraduate program will determine how the guided observation experience should be documented. Evidence of guided observations includes signatures from the clinical educator and documentation of hours, dates, and activities observed.

More information about courses that satisfy the ASHA certification standards at The University of Texas at Austin:

Observation Hours

ASHA Certification Standards 

Standard IV-A: The applicant must have demonstrated knowledge of the biological sciences, physical sciences, statistics, and the social/behavioral sciences.

Coursework in statistics as well as in biological, physical, and social/behavioral sciences that is specifically related to communication sciences and disorders may not be applied for certification purposes to this category unless the course fulfills a general university requirement in the statistics, biology, physical science, or chemistry areas.

Statistics is required. Coursework in research methodology in the absence of basic statistics cannot be used to fulfill this requirement. 

Any of the following courses offered at UT or their equivalent at another institution satisfy the Statistics requirement

• EDP 308 Stats Reasoning/Literacy. Introduction to statistical applications and their interpretation in daily life. Covers principles of gathering and analyzing data, and interpreting analysis results in order to critically evaluate findings reported in the media and social science research. Explores basic statistical analyses, and skills needed for informed research consumerism
• EDP 371 Introduction to Statistics. Measures of central tendency and variability; correlation and regression; probability and statistical inference; analysis of variance; nonparametric statistics.
• M 316 Elementary Statistical Method. Graphical presentation, frequency functions, distribution functions, averages, standard deviation, variance, curve-fitting, and related topics.
• SDS 301 Elementary Statistical Methods. Covers the fundamental procedures for data organization and analysis. Subjects include frequency distributions, graphical presentation, sampling, experimental design, inference, and regression.
• SDS 302 Data Analysis for the Health Sciences. Basic probability and data analysis for the sciences. Subjects include randomness, sampling, distributions, probability models, inference, regression, and nonlinear curve fitting. 
• SDS 303 Statistics in Experimental Research. An introduction to the fundamental concepts and methods of statistics, with emphasis on applications in experimental science. Includes exploratory data analysis, correlation and regression, descriptive statistics, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. 
• SDS 304 Statistics in Health Care.  An introduction to the fundamental concepts and methods of statistics emphasizing applications in the health sciences. Exploratory data analysis, correlation and regression, descriptive statistics, sampling distributions, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing.
• SDS 305 Statistics in Policy Design. An introduction to the fundamental concepts and methods of statistics, with emphasis on applications in policy evaluation and design. Includes exploratory data analysis, correlation and regression, descriptive statistics, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing.
• SDS 306 Statistics in Market Analysis.  Introduction to the fundamental concepts and methods of statistics, with emphasis on applications in the analysis of personal and group behaviors. Includes exploratory data analysis, correlation and regression, descriptive statistics, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing.
• SDS 328M Biostatistics. Introduction to methods of statistical analysis of biological data. Includes data analysis, basics of experimental design, statistical inference, interval estimation, and hypothesis testing.

Acceptable courses in biological sciences should emphasize a content area related to human or animal sciences (e.g., biology, human anatomy and physiology, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, human genetics, veterinary science).

For all applicants who apply beginning January 1, 2020, acceptable courses in physical sciences must include coursework in physics or chemistry.

Acceptable courses in social/behavioral sciences should include psychology, sociology, anthropology, or public health.

More information about courses that satisfy the ASHA certification standards: 

Course content area for SLP Standards

Taking leveling coursework at UT Austin

Please note that SLHS majors and leveling students are required to simultaneously enroll in course as well as the lab associated with that course.

• SLH 311K Phonetic Description of Speech
• SLH 312 Developmental Language Science and SLH118L: Acquisition of Communicative Abilities in Children Laboratory (required for SLH majors and leveling students)
• SLH 313L Hearing Science and SLH 113P: Hearing Science Laboratory (required for SLH majors and leveling students)
• SLH 315S Speech Science
• SLH 341 Principles of Audiology
• SLH 350 Language and the Brain
• SLH 358 Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanism and SLH 158L: Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanism Laboratory (required for SLH majors and leveling students)
• SLH 373 Aural Rehabilitation
• SLH 367K Introduction to Assessment and Intervention in Speech and Language Disorders in Children OR
• SLH 371 Introduction to Assessment and Intervention in Speech and Language Disorders in Adults.

Information about our leveling program