Program Overview

Lateral Entry Speech-Language Pathology Students

The University of NebraskaLincoln offers a program for lateral entry students who wish to pursue a master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology but have an undergraduate degree in a different area. These students are classified as "lateral entry students" and must complete undergraduate coursework related to the speech-language pathology profession before they are eligible to apply to the graduate program.

Pre-requisite Course Requirements

Lateral entry students must complete prerequisite courses that fall into three categories:

• Courses required by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) for teacher certification
• General education courses required by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
• Courses specific to the speech-language pathology profession

Courses Required by NDE:

• Foundations of Education (TEAC 331, 430, 431, 434, 437)
• Developmental Psychology (EDPS 250, 251; CYAF 160)
• Learning/Cognition in the Classroom (EDPS 362, 457, 854; PSYC 263, 268)
• Multicultural/Human Relations (SLPA 488/888; TEAC 330/861)

General Education Courses Required by ASHA:

• Biological Sciences (e.g., biology, human anatomy & physiology, neuroanatomy & neurophysiology, human genetics, veterinary science)
• Physical Sciences (e.g., physics [PHYS 141 or higher], or inorganic/organic chemistry [CHEM 109 or higher, but not CHEM131])
• Social/Behavioral Sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology, public health)
• Statistics

Courses Specific to the Speech-Language Pathology Profession:

• 25 Observation Hours
• SLPA 150 Communication Processes and Disorders
• SLPA 250 Phonetics
• SLPA 251 Normal Language Development (4 credits)
• SLPA 271 Hearing and Balance I (4 credits)
• SLPA 421 Professional Issues for the Communication Disorders Specialist (4 credits)
• SLPA 441 Clinical Methods
• SLPA 453 Introduction to Communication Neuroscience
• SLPA 454 Research Methods in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
• SLPA 455 Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanism
• SLPA 456 Speech and Hearing Science
• SLPA 461 Preschool Language Disorders
• SLPA 464 Speech Sound Disorders
• SLPA 472 Aural Rehabilitation

Admission Requirements

Lateral entry students must have completed 15 of the 20 prerequisite courses with a grade of C or better by the end of the semester prior to beginning the graduate program. The average undergraduate cumulative and within-major GPAs of students accepted into the master-level program consistently exceed 3.75.

Observation Hours

Prospective lateral entry students must have completed 25 hours of supervised and documented observation of speech-language pathology evaluation or treatment sessions prior to starting the master's program.

GPA and GRE Averages

The GPA and GRE averages for students who accepted the offer of admission in the previous year are not specified in the provided context. However, it is mentioned that the average undergraduate cumulative and within-major GPAs of students accepted into the master-level program consistently exceed 3.75.