Questions to Ask SLP Graduate Programs
For applicants to speech-language pathology master's programs who will be in front of faculty, a clinic director or current students at an open house, an interview or an admitted students day. The list opens with the program's published record, from accreditation and Praxis results to where graduates do their clinical fellowships, then works through coursework, the campus clinic, externships and money, and closes with questions to keep for students when no faculty are listening. Certification and licensing rules are set outside the program, by ASHA and by each state, so where a question touches one, read the current rule yourself and ask how this program meets it.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Outcomes and licensing
What is the program's accreditation status, and when is its next review?
Why ask it
In the United States the status is listed by the Council on Academic Accreditation and on the program's own site, so read it before you go and ask about what you found. For a new program still in candidacy, the question is what happens to your class if full accreditation comes late. Outside the US, ask which body has to approve the degree before you can register to practice.
What have the Praxis pass rates been for the last three graduating classes?
Why ask it
Accredited programs generally post a student outcome table, which makes this one to look up first. Bring the pattern to the conversation: a single low year has a story, and a slide over three years has a cause someone should be able to name. Check whether the figure counts first attempts or everyone who passed eventually.
How many students in the last three cohorts finished on time, and what held up the ones who did not?
Why ask it
The rate is published next to the exam results and the reasons are not. A family leave says nothing about the program. A clinic remediation that added a semester, or an externship nobody could find in time, says a good deal, so ask which it was.
Where are last year's graduates working now, by setting?
Why ask it
An employment rate in this field tends to look good everywhere, so the split is the useful part: public schools, hospitals, skilled nursing, private practice, early intervention. If nearly everyone went to schools and you want a hospital, ask what the few who went medical did differently.
How did last year's class find their clinical fellowships?
Why ask it
The clinical fellowship is the mentored first job that sits between the degree and full certification, and programs vary in how much they help graduates land one. Listen for routes: an externship site that kept its student, openings sent to the department, alumni who call when they have a vacancy. 'They all found something' is not a route.
Does this degree meet the requirements for the license and the school credential in the state where I plan to work?
Why ask it
Licensing and the right to work in public schools are decided state by state, and some states want an extra course, exam or certificate. Name the state when you ask. If nobody on the day knows, the answer belongs to that state's licensing board and its education department, and it is worth an email before you pay a deposit.
When do most students take the Praxis, and does graduating depend on passing it?
Why ask it
Programs differ: some want a passing score before the degree is awarded, some fold the exam into their own comprehensive assessment, and some leave the timing to you. Whichever it is here, find out whether any review is built into the final year and what a student who misses the score does next.
What help is there with the fellowship search: a job fair, mock interviews, someone to read an offer with?
Why ask it
A graduating student has to judge a mentor and a contract with no experience of either. Two good signs are a faculty member whom students routinely take an offer to, and a session before the search begins on what ASHA and the state expect of a fellowship and of the person mentoring it.
Coursework
Could you walk me through the plan of study, semester by semester?
Why ask it
You are listening for how many semesters there are, whether summers are required, when clinic begins and when externships take you off campus. Summers change the tuition bill and the lease you sign. A printed copy to take home makes it easier to set this program against the others on your list.
How many students are in each cohort, and do they move through every class together?
Why ask it
A cohort of twenty and one of sixty are different experiences, but the number matters most where it meets the clinic: more students sharing the same clients and supervisors means fewer hours each. If the class has grown lately, ask whether the clinic and the list of externship sites grew with it.
My bachelor's is in another field: which prerequisite courses do I need, and can I take them through you?
Why ask it
Applicants from outside communication sciences usually owe a set of foundation courses, and programs handle them very differently: built into a longer track, taken as a separate year, or expected before day one. Pin down how much time and tuition they add, and whether credits from a community college or an online post-baccalaureate sequence are accepted.
Do my guided observation hours have to be finished before I start, or are they built into the first semester?
Why ask it
Certification calls for a block of guided observation on top of the hands-on hours, and programs differ on when it has to be done. If you have already shadowed a clinician, bring the log. What the program accepts turns on details such as who signed it and whether recorded sessions count, and those are worth settling months before orientation.
Do swallowing, voice and AAC each get a full course, or a few weeks inside another one?
Why ask it
Every accredited program has to touch the whole scope of practice, and depth is where they choose differently. For hospital work, look for a full dysphagia course and some exposure to instrumental swallow studies. For schools, weigh language, literacy and AAC more heavily.
Is there a medical track, a school track, a bilingual emphasis or any other specialty option, and what does it actually change?
Why ask it
A track can mean its own courses and a matching externship, or one elective and a line on the transcript. Three facts tell you which: how many students are in it this year, whether it takes a separate application, and whether it adds a semester.
How do you teach students to assess a client who speaks a language other than English?
Why ask it
Telling a language difference from a language disorder comes up on a great many caseloads, so one lecture in a diversity week is a thin answer. Fuller ones mention interpreters in the campus clinic, supervisors who work in two languages, or a placement in a multilingual school. If you speak another language yourself, ask what the state where you want to work requires before a clinician can be hired as bilingual.
Do most students write a thesis or take a comprehensive exam, and what does the exam involve?
Why ask it
A thesis matters most to someone who may go on to a doctorate, and in some programs only a handful of students choose it. If you are tempted, find out whether it tends to delay graduation. For the exam, get the format, where its date falls against the externships, and what a retake looks like.
Can master's students work in a faculty member's lab without writing a thesis?
Why ask it
For someone curious about research but not ready to give a year to it, a few hours a week in a lab is the lighter route, and it is sometimes paid. Read the faculty pages first and ask about one lab by name: what a master's student did there last year, and whether it led to a poster or a conference trip.
Are classes in person, online or a mix, and on which days and hours do they meet?
Why ask it
The schedule decides whether a commute, a job or childcare can work. The second year often looks different from the first, since some programs move classes to evenings or a single day so that students can be at their placements. Anyone who needs a part-time route should ask whether one exists and what it does to the order of clinic and externships.
What do the students who struggle here tend to have in common?
Why ask it
Faculty tend to answer this more candidly than a question about who thrives. Whatever they name, whether it is writing, managing time or taking feedback on a session, is what the first semester will ask of you. In an interview it also shows what they will be watching for.
Campus clinic
Who comes to the campus clinic: what ages, and which kinds of communication disorder?
Why ask it
A university clinic draws on its town, so the mix differs widely. If it is mostly preschoolers working on speech sounds, your adult hours will have to come from externships, which puts more weight on getting a medical placement. See the clinic while sessions are running if the visit allows it.
When do students see their first client: in the opening weeks, or after a semester of classes?
Why ask it
Both designs have their defenders. An early start means learning with a client in front of you and a supervisor close by, and a later one means more theory first. Either works when something prepares you for that first session, such as a clinic methods course or a few weeks paired with a second-year.
How many clients does a first-year carry at a time, and how does that build?
Why ask it
Starting with one or two clients and adding more each semester is a different load from a full schedule in the first month. A current student can give you this semester's number and say how many hours of planning sit behind each session.
How are the required clinical hours built up across the program, and how would I know if I were falling behind?
Why ask it
ASHA's certification standards set a minimum of supervised hours and expect experience across ages and disorder areas, so read the current version before you visit. What differs from program to program is the bookkeeping: which system logs the hours, who reviews your tally each semester, and whether anyone has graduated late for being short in one category.
How many hours can come from simulation or teletherapy, and how many usually do here?
Why ask it
The standards limit what may be counted from simulated cases, and the limit has been revised before, so look up the current rule. A session with a real client over video is not the same thing as a simulated case and may be counted differently. Simulation is a sensible way to meet a rare disorder, but a program that leans on it heavily may be short of real clients.
Who supervises in the clinic: full-time clinical faculty, or part-time supervisors hired by the semester?
Why ask it
Full-time supervisors are in the building when a session goes wrong and tend to know each student's history. Part-time ones bring current practice from their outside jobs. The number that sets how much attention you get is how many students each supervisor carries in a semester.
How much of each session does a supervisor watch, and how soon do I get feedback?
Why ask it
The certification standards set a floor for how much of a student's work has to be observed, so the difference between programs is the feedback: written comments the same day, a weekly meeting, video you review together. A student can describe the last piece of feedback they got and what they did with it.
How is clinical work graded, and what happens when a student is not meeting the standard?
Why ask it
Clinic usually carries its own grade and its own rules, separate from the classroom. A written support plan with a named supervisor and a timeline is the answer to hope for. It is fair to follow with how often one is put in place in a typical year and whether it has ever pushed back a graduation date.
Are there specialty clinics or groups, such as an aphasia group, a stuttering or voice clinic, an AAC lab or a summer program?
Why ask it
These grow out of what particular faculty care about, and students often name them as the best hours in the building. Find out whether every student rotates through or only those who apply, and whether the one you want runs every year.
How many evaluations does a typical student complete on campus, and do they write the full report?
Why ask it
Assessment hours can be harder to collect than treatment hours, because many clients arrive already diagnosed. Some clinics run a diagnostic team that every student joins for a semester. The detail that matters is whether you would score the tests and draft the report yourself or watch a supervisor do it.
What happens to my hours when clients cancel, or when the clinic closes between semesters?
Why ask it
Cancellations are routine in a clinic that serves families and older adults, and a run of them can leave a student short through no fault of their own. A program that has thought about it will describe make-up sessions, screenings in local schools, or some other way it fills the gap.
Externships
How many off-campus placements does each student complete, and how long is each one?
Why ask it
Some programs send you out for two long placements and some for three or four shorter ones. Longer placements let a site trust you with more, and shorter ones show you more settings. Note which semesters they fall in and whether any run part time alongside the campus clinic.
Who arranges the externships: a placement coordinator, or the students themselves?
Why ask it
The answer ranges from a coordinator with signed agreements across a region to students writing their own emails to clinics. If you would be asked to find a site, ask how long a new agreement between the university and a site takes to sign, since that paperwork can be the slow part.
Does every student get one placement in a school and one in a medical setting?
Why ask it
Many programs aim for both, and medical sites are usually the scarce half. The figure to get is how many of last year's class requested a hospital, rehab unit or skilled nursing placement and how many got one. A pediatric outpatient clinic is sometimes counted as medical, so check what the word covers here.
When more students want a hospital placement than there are places, how is it decided?
Why ask it
Grades, a site interview, a faculty ranking, a lottery: each program has a method, and some sites choose for themselves. Learn it before you enroll, because the deciding factor may turn out to be your first-year clinic evaluations or a grade in the swallowing course.
Could I see the list of sites that took students in the last two years?
Why ask it
A list is harder to dress up than a description. Count the adult medical sites, look for early intervention and private practice, and note how many are within an hour of campus. A site that takes a student every year is one you can plan around, and a site that did so once is not.
How far do students travel for placements, and could I do one near home or in another state?
Why ask it
Distance is a cost in gas, time and sometimes a second rent, so ask for the longest commute in the current class. A placement in another state can involve extra approvals for the university as well as a new site agreement, which means the request may have to go in a year ahead.
Are externships full time, and do classes or the comprehensive exam overlap with them?
Why ask it
A full-time placement follows the site's day, and a hospital day can start early. Find out what else is due in those months: an evening class, a capstone, exam preparation. It is also the stretch when paid work becomes hardest.
If a site pulls out a few weeks before the semester, what does the program do?
Why ask it
Supervisors change jobs and go on leave, so every program has lived this. A coordinator who can name the backup sites has a plan. The sharper version of the question is whether a lost placement has ever cost a student a semester.
During an externship, who from the program checks in with me and with my site supervisor?
Why ask it
Out on placement you are a long way from the faculty who know you. You want to hear about a visit or a call, a midterm evaluation, and a named person to phone if things with a supervisor go wrong. The program should also be able to say how it confirms that a site supervisor is qualified to sign off on your hours.
Cost and funding
What does the whole degree cost, with fees, summer terms and clinic expenses included?
Why ask it
Tuition per credit is only the start. The extras tend to be clinic or lab fees, background checks, immunization records, liability insurance, a subscription for logging hours and the exam fee, and tuition may be fixed for your cohort or reset each year. A total for the class that just graduated is the most honest figure.
How many graduate assistantships are there, and what does one cover?
Why ask it
An assistantship might waive tuition, pay a stipend, do both or do half of one. Ask how many people in the current cohort hold one and how many hours a week it takes, then set those hours against the clinic schedule.
How are assistantships awarded, and would I know before the deposit is due?
Why ask it
Some arrive with the admission letter and some need a separate application after you accept. Positions also sit outside the department, in a library, a residence hall or a research lab, so ask where students in this program have found them.
How much is the deposit to hold a seat, when is it due, and do I get any of it back if I withdraw?
Why ask it
Deadlines differ from program to program, and a deposit due before your other decisions arrive forces the choice early. If you are still waiting on a funding answer here or an admission somewhere else, say so and request more time in writing. Check too whether the deposit comes off the first tuition bill.
Does funding carry into the second year, when externships are full time?
Why ask it
An assistantship that needs you on campus for part of every week may not survive a hospital placement an hour away. Second-years can tell you what happens in practice: they keep it, give it up, or switch to work they can do remotely.
Are there scholarships or training grants tied to this program, and what do they ask in return?
Why ask it
Some programs hold grants that pay part of the tuition for students who commit to a particular kind of work after graduating, such as serving in schools or with a specific population. Read the terms before you count the money: how long the commitment runs and what is owed if your plans change.
Do students manage to hold a part-time job, and in which semesters?
Why ask it
Faculty tend to say it is discouraged and students tend to say who is doing it anyway. The jobs that last are the ones that bend around clinic. Working as a speech-language pathology assistant appeals to many students, but whether it is allowed depends on the state and on the program's own rules, so raise it with both.
Current students
How many hours last week went on class, clinic, and the planning and notes behind clinic?
Why ask it
Ask for last week, not a typical one. Session plans, notes and reports often take a first-year longer than the sessions themselves, and a student will say so where a schedule will not. A second-year can tell you whether it got faster.
What is your supervisor like after a session that went badly?
Why ask it
Every student clinician has one, and what follows shapes how safe it feels to try things. Listen for a concrete account: what was said, when, and whether there was a plan for the next session. Put it to two students if you can, since supervisors differ.
Did you get the externship you asked for, and how did you hear?
Why ask it
Compare this with what the placement coordinator told you. Notice how much warning they had, because finding somewhere to live near a distant site takes time.
Do people in your cohort share materials and study together, or keep things to themselves?
Why ask it
You would spend the whole program in the same rooms with these people, and competition for a few medical placements can sour a small class. Evidence helps: a shared folder of therapy materials, study groups before the comprehensive exam, someone covering a session for a sick classmate.
Which class or clinic experience made you feel most ready, and where do you still feel thin?
Why ask it
The second half is the valuable one. When several students name the same gap, such as swallowing, AAC or working with adults, plan on closing it through an elective or an externship request.
Where do students live, and is a car necessary once placements start?
Why ask it
Rent, parking and the drive to the farthest site belong in your cost comparison beside tuition. Students know which part of town people rent in, and whether anyone has gotten through the externship year without a car.
Which other programs were you deciding between, and what tipped it toward this one?
Why ask it
Their reason is this program's real selling point, as seen by someone who had a choice. Cost and location are perfectly good answers. If the reason is a clinic or a faculty member, check that it will still be there in your year.
What do you wish you had asked before you accepted?
Why ask it
Save it for last and write the answer down. Whatever they say, take it back to a faculty member or the clinic director the same day, while you can still get the official version.
How to question an SLP program before you commit
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What to look up first
Read the outcome table
Accredited programs in the United States generally post exam pass rates and on-time completion for recent classes on their own sites. Copy the figures for each program on your list into one sheet before any visit. Your questions on the day can then be about the reasons behind a number, which no web page gives you.
Read the standards yourself
ASHA publishes the current certification requirements for clinical hours, supervision and the fellowship, and each state board publishes its own for a license. Twenty minutes with those pages lets you tell a program's own rule from a national one, and you will hear it when an answer is out of date. Do not rely on a figure a classmate or a forum quoted, because the standards are revised.
Know which way you are leaning
You do not need to have chosen between schools and hospitals, but a lean changes which answers matter. Someone drawn to medical work should spend their time on the swallowing coursework and the externship list. Someone headed for schools should ask about the state credential and the language and literacy courses.
Build on what the website says
Program length, credit totals and application deadlines are printed, and asking for them in person spends the few minutes you get with a clinic director. Start from what you read instead: 'The plan of study shows clinic beginning in the first fall. What do students do in the weeks before their first client?'
Who can answer what
The program director and faculty
Take the Outcomes and licensing questions and the Coursework questions to them. They know why a cohort's pass rate dipped, which electives will run next year and how the comprehensive exam is graded. They are less reliable on what a student's week feels like.
The clinic director
This is the person for everything under Campus clinic: the client mix, supervision, how clinic is graded, how hours are tracked. If the day's schedule does not include them, ask for ten minutes or an email address. It is a fair request, since the clinic is half of what you are paying for.
The placement coordinator
Externship questions belong to whoever signs the site agreements, and that is often someone other than the clinic director. Ask them for the site list and for the rule on sharing out medical placements. Faculty answers about placements tend to be more hopeful than the coordinator's.
Students, with no faculty in the room
Student panels are usually picked by the program, so the frank answers come in the hallway, over lunch or by message later. Ask for a second-year's contact as well as a first-year's, because only the second-year has been through the externship process.
The graduate school or aid office
Assistantship rules, deposit dates and tuition are often set above the department. A faculty member's guess about funding is not an offer. Get answers about money in writing from the office that issues it.
Open house, interview or admitted students day
At an open house
You have not applied yet, so the visit is for deciding whether to. Stay with the published record, the plan of study, prerequisites and cost. It is early for detailed externship questions, though the site list is fair to ask for.
In an interview
What you ask is part of how you are read. Two or three questions about the clinic and supervision show that you understand what the degree involves. Leave deposits and funding for the admissions contact unless the interviewer raises them, and keep the Current students group for students.
At an admitted students day
Now the program is recruiting you, and you can ask anything. Go straight to whatever could change your decision: medical placements, second-year funding, on-time completion. Ask to sit in on a class, or to watch a session from the observation room if the clinic allows visitors.
When you cannot visit
Most of this works by email or video call. Send five questions, not thirty, to the person who owns the answers, and ask to be put in touch with a current student. How quickly and how fully a program replies tells you something as well.
Comparing programs afterward
Write it down the same evening
After three visits the clinics blur together. Note each program's numbers, and the exact words people chose about placements and funding, while you still remember who said them.
Line up the same few facts
For each program, record the pass rates and on-time completion, the cohort size, when clinic starts, how likely a medical placement is, the total cost and what funding is confirmed in writing. A gap in one column is a reason to send an email, not to guess.
Ask what the extra money buys
A more expensive program has to earn the difference with something you can name: a placement you could not get elsewhere, a specialty clinic, a funded assistantship. Before paying more for a name, ask working clinicians near you whether employers there care where the degree came from.
Chase the answers nobody had
A faculty member who does not know the placement numbers is not hiding them. Send the question on to the person who keeps them. If it is still unanswered after that, you are entitled to weigh the silence.