CSD Program Requirements

Admission Requirements

Prerequisite Courses

Degree Requirements

Advancement to Candidacy

Continuation

International Student Admissions Requirements

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

Admission Requirements

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Admission into the M.A. in Education with the Option in Communicative Sciences & Disorders program requires meeting the general admission requirements for graduate studies at CSUSM and these additional components:

  • Bachelor Degree, including undergraduate coursework in basic science (as required for the prerequisites)
  • A minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.0
  • Completion of prerequisite courses and checklist (see below)
  • Proof of completion of Basic Skills Requirement (click here for more information)
  • All applicants, regardless of citizenship, who do not possess a bachelor's degree from a post-secondary institution where English is the principal language must satisfy the English language proficiency requirement (see more details below)
  • Two letters of recommendation from persons familiar with the applicant's capacity for academic and professional success. One letter should be from an academic source and one should be from a professional source (Letters must be specific to the CSD program; letters must indicate whether it is an academic or professional recommendations);
         *Letters of Recommendation must be submitted using the CSD Recommendation Form
  • Proof of Certificate of Clearance** (click here for FAQ on Certificate of Clearance)
  • A copy of an essay paper written specifically for a college level course. The paper should be a minimum of five pages in length. (Please note that the subject does not matter; the paper is to illustrate writing proficiency)
  • Personal Essay prompt: Please tell us how might you deal with a child in your school who needs your services but does not qualify based on your testing measure.*
                     Requirements: 
                        • Must Be One Page
                        • Times New Roman, 12 PT Font  
                        • Double Space   
    *Your writing prompt will judged according to the University's Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). To view this rubric, click here.
  • Pre-screening Process

**For those out-of-state applicants, please click here to find out how to obtain your Certificate of Clearance and fulfill the Basic Skills Requirement.

Candidates who meet the requirements will be invited for an interview with a panel of admissions advisors. This interview is an opportunity to ensure this program is a good match for the participant and vice versa.

Prerequisite Courses*

Click here to view courses available at CSUSM for this semester!

EDSL 201*    Hearing Disorders and Measurement
EDSL 320     Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanism
EDSL 350     Introduction to Speech Language Disorders
EDSL 360     Diagnostics for Speech Language Pathologists
EDSL 391     Clinical Phonetics and Analysis of Disordered Speech
EDSL 473*    Adult Neurogenic Communication Disorders
EDSL 551     Language Development and Assessment for Practitioners
EDUC 364    The Role of Cultural Diversity in Schooling OR  ID 340 Diversity and Discrimination in the U.S. 
PHYS 357     The Science of Speech and Hearing
PSYC 220     Introductory Statistics in Psychology
EDUC 380     Applications in Child and Youth Development OR PSYC 330 Developmental Psychology: Infancy and Childhood

*Please note that two additional pre-requisites courses have been submitted and are pending approval. These courses are EDSL 201 - Hearing Disorders & Measurement (formerly titled EDSL 381, currently offered as EDUC 496-2) and EDSL 473  - Adult Neurogenic Communication Disorders (formerly titled EDSL 373). If approved, EDSL 201 will be mandatory for admission into the 2013 Cohort and EDSL 473 will be mandatory for admission into the 2014 cohort. For more information please contact eleducation@csusm.edu.

Click here to download the Prerequisite Checklist - Must be completed and submitted with application

*All prerequisite courses, or their equivalent, must be completed at the time of application with a grade of C+ or higher. For courses currently in progress, proof of current enrollment must be provided at time of application (proof can be emailed or faxed to your assigned Advisor).


Degree Requirements and Courses

The M.A. in Education with the Option in Communicative Sciences & Disorders requires the completion of 75 units of study as follows:

First Semester (17 Units)

EDSL 661    Disorders of Articulation and Phonology
EDSL 651    Professional Seminar I
EDSL 671    Language Disorders in Infants and Preschool Children
EDSL 672    Language Disorders in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
EDSL 681    Audiology
EDSL 691    Neuroscience for the Speech-Language Pathologist

Second Semester (17 units)

EDEX 602    School Communities in a Pluralistic Society
EDSL 641    Supervised Clinical Experience: Children/Adults
EDSL 652    Professional Seminar II
EDSL 673    Language and Cognitive Disorders in Adults
EDSL 694    Seminar in Autism
EDUC 622   Research Methods in Education

Third Semester (13 units)

EDSL 642    Supervised Clinical Experience: Children/Adults
EDAL 664    Motor Speech Disorders
EDSL 692    Dysphagia
EDMX 632   Technology and Communication for Special Populations

Fourth Semester (15 units)

EDSL 642    Supervised Clinical Experience: Children/Adults
EDSL 662    Fluency Disorders
EDSL 663    Voice Disorders
EDSL 693    Seminar in Counseling in Communicative Disorders
EDMX 631   Foundations of Law, Ethics & Procedures in Special Education

Fifth Semester (13 units)

EDSL 642    Supervised Clinical Experience: Children/Adults
EDSL 644    Supervised Clinical Experience: Student Teaching
EDUC 698   Master's Thesis/Project Seminar

Advancement to Candidacy

The student will advance to Master's Degree candidacy upon successful completion of all academic coursework. All MA students in the School of Education must complete EDUC 698 - Master's Culminating Experience Seminar (3 units) as part of the culminating experience for Master's study. The culminating experience may be a thesis, project, or a comprehensive examination.

Continuation

Graduate students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 and earn at least a B (3.0) in each course.  Any student whose overall GPA falls below 3.0 will be put on Academic Probation and will be issued a Statement of Concern with a Plan of Action. If the overall GPA falls below 3.0 for two consecutive semesters will be dropped from the program.  A full-time student should be enrolled in the predetermined course schedule and credit hours each semester for the program. 

International Student Admissions Requirements

For all Extended Learning degree programs, "foreign students" include those who hold U.S. visas as students, exchange visitors, or in other nonimmigrant classifications. You must submit academic records from foreign institutions.  The original foreign transcript must be on file and if they are not written in English, they must be accompanied by certified English translations.  In addition, all foreign transcripts must be evaluated by one of the eight approved CSUSM foreign transcript evaluation agencies.  Please visit this link to obtain the list of the eight approved CSUSM foreign transcript evaluation agencies.

International students, please note: With a part-time RN-BSN, RN-MSN, MSN program Cal State San Marcos will not be able to sponsor F-1 students as the requirement to be an F-1 is full-time student status. However, the program will still be open to other non-immigrant visa holders who do not need an I-20 document for their status (including H-1 and E-1).

Test of English as a Foregin Language (TOEFL)

As required by Sections 40752.1, 40802.1, and 41040 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, campuses of the California State University require that English competence be established by applicants for admission who have not attended for at least three years an education institution at the secondary level or beyond where English is the principal language of instruction. Most frequently, such students document competence in the English language via results on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). This test (TOEFL) has been and is available in three scoring formats.

Provided below are the CSU minimum scores for each TOEFL total score format:

Paper-Based Computer-Based Internet-Based
Undergraduate 500 173 61
Graduate 550 213 80