Why Choose Truman for Graduate Study?

For general information about graduate study at Truman and online application documents click here.

• Individual attention: Be one of a small group of master's students working in close association with a highly qualified faculty (see Faculty & Staff profiles). Typically, graduate classes will have about 16 students.
• General clinical preparation: Not sure where you want to work or with which populations? Truman's academic and clinical curriculum has a long tradition of excellent preparation for the general practitioner in speech-language pathology (see Graduate Curriculum).
• Special opportunities: The RiteCare-Truman Early Literacy Lab is housed and implemented within the Communication Disorders program, and staffed primarily by graduate students studying communication disorders. This provides an exceptional opportunity to study the relationships between speech and language development, disorders, and literacy acquisition.
  
  
  A model program with Early HeadStart has been developed in which Truman graduate students in communication disorders provide speech, language, and hearing screenings to infants and toddlers. Graduate students work with Missouri's First Steps program to help families of young children with special needs. Among the earliest courses of its kind in the country, CMDS 578, Clinical Applications of Computers in Communication Disorders, continues to provide students with broad hands-on exposure to a wide variety of assistive technologies and computer applications for diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders. Truman's clinic is the first in Missouri to be part of the Missouri Telehealth Network, through which clinical services are provided by supervised graduate students to clients at remote locations.
• Compete qualifications: All Truman graduates complete the academic and clinical requirements for 1) national certification from ASHA* and 2) Missouri state licensure.
• Internship opportunities: Truman's graduate program culminates in an 8 week full-time internship placement in BOTH a medical setting and a school setting, helping students make important career choices. Internships can be arranged within a 300 mile radius of Kirksville.
• Successful preparation: Truman graduates enjoy a very high first-time-pass rate on the NESPA/Praxis national exam and an outstanding reputation among internship supervisors throughout Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa. In both 2005 and 2006, our nominees were named the Outstanding Graduate Student in Communication Disorders by the Missouri Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
• Research opportunities: All Truman graduate students complete and present an individual research project as part of a required course in Research Methodology. In addition, students frequently choose to complete the thesis option. Truman graduate students regularly present their work at state and national conventions.
• Modern, comfortable facilities: The clinical facilities at Truman are attractive and well-designed for instruction. All therapy rooms have direct observation and videotaping capability.
• Outstanding clinical materials and technology: Truman's clinic houses an unsurpassed collection of traditional therapy materials, tests, and clinical computing resources (see the McGuire Media Center and labs) available to students all day every day.
• Satisfaction with results: Alumni and employer surveys consistently indicate high satisfaction with the graduate preparation received at Truman. Truman graduates are sought after by prospective employers.
• Good value: Truman has been widely acknowledged as an excellent educational value (click here for recent reports and reviews). Be sure to compare our tuition and the cost of living in Kirksville with your other choices.
• Location: In the heart of a quiet, safe community with the best that small-town life has to offer (see www.kirksvillecity.com)

Go back to Truman's homepage and take the virtual tour if you want to see what the campus looks like. Call us. Make arrangements to visit our program and talk to a faculty member. Truman could be just the program you're looking for.

* Note that ASHA certification also requires a passing score on the national exam and completion of a Clinical Fellowship of supervised employment.

The graduate program in communication disorders program is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Program Statistics -- (e.g., Praxis exam pass rates, program completion, etc)
Online Catalog -- Degree requirements and curriculum