Online Certificate Admissions and Course Schedule Information

Online Certificate Admissions Process

We highly recommend that potential students apply directly to the University of Montana as early as possible, if not at least two months prior to the start of Fall classes, as the Admissions process is dependent on transcript delivery and processing.  

If you believe you have previous courses equivalents to our CSD-specific courses from other institutions, fill out this course equivalency form and follow the directions carefully. This process must be completed prior to registration. It is the student's responsibility to send all relevant documents in a timely manner. We recommend at least three months prior to start of term.  

Follow this link to the general UM Application and select "Certificate" as your level of education.  

If you have completed a Bachelor's degree and wish to enroll as a Leveling student only, select "Communicative Sciences and Disorders Leveling Certificate" and select “applying as a Post-Baccalaureate".  

If you wish to enroll as a Speech Language Pathology Assistant  (SLPA) student only, select "Speech Language Pathology Assistant Certificate". You do not need a Bachelor's degree to apply as an SLPA student.  

If you wish to complete both the Leveling and SLPA Certificates, select "Speech Language Pathology Assistant Certificate" as your "first major" and "Communicative Sciences and Disorders Leveling Certificate" as your second major.  

IMPORTANT: If you have a gmail account, you will need to check your spam folder for any emailed notifications regarding your UM application, including acceptance emails.  

SLPA Certificate vs. License

IMPORTANT: Our SLPA Certificate is not a license to practice but instead is meant to provide the educational foundation needed to be successful as an SLPA. We do not offer any clinical fieldwork hours, though students do complete 25 observation hours through completion of CSD 205. Please note that SLPA licensure requirements vary per state. It is the student's responsibility to check with their state licensing board to ensure that our SLPA Certificate program meets educational requirements. It is also the student’s responsibility to  fully understand all of the steps needed to become an SLPA in each specific state. See ASHA State Overviews for more information and links to your state’s licensing board.  

Leveling Certificate Program

Leveling students hoping to be eligible to apply to SLP MS programs for the CSDCAS general application's January deadline or any SLP MS program with a Fall start, must begin Leveling courses by the previous Fall to stay on track for completion of leveling courses by the end of the following Summer. For example, enter Leveling by Fall 2023 with a Summer 2024 completion of leveling course date in order to be eligible to apply in January 2024 for a Fall 2024 graduate school cohort. Acceptance into SLP MS programs are contingent upon completion of the leveling courses with an acceptable passing grade determined by individual programs. 

IMPORTANT: Our Leveling Certificate program specifically fulfills prerequisite coursework for our UM MS SLP graduate program. See MS Graduate Application Process for more details. If you plan to apply to a MS SLP program outside of the University of Montana, it is your responsibility to ensure our Leveling Certificate program coursework fulfills other graduate school prerequisites.  

Upon Acceptance to University of Montana

Once you are accepted to UM and have obtained your University ID (790-#), you will need to: 

  1. Set up your NetID and password. Your NetID and password provide secure access to your online courses, CyberBear, UMConnect student email, and other online services at the University of Montana. 
  2. Activate your UMConnect student email account. Login to umt.edu/umconnect using your NetID and password. Click on the green Continue to UMConnect button and then the green Activate button. This is THE SOURCE of legal communication between you and your professors as well as other important University of Montana communication. It is very important you set this email up! 
  3. Login to your CyberBear account. CyberBear is a web-based application allowing you to do things such as register for classes, print transcripts, view your grades, change your personal information, etc. 
  4. Students without a Bachelor's degree need to make an initial advising appointment with our SLHOS Academic Advisor through Navigate as soon as UM acceptance is established.  

Course Schedule and Suggested Plans of Study

Our SLHOS Online Learning Certificate Programs have a traditional Fall-start. 

CSD-specific courses follow a course schedule of two 8-week part-of-term sessions for Fall and Spring Term across a traditional 16-week semester. CSD-specific courses in the Summer Term are offered in two 7-week part-of term sessions. Students must register for all desired courses at the same time during their registration time ticket window. For Leveling students needing other general UM or Missoula College Online courses, please note these courses outside of our SLHOS department may vary in their part-of-term offerings. Availability may be dependent on class capacity and prerequisites.  

IMPORTANT: We offer all online courses at least once per year. Course scheduling may vary across an academic year and are not offered continuously across Fall/Spring/Summer Terms. For example, CSD 205 is currently only offered online during the Summer Term; however, CSD 210 is currently offered during both the Fall and Spring Terms. If you are a new-entry student and find the course you wish to take is full, getting on the waitlist early is highly recommended as this allows us to track the demand of a course and potentially create another offering of that course.  

 For the most up-to-date course offerings per Term, use the "Course Search" option on the my.umt.edu homepage. You can see our general course rotation offerings in the Online CSD-Course Schedule +Suggested Plans of Study document. Please note this document is subject to change.  

Provided that students go at a full-time pace (maximum two courses per session, four courses across full-term), the Leveling and the SLPA Certificates are designed to be completed in three semesters with the Fall-start. However, completion is subject to course availability and enrollment patterns. Part-time options are also available and will extend your completion timeline.  

Students may increase their chances in securing their spot in needed courses by:  

  • Following the recommended plan of study for your Certificate program based on full-time or part-time enrollment.  
  • Regularly checking Priority Registration time tables per upcoming Semester registration and taking advantage of your priority registration time ticket window. 
  • Remembering that it is the student's responsibility to register themselves for courses in a timely manner. 
  • Knowing that seats are not guaranteed registration is a first-come, first-served process.  

Contact

If you have any questions regarding general online or on-campus programming through our School of Speech, Language, Hearing, and Occupational Sciences, you can email us: slhosadvising@umontana.edu