Graduate: Financial Assistance
The CSD graduate program usually awards fellowships, traineeships, and assistantships at the beginning of Fall semester. These awards usually pay for tuition and/or provide that student with a monthly stipend, depending on the type of financial assistance.
Funding opportunities are also available on grants within the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders:
Project PRIDE: PReventing Illiteracy and Disabilities Through Early-Intervention
Project PRIDE: PReventing Illiteracy and Disabilities Through Early-Intervention is a new training grant from the Leadership Program. This training grant is a new comprehensive preservice master's level training program for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to provide quality services to children with communication and literacy problems, especially those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, specifically in rural areas. Gordon Blood, Professor and Department Head, is the principal investigator for the grant, and colleagues Ingrid Blood and Carol Hammer are codirectors.
For more information, please contact Dr. Gordon Blood by phone at 814-865-3177 or by email at f2x@psu.edu.
Assessing Bilingual Phonological Development in Young Children
The phonological assessment project is funded jointly by the National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, The Administration for Children and Families and the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs. The aims of this project are 1) to develop a valid and reliable measure to identify phonological disorder in bilingual Spanish and English speaking children and to distinguish disorder from phonological variation due to typical bilingual phonological development and change; 2) To assess change in multiple aspects of bilingual children’s phonological development in order to identify characteristics of young bilingual children’s phonological systems that are indicators of disorder later in development and 3) to develop training materials and a screening tool for use by speech-language pathologists. Graduate students funded under this grant serve as research assistants to the principal investigators and assist with data analysis, development of training materials and supervision of undergraduate students working on the project. Adele W. Miccio is Principal Investigator for the grant and Carol Scheffner Hammer is Co-Principal Investigator.
For more information, please contact Dr. Adele Miccio by phone at 814-863-2018 or by email at awm4@psu.edu.
Funding for Graduate Studies in AAC
The Departments of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Special Education at Penn State University announce funding opportunities for graduate students interested in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
Funding support (full tuition and a monthly stipend) is available through a preservice personnel preparation grant in AAC funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The goal of the AAC personnel preparation grant is to prepare Masters-level speech-language pathologists and special educators in the specialized competencies required to provide high quality services to infants, children, and youth who require AAC, especially those from diverse backgrounds. The Penn State AAC curriculum combines academic learning, research experiences in AAC, practicum experiences, and state-of-the-art assistive technology labs.
Other funding opportunities (full tuition and a monthly stipend) are also available as research assistants on several federally funded research grants in AAC. For further information about funding opportunities for graduate students in AAC, contact Janice Light, Ph.D., Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, 308 Ford Bldg., Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802; by phone at (814) 863-2010, or by email at jcl4@psu.edu.
Research Assistantship for Graduate Students Interested in Bilingualism & Literacy
A research assistantship is available beginning Fall 2008 in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Penn State University for a graduate student interested in the emergent literacy development of bilingual, Spanish-speaking children. The research assistantship is funded through a Head Start-University Partnership Grant entitled, “Promoting the Emergent Literacy Development of English Language Learners: A Culturally-Informed Approach.”
The purpose of the grant is to implement and evaluate a home-based, culturally informed emergent literacy intervention that is designed to promote Latino parents' abilities to support the language and literacy development of their preschoolers who are learning English.
The research assistant will be responsible for assisting with the development of program materials, data collection, data entry and data analysis. The assistantship includes full tuition, computer fees, health insurance and a monthly stipend.
Students who are interested in applying for the research assistantship should submit a resume and a letter of interest that discusses the student's research interests, long term career goals, and language proficiencies by February 1, 2008. Individuals who are bilingual (Spanish-English) are particularly encouraged to apply. Inquires and letters of interest may be sent to:
For more information, please contact Carol Scheffner Hammer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders; 308 Ford Building, University Park, PA 16802; or by email at cjh22@psu.edu.
For additional information about financial aid, visit the sites of or write to:
- Office of Student Aid
- Penn State University
- 314 Shields Building
- University Park, PA 16802-1220
- The Graduate School Fellowship Office
- Penn State University
- 313 Kern Graduate Building
- University Park, PA 16802-3303