The demographics of the University of Florida Distance Learning Au.D. program is rapidly changing (Table 1). The number of incoming students for the Fall, 2001 semester was typical (71 new students), but the level of experience of the new students is less than previous semesters.
In the first nine semesters combined, just 9% of the students entered with less than three years of experience (49 students, total). By contrast, our incoming Fall, 2001 class has 30 students with less than three years of experience. These demographic data are particularly important to our program because we are changing our new student admissions requirement next year. As of Fall, 2002 we will require a minimum of three years post master's experience.
The reason for this change is the University of Florida's commitment to transition the profession to a doctoral degree. By requiring additional years, we support other institutions in replacing their master's degree programs with Au.D. degree programs. The University of Florida's distance learning program was not designed to be a second step in a master's to Au.D. process. It was developed to give working professionals the opportunity to earn the Au.D. without giving up their audiology practices and/or careers.
Each semester we have experienced a steady decline in our students' average period of time between earning a master's degree and initiating the Au.D. program. The most recent change is an unusual phenomenon. Three concomitant factors may contribute to this increase in less experienced applicants:
1. Recent master's graduate enrollment may have increased in response to the pending change in our 'three years post master's' requirement. Possibly, recent master's graduates want to be sure to get into the program before the requirement takes effect.
2. The declining average years of experience probably reflects a diminishing pool of experienced working professionals who haven't yet earned the Au.D. It is clear that audiologists who waited the longest for the Au.D., were among the first to enter our program.
3. This new group, representing 42% of our fall class, were enrolled in master's programs in 1998 when a few Au.D. programs became available. These audiologists are accustomed to the realities and issues related to the Au.D. degree and aren't hesitating to earn it.
For more information about UF admissions requirements, please go to www.intelicus.com.
