Honors and Distinctions

The Department invites qualified undergraduate majors to apply for Honors or Distinctions in the Major.

The Honors program is an undergraduate experience that enables students to conduct independent research in communication sciences and disorders under the direction of a faculty mentor. If you are majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders and are not an honors candidate, you may pursue a junior-senior honors curriculum and thereby earn Distinction in the Major.

Requirements for students in the College of Letters and Science

Application Deadlines

There is no set application date. The department has a rolling deadline for admissions to the honors program.

Applying for Honors

Before you are formally admitted to Honors in the Major, you may enroll in Honors Communication Sciences and Disorders courses, or take a Communication Sciences and Disorders course for Honors, if you are currently in the Honors in the Liberal Arts program, or if you receive consent of the instructor.

You should submit an Application for Honors in the Major as soon as possible after you are admitted into the Communication Sciences and Disorders major, in your sophomore year.
Please contact an advisor to complete the application form. The Communication Sciences and Disorders Academic Programs Committee will review your application and notify you as soon as possible. Acceptance is based on:

• Demonstrated ability and commitment to scholastic achievement;
• Academic performance at UW-Madison (a GPA of 3.3 is required, but a higher GPA in the major is expected);
• Civic engagement, such as volunteer work and extracurricular activities, at UW-Madison and the broader community;
• Commitment to excellence;
• Interest in research in some area of communication sciences and disorders;
• Evidence of broad scholarship, including humanities, mathematics, and sciences.

Honors in the Major Requirements

To earn Honors in the Major in Communications Sciences and Disorders, students must satisfy both the requirements for the major  and the following additional requirements:

• Earn a 3.300 University GPA
• Earn a 3.300 in all CS&D and major courses
• Complete the following courses for Honors earning a grade of B or better in each:

Distinction in the Major Requirements

Students that declared the CS&D major by summer 2021 or earlier and who are not Honors candidates may earn Distinction in the Major, provided that they obtain consent of the department honors advisor, achieve a minimum GPA of 3.750 in CS&D and major courses, and satisfy these requirements:

Obtaining Distinction

In your final semester, after you have completed the requirements for Distinction in the Major, notify the department’s honors advisor of your graduation. Then, upon completion of classes and posting of grades, provide him or her with an unofficial transcript.

You do NOT need to complete an honors thesis.

The honors advisor will then verify that criteria for Distinction have been met and will inform the Registrar’s Office, who will post Distinction in the Major on your official transcript.