COUNCIL OF GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN
COMMUNICATION SCIENCES AND DISORDERS

1996-97 NATIONAL SURVEY OF
UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE PROGRAMS

Conducted by the Information Exchange Committee

Linda Petrosino
Bowling Green State University

R. Jane Lieberman
Appalachian State University

Malcolm R. McNeil
University of Pittsburgh


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction
Program Information
Degrees Granted
Theses
Students
Faculty
Supervisors
Ethnic Minority Groups
Funding
Program Information
Anticipated Doctoral Level Faculty Needs
Program Characteristics
Summary

Introduction

The National Survey of Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders has been conducted since 1982-83. Surveys were conducted in 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1988-89, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1994-95 and 1996-97. Due to space limitations, data from the 1983-84 and 1985-86 surveys are not included in several of the tables. For the 1996-97 survey, a response rate of 67.4% was obtained, with 209 of 310 institutions returning the Council's 10th survey (Table 1). This response rate reflects a decrease of 4.3% when compared to the response rate from the 1994-95 survey. The current survey includes, for the first time, data from responding institutions in Canada and Puerto Rico. When these new survey responses are excluded from the total, the response rate is 65.4% for a decrease of 6.3% from the 1994-95 survey response rate.

In the 1996-97 survey, response rates varied across programs and areas at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels. The total response rate for all graduate programs was 72.1% (173 of 240 programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders) and for all undergraduate programs, 66.9% (186 of 278 programs). The total response rate for all undergraduate programs remained relatively similar to that of the 1994-95 survey, however, the response rate for undergraduate only programs increased by 15.3% from the 1994-95 (36.1%) to the 1996-97 survey (51.4%) (Table 1). The response rate for master's programs was 76.1%, with 78.2% for audiology, 73.4% for speech-language pathology, and 91.7% for speech/language/hearing science programs. The response rate for doctoral programs was 85.7%, with 84.8% for audiology, 82.0% for speech-language pathology, and 93.9% for speech/language/hearing science programs.

Data from seven of the Council's previous National Survey reports (1982-83, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1988-89, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1994-95) were used to make comparisons with the 1996-97 data. In order to compare data obtained in the surveys conducted from 1982-83 to1996-97, some totals were adjusted to 100% based on the percent of programs reporting. These adjustment factors differ for each of the previous surveys and are as follows:
 

Figure 1. Percent of programs reporting and adjustment factors for Survey years 1982 through 1992-93.
Survey Year % Programs Reporting Adjustment Factor
82-83  87%  1.149 
84-85  96%  1.030 
86-87  95%  1.053 
88-89  92%  1.090 
90-91  84%  1.197 
92-93  75%  1.333 
Different adjustment factors based on actual response rates were calculated for program levels and majors (e.g., audiology, speech-language pathology) in 1994-95 and 1996-97 (Figure 2), because response rates differed between undergraduate and graduate programs and among graduate programs in audiology, speech-language pathology, and the speech/language/hearing sciences. This form of adjustment assumes that the demographics for those programs not reporting are similar to those programs reporting. By using these different adjustment factors, more valid comparisons could be assessed.

Figure 2. Percent of programs reporting and adjustment factors for educational levels and majors for 1994-95 and 1996-97.
Levels and Majors  % Programs 
Reporting 
1994-95 		 Adjustment 
Factor 
1994-95 		 % Programs 
Reporting 
1996-97 		 Adjustment 
Factor 
1996-97 
Undergraduate 
Programs 		 68.0 1.47 66.9 1.49 
Master's Degree 
Programs 		 77.1 Not referred to 
in document		 76.1 1.31 
Master's Degree 
Audiology		 78.8 1.27 78.2 1.28 
Master's Degree 
Speech-Language 
Pathology 		 74.9 1.34 73.4 1.36 
Master's Degree 
Speech/Language/ 
Hearing Science 		 90.9 1.10 91.7 1.09 
Doctoral Degree 
Programs 		 89.2 Not referred to 
in document		 85.7 1.17 
Doctoral Degree 
Audiology 		 87.0 1.15 84.8 1.18 
Doctoral Degree 
Speech-Language 
Pathology 		 87.3 1.15 82.0 1.22 
Doctoral Degree 
Speech/Language/ 
Hearing Science 		 96.6 1.04 93.9 1.06 
 

Tables throughout the report provide information regarding programs in each of the 10 federal regions plus OTHER (Canada and Puerto Rico). States in each of the regions are as follows:
Region States/Countries
REGION I CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT
REGION II NJ, NY
REGION III DE, MD, PA, VA, WV, DC
REGION IV AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN
REGION V IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI
REGION VI AR, LA, NM, OK, TX
REGION VII IA, KS, MO, NE
REGION VIII CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY
REGION IX AZ, CA, HI, HV
REGION X AK, ID, OR, WA
OTHER Canada and Puerto Rico
 
 

Program Information (Tables 1-4)

The total number of communication sciences and disorders programs in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico was 310 in the 1996-97 academic year (Table 3).   Over the survey's 15 year history, the total number of programs has remained relatively stable.  Since the 1994-95 survey, there was a net increase of one audiology, ten speech-language pathology, and two speech/language/hearing sciences programs at the master's level.  Had Puerto Rico and Canada not been included in these data (as in previous years), there would have been a net decline of four audiology and two speech/language/hearing sciences programs and an increase of two speech-language pathology programs, all at the master's level.  During the same time period, the number of doctoral programs in speech-language pathology has remained relatively stable at about 55 while the number of such programs in speech/language/hearing sciences has remained relatively stable at about 33 (excluding the data from Canada and Puerto Rico).  The number of doctoral programs in audiology has declined since 1990-91 from 50 to 43 (excluding the data from Canada and Puerto Rico) (Table 3).

The distribution of academic homes for communication sciences and disorders graduate programs has changed over from 1990-91 to 1996-97.  Approximately two-thirds of all programs currently are located within colleges of arts and sciences, education, and allied health/medicine.  From 1990-91 to 1996-97, there was a decrease in the percentage of programs housed in arts and sciences from 35% to 24.9% (Table 4).  Over the same time period, the percentage of programs housed in education remained relatively stable at about 19 percent, whereas, the combined percentage of programs in allied health and medicine increased from 23% (1990-91) to 29.1% (1996-97).
 

Degrees Granted (Tables 5-8)

Although the number of degrees granted at the bachelor's level in 1995-96 was the second highest in the 15 year history of the survey, this number decreased by 496 (6.9%) from the 1993-94 survey, reflecting the first decrease in the number of bachelor's degrees granted since 1987 (Table 8).  Further, the number of females receiving degrees has greatly exceeded that of males across the 15 year history of the survey, while the proportion of males and females receiving degrees has remained relatively stable.

At the master's level, the total number of degrees granted increased by 720 (13.3%) in 1995-96 when compared to the number granted in 1993-94 (Table 8).  From 1981-82 to 1991-92, the total number of master's degrees awarded has remained relatively constant, ranging from approximately 3800 to 4400.  The number of master's degrees granted in 1995-96 (6123) reflects the highest number of master's degrees awarded in the 15 year history of the survey, with the second highest number granted in 1993-94 (5403).  From 1987-88 to 1995-96, there has been a 62.9% increase in the number of master's degrees granted.  The number of audiology master's degrees granted remained relatively constant from 1993-94 to 1995-96, following the substantive 45.5% increase from 1991-92 to 1993-94.  Nevertheless, the 1995-96 figure represents the largest number of audiology graduates in the 15 year history of the survey, surpassing the previous high of 997 in 1993-94.  The number of speech-language pathology degrees granted increased by 697 (15.9%) between 1993-94 and 1995-96 and is accounted for by an increase in the number of females receiving degrees.  This increase in the number of master's degrees granted has occurred in the absence of a parallel increase in the number of degree granting programs.  The number of  speech/language/hearing sciences master's degrees granted increased by 12 (80%) from 1994-95 to 1995-96.  While the number of speech/language/hearing sciences graduates remains relatively small, this number represents the second highest number of graduates in the history of the survey.
 The number of doctoral degrees granted reflected a net decrease of 10 (8.7%) from 1993-94 to 1995-96, with a decrease of 8 (22.2%) in audiology, an increase of 1 (1.5%) in speech-language pathology, and a decrease of 3 (21.4%) in speech/language/hearing sciences.  These results reflect a total decrease in doctoral degrees granted of 95 (47.5%) from the 1981-82 survey.  Further, the number of doctoral degrees granted was the lowest in the history of the survey.  The number of speech/language/hearing sciences degrees granted at the master's level represented an 80% increase from the previous survey.  The total number of the doctoral degrees granted showed a 21.4% decrease from 1993-94 and was the lowest in the history of the survey.
 

Theses (Tables 9-11)

The total number of master's theses completed in 1995-96 decreased by 668 (52%) from the previous survey (Table 10).  This large decrease in number of theses completed was the second lowest number in the history of the survey, with the lowest achieved in 1987-88.   This 52% decrease was relatively consistent across the areas of audiology, speech-language pathology, and speech/language/hearing sciences.  In addition, the number of master's theses completed as a percent of master's graduates decreased by 10.1% between 1993-94 and 1995-96 (Table 11).  The 1987-88 and 1995-96 academic years marked the lowest percentage (13.6%) of graduates completing theses in the 15 year history of the survey.  Approximately one in ten students completed a thesis in each of these years.
 

Students (Tables 12-21)

 The overall number of undergraduate students in 1996-97 was 28,940, an increase of 16% from the number reported in the 1994-95 survey.  This overall 16% increase reflects higher enrollments across all four years of undergraduate education, in contrast to the 1994-95 decrease in the first and second years of undergraduate education.  The 1996-97 increase in undergraduate student enrollment is the fifth consecutive increase since 1988-89.  Of the total undergraduate enrollments, males represented 9.9%.  This percentage of males represents a near doubling across all levels of undergraduate education from the 1990-91 through 1995-96 surveys.

The total number (12,833) of master's level students in 1996-97 represents a 7.6% increase from the 1994-95 survey and is the highest enrollment recorded by the National Survey, exceeding the 1992-93 enrollment by 2713 and the 1994-95 enrollment by 903 (Table 16).  Of the total number of master's students, 23.2% are part-time (Table 14).  The total number of part-time students increased by 4.8% from the 1994-95 survey, reflecting the second highest number of part-time students in the history of the survey.  From the highest proportion of part-time to full time students reported in 1986-87 (52%), there has been a consecutive decline (1992-93 to 1996-97) leading to the current proportion of about 30% (Table 15).

From the 1994-95 to the 1996-97 survey, the total number of master's audiology students decreased from 1508 to 1408 (6.6%) (Table 15).  This decrease is consistent with a general fluctuating pattern of enrollment, varying among all previous surveys by a range of 342 students.  With the exception of the 1986-87 survey data, the proportion of male part-time to full-time audiology students was greater than the proportion of female part-time to full-time audiology students, ranging from a between gender difference of 1% to 14%.

The total number of speech-language pathology students increased by 1075 between 1994-95 (10,333) and 1996-97 (11,408) for an increase of 10.4%.  From the 1988-89 survey results to the present, generally there has been a decrease in the proportion of part-time to full-time speech-language pathology master's students.

Table 16 shows the total number of males at the master's level increased from 697 to 743 (6.6%) from 1994-95 to 1996-97.  This represents the highest number of males enrolled in communication sciences and disorders master's programs since 1984-85.  The number of females increased as well, from 11,233 in 1994-95 to 12,090 in 1996-97 (7.6%).  Although male students overall increased by 6.6% and female students overall increased by 7.6%, both male and female students overall in audiology decreased by 1.8% and 7.4%, respectively.  Males in speech-language pathology increased by 12.1%, and females increased by 10.3%.  The total number of students in speech/language/hearing sciences programs remained low compared to the other areas, and there was an overall decrease in enrollments of 80.9% from 1995-96 to 1996-97, with a 100% decrease in males and a 79.3% decrease in females.  From 1992-93 to 1994-95, enrollment in speech/language/hearing sciences programs experienced the largest growth (from 48 to 89 students) and the highest total number of students in the history of the survey.  From 1994-95 to 1996-97, however, enrollment in speech/language/hearing sciences programs experienced the greatest decline (from 89 to 17) and the lowest number of total students in the history of the survey.  Moreover, from a review of Tables 8 and 16, it appears that large numbers of students enrolled in speech/language/hearing sciences programs are not graduating with a degree in this area.

As may be seen in Tables 18 and 19, there was a 17.5% increase in the total number of doctoral students between 1994-95 (764) and 1996-97 (898).  The total number of audiology doctoral students increased 16.6% from 193 in 1994-95 to 225 in 1996-97, and the total number of speech-language pathology doctoral students remained almost identical from 1994-95 to 1996-97.  Finally the total number of doctoral students enrolled in speech/language/hearing sciences increased 102.9% from 104 in 1994-95 to 211 in 1996-97.

While the total number of doctoral students enrolled in communication sciences and disorders programs in 1996-97 increased by approximately 8.0% from the previous high recorded in 1990-91 (822), only 17% of those enrolled in doctoral programs over the 15 year history of the survey graduated with doctoral degrees in communication sciences and disorders.  Doctoral enrollments from 1982-83 to 1990-91 rose by 116 students.  Enrollment then dropped each year of the survey until 1996-97 when it again rose by 76 students (898) from the previous high of 822 in 1990-91.  The question posed by these data is whether this increase in enrollment of doctoral students will reverse the trend of decreased doctoral degrees granted.  A review of the data in Tables 8 and 19 suggests, however, that over the 15 year history of the survey doctoral enrollments in audiology and speech-language pathology have remained relatively constant, while the number of degrees granted has decreased substantively with approximately 1 in every 7 students enrolled obtaining the doctorate.  With the exception of the data from 1996-97, enrollment in speech/language/hearing/sciences doctoral programs has remained relatively constant as well, with a similar ratio of degrees granted to students enrolled.

As is seen in Tables 8 and 19, the number of males and females enrolled in doctoral programs in communication sciences and disorders has remained relatively stable, with the exception of a 135.2 % (167) increase in enrollment for females in speech/language/hearing sciences in 1996-97.  In general, the proportion of part-time to full-time doctoral students has decreased from the 1994-95 (41%) to the 1996-97 (28%) surveys.  The current proportion (24%) of male part-time to full-time students across all areas is within the range of the proportions reported across the history of the survey.  The proportion of female part-time to full-time doctoral students, however, has been reduced by 38% from the 1982-83 survey to its current lowest level of 29%.   This reduction is consistent across all areas and for both genders, except for female audiology and male speech/language/hearing sciences students whose part-time to full-time proportion remained similar from 1994-95 to 1996-97.  In addition, there has been a general decline in the proportion of part-time to full-time students from the 1982-83 survey, with the female part-time speech/language/hearing science doctoral students' proportion experiencing the greatest reduction (62% in 1982-83 to 19% in 1996-97).  In the 1996-97 survey,  there was no substantive difference in the proportion of male to female part-time to full-time doctoral students in audiology or speech/language/hearing sciences, however, their was a substantively lower proportion of male part-time to female part-time speech language pathology doctoral students (12%).
 
Information concerning graduate applications, admissions, and enrollment for master's programs is reported in Table 20 and 21.  Of those individuals who applied to graduate school (26,912), 26.8% were admitted and 17.3% enrolled.  It is important to keep in mind that the number of applications (26,912) do not represent all different students since many students apply to several places.  Of the number of students who were admitted (4,660), 64.5% enrolled.  Table 21 shows 39.7% of the students remained for graduate study at their undergraduate institutions in 1996-97.  This figure has remained relatively constant from the 1992-93 survey to the 1996-97 survey.  The percentage of graduate students remaining within state was 57.6% in 1996-97, a figure similar to that reported since the 1992-93 survey.  The percentage of out-of-state communication sciences and disorders students was 21.9% in 1996-97 compared to 22.6% in 1994-95 and, the percentage of undergraduates with majors from other disciplines was 17.0%, similar to figures reported since the 1992-93 survey.  In 1996-97, nontraditional students comprised 12.6% of the total master's students, with the percent ranging from 8.9% in Region III to 29.3% in Region X.  Regions outside of the United States also had a low percentage of nontraditional students (7.0%).
 

Faculty (Tables 22-23)

Table 23 shows a net gain of 119 positions or a 5.4% increase in the number of full-time faculty between 1994-95 and 1996-97.  With regard to part-time faculty, their was a net gain of 283 positions or a 48.8% increase between 1994-95 and 1996-97.  These results represent the highest number of full-time (2,334) and part-time (864) faculty in the history of the survey.  In addition, the results represent the largest single gain in part-time faculty from one survey to the next.  The largest single gain for full-time faculty occurred between 1988-89 and 1990-91.  A comparison of the percentage of full-time and part-time male faculty with doctoral degrees from 1990-91 to 1996-97 shows a decrease from 56.2% to 44.6% and 59.8% to 36.7%, respectively.  The 1990-91 academic year was the last year in which the proportion of full-time and part-time doctoral male faculty was greater than that of females.  In contrast to the proportion of male faculty with a doctoral degree (44.6% full-time and 36.7% part-time), only 11.5% full-time and 11.6% part-time male faculty hold the masters degree.   Finally, 66% of the combined full-time and part-time male and female faculty/staff are at the doctoral level.
 

Supervisors (Tables 24 and 25)

Computed from data in Table 24 (excluding the data for the OTHER Region for all calculations because of questionable numbers of part-time supervisors reported), 57 % of the total number of supervisors in 1996-97 were full-time and 43% were part-time as compared to 68.8 % and 32.2% in 1994-95.  On the average, there are 3.1 full-time supervisors per program with a range of 1.5 to 4.6.  Additonally, there are 2.3 part-time supervisors per program with a range of 1.5 to 3.6.  Combined, there are 5.4 part-time and full-time supervisors per program.  Further, 12% of the full-time and 10% of the part-time supervisors are male.

In 1994-95 the reporting of data regarding clinical supervisors was changed to include only those individuals whose primary responsibility was supervision and who were paid by the institution.  In previous years, survey data included academic faculty who supervised part-time.  It also included unpaid supervisors.  In addition, a distinction was made between supervisors who were internal or external to the institution.  The current change was made in order to reflect more accurately the number of institutionally-supported supervisors.  Because of this change, differences between surveys conducted up to and including 1992-93 and those conducted after, need to be interpreted with caution (Table 25).
 

Ethnic Minority Groups (Tables 26-32)

 In 1996-97, ethnic minority groups comprised 11.1% of undergraduates (Table 26), 8.2 % of master's students, and 13.1% of doctoral students in communication sciences and disorders (Tables 27 and 28).  These percentages of ethnic minority enrollment across educational levels represent the second highest percentage in the history of the survey.  The current levels were surpassed in 1982-83 for undergraduate (11.8%) and for master's (10. 2%), and in 1988-89 for doctoral students (13.8%).  Considerable variation exists in the percentage of students from ethnic minority groups at all levels of education across geographic regions, with the largest variation at the doctoral level.  Tables 26, 27, and 28 show the largest percentage of undergraduate students from ethnic minority groups in Regions IV and VI, the largest percentage of master's students from Regions IV and IX, and the largest percentage of doctoral students from Regions I and VIII.

The percentage of full-time and part-time faculty from ethnic minority groups was 7.8% and 6.4%, respectively in 1996-97 (Table 31).  These results represent the highest percentage of full-time and part-time faculty from ethnic minority groups in the history of the survey.  Since 1990-91, there has been a small (2.6% full-time and .9% part-time) but consistent increase in the percentage of faculty from ethnic minority groups.  Finally, the percentage of clinical supervisors from ethnic minority groups was 6.8% in 1996-97 as compared to 4.9% reported in 1994-95.
 

Funding (Tables 33-36)

According to Table 33, the percentage of programs reporting increases in institutional, federal, and other sources of revenue exceeded those programs reporting decreases.  The greatest percentage of programs reported increases in institutional sources of funding (in the 1% to 4% range), and this source greatly exceeded all other sources of support.  Table 34 shows an increase from 9.5% to 32.4% in institutional support from the 1994-95 to the 1996-97 survey.  Overall, there were 1.09 federal, .16 state, .99 university, and .25 other funded projects per program (Table 35).  The overwhelming majority of research projects were funded from federal sources (82.3%), with other (9.9%), state (5.5%), and university (2.3%) sources following in descending order of support.  The distribution of funding sources varied considerably by region, with Regions IX, VII, and II showing the greatest portion of their funding from federal sources (99.7%, 99%, and 96.5%, respectively).  Regions IV, VI, and OTHER (43.7%, 45.6%, and 20.2%, respectively) reported the smallest portion of their research funding from federal sources.  These latter three regions (IV, VI, and OTHER), among all of the regions, derived the greatest portion of their research support from state sources.
 
As derived from Table 35, there was an average of 2.49 funded research projects per program.  The average federally funded project received $145,533, and funding ranged from $7,480 to $313,869 per project.  The average state funded project received $65,203, and funding ranged from $250 to $433,323 per project; the average university funded project received $4,496, and funding ranged from $9,071 to $1,637 per project; and, the average OTHER funded project received $76,667, and funding ranged from  $9,510 to $606,666 per project. The average funded project from all funding sources received $77,329, and funding ranged from $10,440  to $179,241 per project.
 
As derived from Table 36, there was an average of .58 non-research projects per program receiving funding from federal sources, .52 projects per program receiving state support, .62 projects per program receiving university support, and .77 projects per program receiving other support.  Overall 2.9 non-research projects per program received support across all funding sources.  The overwhelming majority of funded non-research projects was derived from federal sources (62.%), with state (20.7%), other (10.7%), and university (6.6%) sources following in descending order of support.  Regions I (96.3%), VII (90.6%), and X (89.8%) received the greatest portion of their non-research support from federal sources, whereas, Region IV (58.1%) received the greatest portion of its non-research support from state sources.  Only Region III received the majority of its non-research support from university funding and no region received the majority of its funding from other sources.

As seen in Table 36, there were regions in which no programs received non-research funding.  Of those programs in regions that did receive funding, the average federally funded non-research project was $85,742, and funding ranged from $181,190 to $160,662 per project.  The average state funded non-research project received $31,750, and funding ranged from $3,000 to $95,667 per project; the average university funded non-research project received $8,503, and funding ranged from $5,000 to $26,400 per project; and, the average other funded non-research project received $11,107, and funding ranged from $43,847 to $25,300 per project.  The average funded non-research project from all sources was $33,480, and funding ranged from $78,775 to $270,890 per project.
 

Anticipated Doctoral Faculty Needs (Tables 37 and 38)

For the 1997-98 academic year, the projected number of open doctoral faculty positions will be 117 in speech-language pathology, 33 in audiology, and 12 in speech/language/hearing sciences.  According to Table 37, the number of anticipated open positions in speciality areas may exceed the total number of actual openings because respondents could mark more than one speciality area for each position.  For the 1997-98 academic year, the distribution of faculty needs in speech-language pathology, audiology, and speech/language/hearing sciences remained similar to those of 1995-96.  Table 38 shows that for 1996-97, the anticipated number of doctoral degrees to be granted was 94 in speech-language pathology, 28 in audiology, and 37 in speech/language/hearing sciences.  A comparison of Tables 37 and 38 indicates that with the exception of speech/language/hearing sciences, the number of doctoral graduates will not meet the anticipated number of faculty openings.  It appears that the needs in all other areas range from approximately 2 to 8 times the number of anticipated doctoral graduates.  The anticipated number of doctoral graduates from ethnic minority groups for 1996-97 was 28, or 22% of the total number of anticipated doctoral graduates (Table 38).
 

Program Characteristics (Tables 39-43)

 In 1996-97, 45.5% of the programs that offered undergraduate education in communication sciences and disorders offered programs that allowed graduates some type of professional certification (Table 39) in comparison to 23.9%, (21.4% increase) in 1994-95.  Although the percentage of programs offering certification at the undergraduate level continued to vary widely across regions, seven of the eleven regions experienced increases in the number and percent of undergraduate programs qualifying bachelors graduates for public school certification, with two of the regions, V (39.1%) and VI (49.5%), accounting for the greatest increases from 1994-95 to 1996-97.  Over the four years represented in Table 39, the number and percent of undergraduate programs qualifying bachelor's graduates for public school certification has remained relatively steady and high for Region II and relatively steady and low for Region VII.
 
From 1990-91 to 1996-97, the mean number of practicum hours obtained by undergraduate students has remained relatively constant, ranging from 70.2 to 81 hours (Table 40).  The mean percent of practicum hours obtained by master's students in off-campus sites
has remained essentially unchanged at approximately 57% (Table 41).
 Table 42 shows that 906 (15%) of the total number of 1995-96 master's and doctoral graduates were fluent in a language other than English.  This represents a 98 % increase (488 students) from the 1994-95 survey.  The number of graduates fluent in another language varied from a low of 16 in Region X to a high of 264 in Region IX.
 
Of the programs reporting, 59.3% indicated that they are independent departments in their institutions.  This percentage is similar to that reported in the 1990-91, 1992-93, and 1994-95 surveys (Table 43).


Summary Points from the 1996-97 Survey