| Major Code: 8146 |
Degree Awarded: Master of Arts |
| Age Restriction: N |
Admission status: graduate |
| Delivery Mode/s: online, off-site |
Location/s: off-site |
| Admission Materials: résumé, objectives |
Program Chair
José Martinez-Diaz, Ph.D., BCBA-D
The Master of Arts in Professional Behavior Analysis combines 24-27 semester credit hours of coursework from Florida Tech’s ABA online program with 21 semester credit hours completed in residence at one of several behavior analysis agencies across the country. The program provides students a high-quality hands-on education at convenient locations. Florida Tech faculty, housed at the host agencies, help students integrate academic curriculum with practical experience.
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board® (BACB®) has approved the Florida Tech BCBA® course sequence as meeting all instructional requirements for certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst® (BCBA®). The in-residence component integrates coursework with supervised practica and a capstone project completed on site. The practicum meets the BACB’s supervised experience requirement for BCBA certification. On graduation, students meet all the requirements to sit for the BCBA examination. The program also meets licensure standards in all states currently licensing professional behavior analysts. The program has been designed to meet the upcoming accreditation standards (2015) of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI).
Admission Requirements
Prospective students may apply and be accepted into the program after identifying a residence site and completing Foundations, Concepts and Principles of Behavior Analysis (BEH 5011 ), Basic Elements of Applied Behavior Analysis (BEH 5012 ) or an equivalent approved by the program chair. Preference will be given to applicants who have either successfully completed the ABA online assistant graduate certificate program (resulting in satisfaction of requirements for certification as a BCaBA®) or who have successfully completed at least two courses from the certificate program. The courses from the certificate program are part of the graduation requirements for the professional master’s program.
All applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited university. Only applicants with an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (based on a 4.0 scale), or who have a GPA of 3.5 or higher after taking at least 12 credits of graduate-level instruction in behavior analysis will be considered for admission into the program.
Applicants must submit a graduate application with accompanying fee, statement of objectives, a résumé, official transcripts of all previous coursework, and three letters of recommendation. General admission requirements and the process for applying are presented in the Academic Overview section.
Transition to Degree-Seeking Status In-Residence
Graduate policy states a maximum of 12 semester credit hours may be applied toward a degree before admission and matriculation in a degree-seeking program, but in the case of the master’s in professional behavior analysis, permission of the academic unit head allows for continuing education students to register for up to 24 semester credit hours as an exception to the stated policy. Thus, students may enroll for up to 24 semester credit hours through the online program as a continuing education student before applying, being admitted and enrolling as a degree-seeking student in the master of arts program. All credit completed with a grade of B or higher through ABA online will be counted toward graduation requirements for the degree once the student is offered admission and enrolls in the in-residence component.
Admitted students will be considered degree-seeking students once they enroll in the in-residence component of the program at the designated host agency. Admitted students must complete a minimum of 12 credits of the online component with no grade lower than a B before enrolling in the in-residence component. They may complete any additional required ABA online courses concurrently with or after completing the in-residence component.
The program may be completed in 24 months, provided the student takes online courses concurrently with the in-residence component. Although online courses are offered during four 12-week terms per year while the in-residence courses are offered during three 15-week terms per year, online courses will be available concurrently with inresidence courses.
Degree Requirements
The Master of Arts in Professional Behavior Analysis will be conferred on students who satisfy all program requirements and a final program examination.
Effective April 2013, students enrolled in the assistant graduate certificate program (begun after January 2013 but not completed as of July 2013) or the graduate certificate program (not completed as of January 2014) who are accepted into the program must complete the following program requirements for a total of 45 semester credit hours:
