Online MA in ABA

Fieldwork

The USF Online MA in ABA requires students to complete 1,500 hours of Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork under the supervision of a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), following the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s BCBA fieldwork requirements. Fieldwork is a graduation requirement, so graduates are eligible to sit for the BCBA exam as soon as they finish the program.

To graduate in five semesters, students need to accrue at least 20 hours of supervised fieldwork per week; most accrue closer to 30. Students who need more time take an additional practicum semester.

Where Students Complete Fieldwork

Nearly all of our students (99%) complete their fieldwork where they already work, as paid employees of an ABA agency, school, clinic, or hospital, most often as Registered Behavior Technicians. Because the BACB requires students and their supervisors to be employed by the same agency, the program does not place students or assign fieldwork sites; students secure their own agency and BCBA supervisor, and most applicants already have one when they apply. If you are not yet working in ABA, the most direct path is a position with an ABA provider in your area that is hiring behavior technicians.

Approved supervisors and sites exist throughout Florida and across the United States, and the program will work with any qualifying agency and BCBA. See the current list of approved fieldwork sites.

Who Can Supervise

• A BCBA or BCBA-D who has been certified for at least one year and meets the BACB’s supervision requirements.
• Your supervisor must work for the same agency as you and have access to the same clients. A remote supervisor from another organization does not qualify.
• Having more than one supervisor at the same agency is common and encouraged.
• Hours worked as an independent contractor cannot be counted, and the program does not approve agencies that hire students as independent contractors.

Agency and BCBA Supervisor Approval Process

• When you apply, you describe your intended agency and supervisor on the BCBA Supervisor Support Form. You complete the form yourself; your supervisor’s signature is not required at the time of application.
• Shortly after an admission decision, the Online MA Practicum Coordinator contacts admitted students to begin the agency and supervisor approval process. There is no need to contact USF about approvals before then.
• Fieldwork hours may not be accrued until both the agency and the supervisor have been reviewed and approved by USF ABA faculty, and, per BACB rules, not before graduate coursework begins.
• Students may change fieldwork sites or supervisors before the program starts or at any point during it. Each new agency or supervisor must be approved before supervision hours resume.
• The review confirms training quality; it is not designed to create barriers. The program works collaboratively with students, agencies, and supervisors to keep everything aligned with university and BACB requirements.

During the Program

Students enroll in a Practicum Seminar every semester. Seminars guide you through BACB documentation, supervision, and hour requirements, and students must accrue at least 250 hours each semester to pass. BACB Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork requirements include 20–160 hours per month, a cumulative 90-minute observation each month involving direct work with a client, 7.5% of hours supervised, at least 900 unrestricted hours, and no more than 600 restricted hours. See the Program FAQs for details.

Specific fieldwork questions? Contact the Online MA Practicum Coordinator, Dr. Brianna Laureano, at blaureano@usf.edu.

 

USF has partnered with the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE) to expand students’ access to quality training sites for accruing fieldwork experience toward BACB certification. BHCOE is an international accrediting body that certifies agencies meeting specific standards of quality.