The department graduated its first PhDs in 1991. Forty one students have earned doctoral degrees since then. All went on to full time employment in linguistics—most in an academic setting, some in industry. Among those who hold academic positions, eleven are now tenured, three have been department chairs, and two have won NSF Young Investigator Awards. Alumni of the department hold or have held faculty positions at NYU, at the University of Massachussets Amherst, at the University of California Berkeley, University of California San Diego, the University of Chicago, the University of Florida, the University of Arizona Tucson, the University of Southern California, Stranford University, Swarthmore College, Rochester University, Williams College, the University of Minnesota, and at AT&T Research Labs, as well as at universities in Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Norway and Spain.

The graduates of our MA program pursue a wide variety of career options. While some have entered other doctoral programs, either in linguistics (theoretical and applied) or in related fields (computer science, library and information sciences), others have found employment in teaching, journalism, government, or in the information technology sector.