Communication Sciences & Disorders Major
Entering our program is the first step on a journey toward working in audiology, speech-language-pathology, or related sciences. We provide the expert preparation you will need to qualify as a professional dedicated to helping people with speech and hearing disorders — all growing and evolving career fields.
What Will I Learn?
Working closely with our caring faculty, you’ll be prepared for graduate school in speech-language pathology or audiology, with general and discipline-specific knowledge, including clinical examples in the classroom and in the Speech and Hearing Clinic.
Our program focuses on the scientific basis and nature of human communication, its disorders, assessment, and remediation.
You will study the normal processes of hearing, speech and language development, and disorders such as articulation and phonological disorders, language-learning delays and disorders, aphasia, autism, stuttering, hearing impairment, deafness, and others.
In our Speech and Hearing Center, you will interact with faculty and graduate students. We will introduce you to functioning as a student clinician through observing assessment and treatment sessions.
Although you will later perform the majority of your clinical work at the graduate level, some students have the opportunity to participate in an undergraduate clinical experience during their last year of study.
What is Unique About Our Program?
- The CSD faculty continue to work with clients, staying current and enhancing learning in the classroom
- The faculty are mentors as well as instructors
- We have small classes — you are not a number here
- The curriculum reflects our diverse society
These are hallmarks of our program where quality instruction and personal growth are the focus.
Integrates theory and clinical competencies, the program meets all undergraduate requirements for certification with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and all undergraduate requirements for New York State licensure.
We are especially proud of our faculty expertise. Our entire faculty hold current ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence and/or New York State licensure. They are a highly qualified, diverse group who have extensive experience in the evaluation and treatment of speech, language, and hearing disorders. They teach all of the courses and supervise in the clinic.
Our facilities are also top-notch, highlighted by a Speech and Hearing Center that hosts student clinicians and provides a local community service for persons with communication and hearing disorders. You will be able to interact with graduate student clinicians and observe assessment and treatment sessions.
What Are My Career Opportunities?
Careers in speech-language pathology and audiology are growing and evolving with demand that ensures employment after receiving your license. Careers include:
- Speech-Language Pathologist
- Hospitals
- Schools
- In homes through early intervention
- Private practice
- Telepractice
- Skilled nursing facilities
- Speech therapy assistant/aide (states differ on qualifications and
requirements)
- Audiologists
- Hospitals
- Private and group practice
- Residential/long-term care facilities
- Education facilities
- Audiology assistant/Aid (states differ on qualifications and requirements)
- Device/equipment manufacturers
Our successful undergraduates move on to a graduate program, as is required in for professional qualification in speech pathology or audiology. Graduates can also pursue degrees in careers such as:
- Mental health counseling
- Teacher education
- Student affairs and higher education
- Deaf education
Employment of speech-language pathologists will grow 27% from 2018 to 2028, adding about 41,900 new jobs, according to recent projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). BLS projects audiologists’ employment to grow 16%, adding about 2,200 new jobs. Employment of both professions is estimated to grow faster than the average.
The ASHA Leader