Master of Arts in Speech and Language Pathology
The professional Master of Arts in Speech and Language Pathology will prepare you to diagnose and treat speech, swallowing, and language disorders in children and adults. Accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Council on Academic Accreditation and ranked among the top in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, the program prepares you to meet the challenges of practice. Our graduates go on to clinical practice in a variety of settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools, clinics, and private practice.
The program integrates a deep and broad curriculum with clinical observation, research and practice. Your coursework will include normal development and disorders of swallowing, voice, articulation, phonology, fluency, neurological substrates, language, and literacy. Most of your courses and your first four to five quarters of clinic practica will be held on the Evanston campus in the Frances Searle Building. Additional clinical education may take place at our hospital-based Voice, Speech, and Language Service, at the Swallowing Center on our Chicago Campus or at practicum sites throughout Chicago urban and suburban communities. These sites offer experiences with high and low-incidence disorders and individuals from many different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Our nationally prominent faculty actively investigate both basic and clinical questions in speech and language. You may choose to follow a general program of study or pursue specialization in early intervention for infants and children up to age three, school-age children, or neurogenic disorders. We also encourage you to broaden your knowledge and expertise through interdisciplinary opportunities in areas such as neuroscience, linguistics, and language and cognition through elective course work and colloquia series.
You may also choose to pursue a combined degree in speech-language pathology and learning disabilities.
