The Bachelor's Degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences allows students to explore the mechanisms and processes of human communication and prepares students to pursue graduate education in the fields of speech-language pathology, audiology, or speech and hearing science. Courses are open to students in other major fields.
Audiologists are professionals with master's or doctoral degrees specializing in prevention, identification, and assessment of hearing impairment. They also provide habilitation and rehabilitation of persons with hearing loss, and they fit hearing aids. Audiologists work in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, private practices, universities, schools, government agencies, industry, nursing homes, and health departments.
Speech-language pathologists are professionals with master's or doctoral degrees who assess and treat communication disorders such as stuttering, delayed language development, aphasia, voice disorders, and articulation problems. Speech-language pathologists work in schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, research laboratories, universities, and private practices.
Speech, language, and hearing scientists are professionals, usually with a doctoral degree, who investigate basic and applied aspects of communication. They work mainly in universities, industry, and research institutes.
There is a continuing need, nationwide, for certified professionals in these fields. The major is an excellent choice for students who have a general interest in human behavior, education, and/or health professions and who are specifically interested in how humans beings acquire, produce, and receive language.