A bachelors degree in communicative disorders and deaf education is a pre-professional degree that prepares students for graduate school in speech-language pathology or clinical or educational audiology. Students in USUs program choose to focus on either speech-language pathology or audiology.
Speech-language pathologists work with individuals of all ages who have difficulty communicating, learning to communicate, feeding, or swallowing. This may include infants with feeding disorders or children with speech, language, hearing, or literacy development problems. It may also include children and adults who stutter, have voice disorders, or suffer from speech, language, and swallowing problems as the consequence of neurological disease or stroke.
Audiologists evaluate and manage individuals who are suspected or have been identified as having differences associated with hearing. Audiologists conduct testing to help identify hearing loss, select and fit hearing aids, program cochlear implants, and provide aural rehabilitation.
Students receive a BS by completing all required courses in the major. To receive a BA, students must also gain proficiency in one or more foreign languages.
Utah State University (USU) has established a track in American Sign Language Interpreting (ASLI), which is an Associate-to-Bachelor's Degree (BS) in the Communication Disorders and Deaf Education Department. All courses, including upper division courses are offered completely online. Visit https://statewide.usu.edu/saltlake/asl for more information.