1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-State Tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
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What is a Speech Language Pathologist?
Charles Van Riper is a name that is renowned in the field of speech pathology. He/She was a boy who stuttered since the age of 2, loved reading, and grew to become an English high school teacher while developing techniques to cope with his/her stuttering. His/Her childhood was filled with challenges as stuttering was associated with local superstitions, and his/her profession in teaching was no less different, given the overwhelming fear of stuttering he/she was personally experiencing.
After finding no way to improve his/her situation, he/she joined a speech pathology graduate program at Iowa to create techniques to improve one's stutter, which proved successful. He/She was known for his/her therapy on stuttering modification. A technique which allowed a person to confront his/her stutter, reduce associated stress, and increase speaking control. One of the strategies to improve speaking confidence is by teaching a client how to recognize stuttering behaviors and modify its form, gradually, toward a state of normal fluency. As a result, his/her program has been foundational to the practice of many clinicians in effectively diagnosing stutterers.
One of the most rewarding parts of being a speech-language pathologist is being able to work with a patient and through a process, improve their speech abilities. Besides developing suitable treatment plans, they are also heavily involved in interesting research finding new solutions to solve speech-associated disorders such as dyslexia and autism. Speech-language pathologists work a typical 40 hours a week at hospitals and clinics, earning an average of $32 per hour.
What Does a Speech Language Pathologist Do
Speech-language pathologists (sometimes called speech therapists) assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent communication and swallowing disorders in patients. Speech, language, and swallowing disorders result from a variety of causes, such as a stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, Parkinson’s disease, a cleft palate, or autism.
How To Become a Speech Language Pathologist
Speech-language pathologists typically need at least a master’s degree. They must be licensed in most states; requirements vary by state.
Speech Language Pathologist Job Description
Speech-language pathologists are licensed professionals who specialize in speech and language, often working with children or even adults who have challenges related to communication. They create treatment plans by assessing the abilities of their patients, identifying age-appropriate interventions, and implementing courses of treatment to alleviate any difficulties that their clients may be experiencing.
Career Path For a Speech Language Pathologist
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a speech language pathologist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as clinical supervisor, progress to a title such as clinical director and then eventually end up with the title clinical director.
Speech Language Pathologist
Average Salary for a Speech Language Pathologist
Speech Language Pathologists in America make an average salary of $62,340 per year or $30 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $89,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $43,000 per year.
Average Speech Language Pathologist Salary
$62,340Â Yearly$29.97 hourly
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Speech Language Pathologist
The role of a speech language pathologist includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general speech language pathologist responsibilities:
- To assess individual speech and language skills, develop
- Provide direct clinical services utilizing a wide range of standardized
- Screening, identifying, assessing and interpreting, diagnosing,
There are several types of speech language pathologist, including:
Graduate Student Clinician
Role:
Graduate student clinicians are completing their medical degrees while working in healthcare facilities and gaining practical experience in their area of specialization. Technically not a job, as you do not get paid for this position, on the contrary: you pay a heavy price to get to be in med school in the first place.
You will be completing shifts under the supervision of licensed physicians. Your duties will depend on what area of medicine you specialize in, but they will involve diagnosing and treating diseases in a clinical setting.
Being enrolled in med-school is necessary for you to take on this role. There is no way around this, really, no gray areas, no ifs, and, buts, or alternative solutions. Once you graduate from med-school, you will be in the position to apply for a full-time physician position in your area of expertise, which will be an exhausting but rewarding job both on a personal and financial level.
- Average Salary: $59,667
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Student Clinician
Role:
A student clinician usually specializes in one or two areas of clinical service rather than all the areas. He/she has gained immense knowledge and skills to enable them confidently carry out their duties in their areas of specialization.
A student clinician must exhibit basic clinical skills, enthusiasm, proactivity, confidence, attention to detail, and eagerness to learn to be successful in his/her /her role.
General duties of a student clinician include coordinating therapy lessons, documenting patients' progress, accurate record-keeping, and any other duties assigned by the clinician. Other duties vary depending on their area of specialization. A student clinician has a relatively flexible work schedule because he/she can be called in for an emergency at any time.
- Average Salary: $59,506
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Speech Pathologist
Role:
A Speech Pathologist, also known as a speech-language pathologist or an SLP, is a medical expert specializing in diagnosing and treating disorders having to do with communication, voice, and swallowing disorders. They are often also the ones to diagnose people on the autism spectrum.
Much of the work that a Pathologist in this position does is related to cognitive and speech processes. Their patients may have simple problems, such as poor articulation or poor memory, but the issues can also be much more serious. You may run into serious issues that might include breathing difficulties, having trouble swallowing properly, or not speaking verbally. Thus, you'll need to devise a method of alternative communication.
Typically, a person hoping to become a Speech Pathologist will have to have at least a Master's degree in SLP, as well as a license to work in the field. The license itself requires hundreds of hours of work, as well as passing grades on several verbal and written examinations. Some institutions prefer to hire those with doctorates, too.
- Average Salary: $62,640
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Speech Language Pathologist Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active speech language pathologist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where speech language pathologists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Average Salary: Job Openings:
Number Of Speech Language Pathologist Jobs By State
Top Colleges for Speech Language Pathologists
2. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
In-State Tuition
$17,653
Enrollment
16,405
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-State Tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
4. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
5. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
In-State Tuition
$49,816
Enrollment
6,840
6. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,381
Enrollment
34,564
7. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
In-State Tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
8. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
In-State Tuition
$53,399
Enrollment
7,356
9. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$6,798
Enrollment
31,503
10. USF Sarasota-Manatee
Sarasota, FL • Private
In-State Tuition
$5,587
Enrollment
1,834
Top Skills For a Speech Language Pathologist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 18.8% of speech language pathologists listed patients on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Speech Language Pathologist Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Speech Language Pathologist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Speech Language Pathologist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Speech Language Pathologist diversity
Speech Language Pathologist Gender Distribution
Female
91%
Male
9%
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among speech language pathologists, 91.1% of them are women, while 8.9% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among speech language pathologists is White, which makes up 77.1% of all speech language pathologists.
- The most common foreign language among speech language pathologists is Spanish at 65.2%.
Online Courses For Speech Language Pathologist That You May Like
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1. Speaking to Inspire: Ceremonial and Motivational Speeches
The most memorable speeches inspire, entertain, and praise. By blending stories and eloquence, great speeches highlight the core values motivating an audience. You might need to do this in a keynote address, a eulogy, or simply a business meeting. Inspiring audiences is a common, but difficult writing challenge. You want a speech that elevates the topic and the audience. This course gives you a method for preparing and delivering speeches that inspire and entertain. By the end of this course,...
2. Natural Language Processing
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a subfield of linguistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence that uses algorithms to interpret and manipulate human language.\n\nThis technology is one of the most broadly applied areas of machine learning and is critical in effectively analyzing massive quantities of unstructured, text-heavy data. As AI continues to expand, so will the demand for professionals skilled at building models that analyze speech and language, uncover contextual...
3. Stuttering Treatment The ABC's of Smoother Speech
"This Is Exactly How I Help Clients STOP Visible Signs of Stuttering - Stammering And Start Speaking More Smoothly...
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Best States For a Speech Language Pathologist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a speech language pathologist. The best states for people in this position are California, Nevada, Alaska, and New Jersey. Speech language pathologists make the most in California with an average salary of $82,600. Whereas in Nevada and Alaska, they would average $79,594 and $76,983, respectively. While speech language pathologists would only make an average of $75,450 in New Jersey, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. California
Total Speech Language Pathologist Jobs: 1,957
Highest 10% Earn:
$113,000
Location Quotient:
1.23
$82,600
Avg. Salary
2. Virginia
Total Speech Language Pathologist Jobs: 565
Highest 10% Earn:
$107,000
Location Quotient:
1.1
$74,834
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
Total Speech Language Pathologist Jobs: 440
Highest 10% Earn:
$101,000
Location Quotient:
1.11
$74,039
Avg. Salary
How Do Speech Language Pathologists Rate Their Jobs?
Top Speech Language Pathologist Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ speech language pathologists and discovered their number of speech language pathologist opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that The Stepping Stones Group was the best, especially with an average salary of $69,603. Bilinguals follows up with an average salary of $76,794, and then comes Aegis Therapies with an average of $82,339. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a speech language pathologist. The employers include Presence, Maxim Healthcare Group, and American Medical Association
Most Common Employers For Speech Language Pathologist
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reliant Rehabilitation | $83,181 | $39.99 | 92 |
| 2 | Aegis Therapies | $82,339 | $39.59 | 299 |
| 3 | Encompass Health | $82,237 | $39.54 | 71 |
| 4 | Therapy Source | $80,157 | $38.54 | 126 |
| 5 | interface rehab | $79,717 | $38.33 | 218 |
| 6 | Soliant | $79,378 | $38.16 | 75 |
| 7 | Amedisys | $77,294 | $37.16 | 64 |
| 8 | Bilingual Therapies | $76,794 | $36.92 | 328 |
| 9 | Kindred Healthcare | $74,694 | $35.91 | 60 |
| 10 | Jackson Therapy Partners | $70,297 | $33.80 | 62 |
Speech Language Pathologist Videos
Being A Speech Language Pathology Major
The Day In The Life Of A Speech Pathology Major.
Speech-Language Pathology Career: Choosing a Hospital or School-Based Setting
Becoming a Speech Language Pathologist FAQs
How Long Does It Take To Be A Speech-language Pathologist?
It takes about six to seven years to become a speech-language pathologist. This time includes the time it takes to complete the required undergraduate and graduate courses for speech therapists and the postgraduate clinical hours needed.
Is Speech Pathologist A Good Career?
Yes, being a speech pathologist is a good career. Speech pathologists rank themselves in fourth place in the best health care jobs. The top reasons why working as a speech pathologist is a good career choice are that it pays well, has an excellent work-life balance, and has a high level of job satisfaction in their work to help others.
Have more questions? See all answers to common healthcare practitioner and technical questions.