Speech Therapist Education Requirements
Speech Therapist Education Requirements And Degrees
If a speech therapist career is compelling to you, you might also be interested in what kind of education you need to become a speech therapist. For speech therapists, the most commonly required education level is a master's degree.
We decided to investigate the topic of speech therapist education more precisely by analyzing 1,751 speech therapist resumes and found that speech therapists most commonly study communication disorders sciences, speech-language pathology, or special education. 62% of speech therapists hold a master's degree, 29% hold a bachelor's degree and 2% hold a associate degree.
The most common colleges for students to pursue their goal of becoming a speech therapist are Nova Southeastern University and Ball State University. We also broke down what colleges provide the best overall education for a speech therapist. Students have a great path to earning their speech therapist qualifications at the following schools:
- Northwestern University
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Virginia
If you're interested in getting a college degree in an affordable college for speech therapists - Hunter College of the City University of New York is an excellent option for you. If your SAT or ACT score aren't as high as you'd like, you can look at AdventHealth University, as the admission requirements aren't too selective. On the other end of that spectrum are the Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University and Boston University.
For those who would rather stay in your pajamas during the day, we prepared some online courses that can help in speech therapist education paths.
We assessed our data to determine the typical level of education for speech therapists. The most common degree for speech therapists is master's degree. In fact, 62% of speech therapists earn that degree. A close second is bachelor's degree with 29% and rounding it off is associate degree with 2%.
- Masters degree, 62%
- Bachelors degree, 29%
- Associate degree, 2%
- Certificate degree, 2%
- Other Degrees, 5%
According to our resume data, most speech therapists, 36% to be exact, major in communication disorders sciences. Some other common majors for a speech therapist include speech-language pathology and special education majors.
- Communication Disorders Sciences, 36%
- Speech-Language Pathology, 26%
- Special Education, 11%
- Education, 6%
- Other Majors, 21%
Here are the most common colleges for a speech therapist career in the US based on their resumes. Speech therapists often get their degree in Nova Southeastern University, Ball State University, and Adelphi University.
Top Online Courses For Speech Therapists
Sometimes things are just better when you get to stay in your pajamas all day. That includes school. We found top courses for speech therapists from Udemy, Coursera, EDX, and ed2go that will help you advance in your career. Here are essential skills you need to be a speech therapist:
- Treatment plans
- Acute care
- Communication disorders
Disclosure: Please note that the suggested courses below are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the course, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
How to become occupational therapist, basic Psychology, Physiology & Anatomy, working with disabilities, children adults...
Explore common disabilities you'll encounter in the classroom and master techniques for promoting academic, behavioral, and social skills in students with special needs...
Prepare for a rewarding career as a valued member of the physical therapy team...
This health course focuses on the stories of people with intellectual disabilities around the world, as well as their families and supporters. You will learn about the challenges and aid received in healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities, including their experience of specific syndromes and communication difficulties, and how they stay healthy. Learners will also hear from family members as they discuss complex care, rare syndromes, early death, and planning for independence. The...
If you want to help your patients or clients manage conditions or symptoms such as pain and anxiety, this specialization will provide the knowledge and skills needed. In these five courses, you will explore integrative therapies, including herbal medicine, guided imagery, aromatherapy, and mindfulness. For each therapy studied, you will gain skills to: Assess if a therapy is appropriate, Educate patients or clients about benefit and risk, Administer or advise on use, and Evaluate if the therapy...
Individuals with Intellectual Developmental Disability (IDD) and their family face many difficulties in their lives. The IDD Treatment Course is intended for parents, caregivers, and students in health professions. The course presents fundamental concepts in the field and describes several common syndromes. The course also presents the grim history of individuals with IDD and their situation across the world today. Later, students will encounter individuals with IDD and the challenges they and...
This health course will examine the specific physical health issues that affect people with an intellectual disability including, oral health, syndrome specific health issues, health communication, especially for non-verbal patients, sexual health, and interactions between tertiary and primary healthcare systems. There is a special section on complex care including issues associated with aging and spasticity, and the health impacts of epilepsy. This course is open to anyone, but will be of...
Beginner to Advanced NLP to enhance hypnosis, hypnotherapy, counseling, life coaching, reiki or healing therapy sessions...
This introductory course provides a framework for incorporating integrative therapies into your work with clients or patients. By the end of the course, you will be able to assess if integrative therapies are good options in specific situations, as well as educate patients and colleagues about benefits and risks. You will be confident discussing the evidence base for integrative therapies in general, with an understanding of some of the challenges of research in this area, and able to identify r...
(8 contact hours) This course will prepare you with the ability to describe the goals, interventions, and therapeutic uses and benefits of music therapy and sound healing...
This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient's access to treatment...
Palliative Care Always is a specialization for health care practitioners, patients and caregivers. We've designed this specialization to demonstrate how palliative medicine integrates with patient care, and to help you develop primary palliative care skills. Over the next five courses, you will develop skills in symptom management, goals of care and effective communication to improve the quality of life for patients and families suffering with serious illness. Our hope is that you feel increasin...
Learn how to successfully meet the diverse needs of students with learning disabilities in your classroom...
This course starts you on your journey of integrating primary palliative care into your daily lives. You will learn what palliative care is, how to communicate with patients, show empathy, and practice difficult conversations. You will learn how to screen for distress and provide psychosocial support. You will learn about goals of care and advance care planning and how to improve your success with having these conversations with patients. Finally, you will explore important cultural consideratio...
This course should be taken after the Symptom Management course and continues building your primary palliative care skills - communication, psychosocial support, goals of care and symptom management. You will explore transitions in care such as survivorship and hospice. You will learn how to create a survivorship care plan and how to best support a patient. The course also covers spiritual care and will teach you how to screen for spiritual distress. Finally, you will learn the requirements for...
Top 10 Colleges For Speech Therapists
In a lot of cases, a higher education can mean a higher salary or even a better job. That's why we found out the best colleges for speech therapists. We based this list on these metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of students working, ratio of working vs. non-working students 10 years after admission, average cost of attendance and median debt for graduates.
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Public
3. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Public
4. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
5. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
6. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Public
7. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
8. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
9. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
10. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
Top 10 Affordable Colleges For Speech Therapists
If those top 10 were a bit out of your price range, you might want to check these schools instead. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price and mean earnings after 6 years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for speech therapists.
1. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Public
2. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Public
3. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Brooklyn, NY • Public
4. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
5. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
6. Queens College of the City University of New York
Queens, NY • Public
7. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Public
8. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Public
9. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Public
10. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Public
Top 10 Hardest Colleges To Get Into For Speech Therapists
Some people like a challenge. Well, we challenge you to get into one of these schools. It's not going to be easy. We know this based on these institutions' admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted and mean earnings of students 6 years after admission.
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
3. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
4. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
5. University of Tulsa
Tulsa, OK • Private
6. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Public
7. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
8. New York University
New York, NY • Private
9. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Public
10. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY • Private
Top 10 Easier To Apply Colleges For Speech Therapists
Why make getting a job harder on yourself than it has to be? With these colleges, you're sure to be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores and average salary of students 6 years after graduation in order to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into.
1. AdventHealth University
Orlando, FL • Private
2. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
3. Our Lady of the Lake University
San Antonio, TX • Private
4. William Paterson University of New Jersey
Wayne, NJ • Public
5. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
6. Gwynedd Mercy University
Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private
7. College of New Rochelle, The
New Rochelle, NY • Private
8. Nyack College
New York, NY • Private
9. Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX • Public
10. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private