— Tamara
Response: To work in a school district as a speech pathologist, you need to secure the Clinical or Rehabilitative Services Credential issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. This credential authorizes you to perform professional services in language, speech and audiology for preschool and K-12 students. Credential requirements include a master's degree in speech pathology and passing the California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST).
Additional courses may be integrated into a school credential program that would allow you the option of meeting the requirement for the state licensing examination. This exam is administered by the California Department of Consumer Affairs Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board. For example, California State University Northridge gives students the option of completing an additional 15 units to meet the educational requirements for state licensure as a speech pathologist.
Training Options and Costs
California State University, Northridge offers both an on-site and online combined master's degree and speech pathology credential program. Specific information on the credential program is as follows:
- California State University, Northridge (CSUN)
- Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences
- 18111 Nordhoff St.
- Northridge, CA 91330
- (818) 677-2852
- hhd.csun.edu/comdis
- 18111 Nordhoff St.
To apply, you must file an application with the university and the department. Admissions requirements include a bachelor's degree and a minimum GPA of 2.5 in the last 60 units of coursework you completed. The application for admission to the department's graduate program also automatically includes application for admission to the department's Clinical Rehabilitative Services Credential program.
This program is not state-funded. Therefore, the cost is approximately $30,000, significantly higher than the on-site program. The program is offered once per year in the summer. The application deadline is October 1st and acceptance notices are usually sent out in January. The semester starts in May.
You could also consider completing the three-year, full-time, on-site 48-unit master's degree and credential program in communication disorders. You would still be completing classes year round in the fall, spring and summer. Currently, the program costs approximately $9,000, not including books and other miscellaneous fees.
Both the online and the on-site program are competitive. The department typically receives 80 applications and accepts 35 for the online program. For the on-site program, the department receives 120 applications and accepts 40.
CSUN - Applicants with a Non-Related Bachelor's Degree
Applicants to these programs who have completed an undergraduate degree in a non-related area have to complete 30 units of undergraduate level courses in communicative disorders as a Post-Baccalaureate Unclassified student.
This would include 12 units of basic coursework in phonetics, hearing science, speech and language development and speech science; four units in diagnostic methods; nine units in management of communicative disorders including phonology, language disorders and voice, fluency; three units in basic audiometry/audiotory rehabilitation; and two units in clinical practice. You must receive a B or better in these classes.
If your bachelor's degree is considered as out of the scope of speech pathology, you could complete the required courses through CSUN College of Extended Learning.
- CSUN
- College of Extended Learning
- (866) 873-6439
- tsengcollege.csun.edu
- (866) 873-6439
Admissions Exam Preparation Resources
- GRE Preparation
- California State University, Northridge
- College of Extended Learning
- (866) 873-6439
- tsengcollege.csun.edu
- (866) 873-6439
- MAT Preparation
- HartCourt Assesment (HA)
- 19500 Bulverda Road
- San Antonio, TX 78259
- (800) 622-3231
- www.milleranalogies.com
- San Antonio, TX 78259
Job Description
Speech pathologists work one-to-one with clients. They may also work with small groups of students.
Speech therapy encompasses articulation, dealing with voice and stuttering disorders, and expressive language including grammar, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.
The credential would also authorize you to work as an audiologist. While both jobs fall under the domain of communication disorders and both are certified designations, the emphasis is where the two professions diverge. Speech pathologists emphasize the diagnosis and rehabilitation of speech and language problems. Audiologists emphasize the diagnosis of hearing disorders and knowledge of the tools available to compensate for this loss.
Employment Outlook
There continues to be a need for speech pathologists. If every program in the state placed all their graduates in the public schools for the next ten years, there would still be a critical need for credentialed speech pathologists, according to a representative of a program in the Los Angeles County area.
Most school districts allow students of a speech pathology credential program to work as paid speech pathologist interns while completing the program.
Professional Resource
- California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
- P.O. Box 944270
- Sacramento, CA 9424
- (888) 921-2682
- www.ctc.ca.gov
- Sacramento, CA 9424
— • —
Susan W. Miller, M.A., is a National Certified Career Counselor, a Certified Vocational Evaluation Specialist and holds diplomate status on the American Board of Vocational Experts. She heads California Career Services, a private practice career counseling firm in Los Angeles.
E-mail career questions you'd like answered in this column to info@californiacareerservices.com or visit California Career Services at www.californiacareerservices.com.
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