The profession of speech-language pathology is expected to grow exponentially as the mean age of the population increases and medical advances improve the survival rates of premature infants and trauma and stroke patients. The M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology program in the School of Health and Medical Sciences is fully accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Speech-language pathologists evaluate and treat speech, language and swallowing disorders. A five-semester (two-year) program, the M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology prepares entry-level practitioners to critically analyze and convey complex information to patients, colleagues and healthcare professionals. The comprehensive 65-credit curriculum is supported by full-time faculty who have extensive clinical and academic training. The coursework is tied to hands-on clinical experience and specifically sequenced to efficiently build students’ knowledge and skill set.

The program offers a myriad of clinical externships throughout New Jersey and the New York metropolitan region and beyond. Students typically log more than 100 clinical hours above the 400 hours mandated for national clinical certification and state licensure.  Currently, the school has contracts with over 400 clinical sites, including hospitals, schools, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and private practices, affording students a range of externships in rural, suburban and urban areas. As a result, students gain experience with a diversity of clients and patients.

The program emphasizes the application of theory and research to practice, addressing efficacy issues and evidence-based practice. Students gain experience with state-of-the-art acoustic, aerodynamic and kinematic speech and voice assessment as part of their training, and have the option of pursing advanced study of a topic of their choice. M.S. students are also welcome to participate in on-going faculty research studies. Two on-campus labs — The Developmental Language and Cognition Laboratory and the Clinical Speech and Voice Laboratory — are used by faculty and students to study normal and disordered child language acquisition, speech motor control, speech and voice acoustics, and adult language and cognition. Graduates of the program are well prepared for the Praxis examination in Speech-Language Pathology and are highly sought after by employers. The program boasts a 100 percent job placement rating, and many students have several Clinical Fellowship (CF) choices prior to graduation. For more information on the M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology, check out the admission and curriculum requirements and apply today.

The Developmental Language and Cognition Laboratory

Topics studied in this lab include:

• the typical course of language development;
• the cognitive skills that underlie that development (play, gesture, memory, attention);
• the relationship between semantic learning and lexical expression;
• how children with language impairments differ in these processes; and
• treatment efficacy for children with language impairments.

The Clinical Speech and Voice Laboratory 

This facility provides students the opportunity to acquire and interpret acoustic and physiologic measures related to speech and voice.

Topics studied in the lab include:

• the role of auditory, visual and audio-visual feedback in speech production and comprehension;
• the validity of psychophysical paradigms to measure the influence of sensory systems on speech production in normal and speech disordered populations;
• the role of imitation and action observation on speech production; and
• efficacy of current stuttering treatments for children.

Qualified students are admitted without regard to race, color, religion, age, disability, natural origin, sexual orientation, ancestry or gender.