A degree in communication sciences and disorders is not talked about very often. You don’t see people in TV shows or movies majoring in CSD, and you might be very confused on what it even means. Is it like a communications degree? Do you give a lot of speeches? Nope!

What Can You Do With a Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders?

Let’s start with the negatives, shall we? If you major in CSD, then you are typically very limited in the jobs that you can get. (Excluding, of course, any job that doesn’t require a degree or one that will take any type of bachelor’s degree.)

When you pick this major, you are steering yourself into one of 2 career paths:

• Speech-Language Pathologist
• Audiologist

But that’s only if you get into the graduate programs!!!!!

I want to make myself very clear. When you graduate with a BS or BA in Communication Sciences and Disorders, your only specialized job option from that point is speech-language pathologist assistant. (SLPA)

You can work under a licensed SLP and give speech therapy. SLPAs are not allowed to evaluate or write treatment plans. They can write therapy notes for billing, but everything must be signed by a full fledged SLP.

To become a Speech-Language Pathologist (speech therapist) or audiologist, you have to go to graduate school. SLPs can practice with just a master’s degree (most common, typically 2 years) but there are also doctorate programs. All new audiologists are required to have the AuD (doctorate degree). It typically takes 4 years to complete.

Getting into these programs is not an easy feat. (More blog posts on this topic coming soon) The competiveness of these programs should absolutely be considered when you decide to go for your bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders. Are you ok with the risk of potentially not getting into a graduate school? Are you ok with the fact that it could take a couple tries to get in or that you are limited in your career paths?

Let’s Talk About the Positives

Man I hate to be a negative nancy! Let’s talk about the major perk of this degree assuming you also go on to graduate school – you have so many different settings you can work in as an SLP (or even audiologist)!

As an SLP I have clinical experience in schools, acute care (hospitals), rehabilitation hospitals, private clinics, preschools, home health, skilled nursing facilities, early intervention, NICU, and more!

SLPs work with the entire lifespan, birth to geriatrics! If you don’t like one setting you can just switch to another! That’s something that other degrees (like teaching for example) can’t offer! 🙂

The CSD degree also gets you into a helping profession. That can be a blessing or a curse depending on your personality/desires. I knew that I wanted my job to feel purposeful – I wanted to help people and feel like I was making a difference!

What Kind of Classes Do You Take?

This will depend on your university. You will have basic requirements to get out of the way that everyone must take. Then you will have additional classes for getting a science based degree such as anatomy and physiology, statistics, etc. Those are the classes that always tripped students up (aka destroying GPAs) at my university. Remember, to get into graduate programs you need a good GPA!

I personally thought the CSD classes themselves were very interesting. You learn about all the theories of speech-language development, articulation and phonology, speech sound disorders, aural rehabilitation, etc. The bachelor’s program will give you a solid foundation so that your learning will really take off in your graduate program.

If you’re looking for a program, ASHA (governing entity for SLPs and audiologists) has a search engine you can use.

If you want to learn more about speech-language pathology specifically, check out this post.

Have any questions? Comment below or my DMs are always open!

-Chloe B | School SLP