Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences — MS

Students gain extensive hands-on experience through supervised clinical practice, patient assessments, treatment planning, interprofessional simulations, and external clinical placements. Auburn University provides access to its Speech and Hearing Clinic, where graduate students work with children and adults experiencing communication, speech, language, voice, and swallowing difficulties under the guidance of experienced clinical faculty. The programme also offers specialised clinical services, research laboratories, and opportunities to collaborate with students from nursing, audiology, occupational therapy, kinesiology, and social work.

Key experiential learning opportunities and resources include:

• Auburn University Speech and Hearing Clinic (AUSHC): Students gain practical experience by providing assessment and treatment services to individuals across the lifespan. The clinic operates throughout the year and supports approximately 80 therapy sessions per week, supervised by clinical faculty and instructors.

• Voice, Upper Airway and Swallowing Clinic: Students gain exposure to specialised assessment and treatment of voice disorders, resonance disorders, chronic cough, swallowing impairments, and other upper airway conditions. Clinical procedures include flexible and rigid endoscopic assessments, acoustic and aerodynamic evaluations, and Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES).

• Clinical Practicum: Students complete supervised clinical placements involving the evaluation and treatment of individuals with speech-language disorders. These experiences help them develop patient assessment, intervention, documentation, and treatment-planning skills.

• Off-Campus Clinical Placements: Students undertake placements at preschools, outpatient clinics, public schools, private practices, adult rehabilitation centres, and local hospitals. These placements generally take place two to three times weekly during a semester.

• Professional Internship: Non-thesis students complete a full-time off-campus internship during their final semester after completing academic requirements. Students can apply to different facilities and select a preferred geographical location, subject to placement arrangements.

• Interprofessional Nursing Simulations: Students collaborate with Auburn's School of Nursing to assess and develop treatment plans for simulated patients experiencing aphasia and dysphagia. These exercises strengthen interdisciplinary diagnosis and patient-care skills.

• Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Collaboration: Graduate students from both disciplines participate in interprofessional learning activities, clinical case discussions, and patient-care planning across different disorders and age groups.

• Bright Ideas TBI Camp: Students participate in this annual therapy-based camp for traumatic brain injury survivors and their caregivers. They work alongside professionals and students from occupational therapy, kinesiology, audiology, and social work to develop comprehensive care strategies.

• Community Outreach Screenings: Students collaborate with other disciplines to provide hearing and language screenings at assisted-living facilities, Head Start programmes, daycares, and other community locations.

• EAGLES Programme: Students have opportunities to work with participants in Auburn's Education to Accomplish Growth in Life Experiences for Success programme by leading social-skills classes using an evidence-based curriculum.

• Research Laboratories: The department maintains research facilities on the first floor of the Haley Center, conveniently located near clinical facilities. These spaces support faculty and student research in speech, language, hearing, and communication disorders.

Facilities and clinical resources: Auburn University Speech and Hearing Clinic and Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Research Facilities.

Graduates of the M.S. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences can pursue professional careers in healthcare, education, rehabilitation, and clinical research. The programme prepares students to support individuals with communication and swallowing disorders across different stages of life, combining clinical expertise with evidence-based intervention and patient-centred care. Graduates can explore roles such as speech-language pathologist, paediatric speech therapist, rehabilitation speech-language specialist, clinical communication specialist, and speech-language research assistant.

Students can strengthen their career prospects through the following opportunities:

• University Clinical Training: The Auburn University Speech and Hearing Clinic provides supervised patient-care experience, helping students develop the clinical competencies required for professional speech-language pathology practice.

• Clinical Placement Network: Partnerships and placement arrangements with schools, hospitals, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centres, preschools, and private practices expose students to different professional healthcare and educational environments.

• Interprofessional Experience: Collaboration with nursing, audiology, occupational therapy, kinesiology, and social work students helps graduates develop teamwork and coordinated patient-care skills.

• Specialist Clinical Preparation: Experience in voice rehabilitation, swallowing disorders, aphasia, traumatic brain injury, and paediatric communication disorders can support progression into specialised clinical settings.

• Professional Certification: The programme's ASHA CAA accreditation provides an educational foundation for pursuing the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP), subject to completion of the required examinations, clinical fellowship, and other certification requirements.

• Graduate Assistantships: The department offers a limited number of graduate assistantships. Awards are based on academic performance and research experience, providing opportunities to gain teaching or research experience alongside graduate studies.

• Employment Opportunities: Graduates can pursue employment in school systems, hospitals, rehabilitation centres, physicians' offices, outpatient clinics, specialised healthcare facilities, and private practices.

• Clinical and Research Development: Students interested in specialised treatment or academic research can build on their clinical training through faculty-supervised research and additional professional development.

Employment and Salary Information: Auburn University's official programme information identifies potential employment settings but does not provide a specific graduate employment rate or programme-level salary figure. Salaries will vary according to professional certification, experience, employer, and geographical location.

Further Academic Progression:

Students interested in advanced academic and research careers can pursue a Ph.D. in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Auburn University. This pathway allows graduates to develop expertise in communication sciences, speech-language pathology research, clinical investigation, and university-level teaching. Graduates may also explore doctoral programmes in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Speech-Language Pathology, Neuroscience, Rehabilitation Sciences, or related healthcare disciplines at other universities.