Post Baccalaureate Sequence - Undergraduate Degree Not in SPA

Contact Information

Sloane Burgess, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Post-Baccalaureate Student Advisor
330-672-2672
sburges8@kent.edu

The post-bacc sequence of courses is designed for students who do not have a bachelor's degree in speech pathology and audiology (SPA) and who want to seek admission to a master's degree program in Speech Pathology. You can think of these courses as pre-requisite courses. A summary of these courses is included in the table below. 

Additional Requirements

In addition to SPA coursework described above, the accrediting organization for speech pathologists, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), requires students to have completed 1 course in Biological Sciences, 1 course in Statistics, 1 course in Physical Sciences (either chemistry or physics), and 2 courses in Social and/or Behavioral Sciences. See https://www.asha.org/certification/course-content-areas-for-slp-standards/ for specific requirements. If you have not completed coursework that fulfills those requirements during your bachelor’s degree program, you will need to take additional courses to meet those requirements.

Clinical Preparation

All speech pathology students are required to have completed 25 observation hours prior to beginning their clinical practice in graduate school (so before beginning the master’s degree program). The observation hours must be within the ASHA scope of practice in Speech Language Pathology and under the supervision of a qualified professional who holds current ASHA certification in the appropriate practice area, and who after earning the CCC-SLP, has completed

1. a minimum of 9 months of post-certification, full-tie experiences and
2. a minimum of 2 hours of professional development in the area of clinical instruction/supervision

Applying to take Post-bacc Courses

There are two options available for students applying to take the post-bacc courses. Most applicants choose option 1 below.

1. Post-Undergraduate Non-Degree Seeking-for those with degrees but needing to take additional undergraduate courses but not seeking another bachelor’s degree.  This status is for those that need more than 18 undergraduate credit hours and/or those seeking financial aid (will need to submit a financial aid Program of Study form to the advisor if utilizing financial aid). Transcripts are required for admission. Application link: post-undergraduate (select “non-degree seeking”)
2. Undergraduate Guest- students are limited to 18 credit hours and are NOT eligible for financial aid. No transcript is required for admission. Application link: Guest (select “undergraduate” or “Apply UG”)

Please contact Dr. Burgess to schedule an advising appointment.  She will review your current transcript and establish a plan to complete the required courses.  It is important to note that completing the post-bacc courses at Kent State does not guarantee acceptance into the Kent State Master's Program.