Communicative Disorders, BS BA

Communicative Disorders & Deaf Education, BS BA

Level:

Bachelor's Degree

Major Credits:

60 credits

Cost per credit:

$394

Next start date:

January 6, 2025

Help Others Overcome Communication Disorders

USU Online's bachelor's in communicative disorders (COMD) prepares you for a career in the field of communication sciences and disorders. COMD students learn to apply new strategies and technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of infants, children, and adults.

This bachelor’s program requires 120 credits, including general education courses (60 credits). Transferring any existing college credit may reduce the total number of credits you need to take through USU. Most students are admitted into the program at the beginning of their junior year, or after they’ve earned approximately 60 credits. Your advisor will work with you on completing the pre-program coursework necessary for program admission if you have less than 60 credits. If this is your second bachelor’s degree, you will only be required to earn 36 credits.

Thousands live with communicative disorders and need support to have a high-quality life. You can make a difference.

The First Step is a Conversation. Talk to an advisor.

Kristy Meeks

Kristy Meeks

Academic Advisor/Online 1st Bachelor Degree
(435) 797-2469
kristy.meeks@usu.edu

Brynne Davies

Brynne Davies

Academic Advisor/Online 2nd Bachelor's Degree
(435) 797-2460
brynne.davies@usu.edu

Is a Bachelor's Degree in Communicative Disorders Right for You?

Take a few minutes to determine how a USU Communicative Disorders program can help you meet your education and career goals.

Career Outlook

Few career options are as fulfilling as those available to USU's COMD graduates. Speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and deaf educators work in diverse settings, including hospitals, clinics, schools, early intervention programs, research laboratories, private practice, government agencies, the armed forces, and postsecondary education.

If you decide to move on to a master's degree, you can become a speech language pathologist or audiologist. If you decide to stop at a bachelor's, you can become a speech language pathology assistant.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, "The job growth for this degree field is projected to grow 18 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations." Earning a COMD degree is the key to entering this high-paying, high-demand field.

Communicative Disorders Sample Courses

This course addresses the typical development of semantics, syntax, and pragmatics from infancy to adolescence. It includes prelinguistic communication, cognitive correlates, discourse, metalinguistics, bilingual acquisition, and the effects of sociocultural context on acquisition. Students are introduced to language sample analysis.
This is an advanced analysis of syntax and morphology of the English language. It includes formal grammatical analysis, clinical tools for assessing language development, use in discourse contexts, and application to case studies.
Students examine neurogenic and other communication disorders in adults, focusing on etiology and characteristics of disorders including stroke, traumatic brain injury, degenerative disorders, dysarthria, apraxia of speech, aphasia, voice, and dysphagia. Assessment and treatment principles for acquired disorders are introduced.
Students study the evaluation of hearing for adults and children, including pure tone audiometry, clinical masking, speech audiometry, clinical immittance measures, and screening procedures. Disorders of the outer, middle, and inner ear that affect hearing and balance are addressed.