Communication Disorders

Welcome! Being a cooperative program with Washington State University, Eastern Washington University's Department of Communication Disorders is on a semester academic schedule although the rest of Eastern is on a quarter schedule. We are located in the Health Sciences Building on the Riverpoint Campus in downtown Spokane, WA. The Department of Communication Disorders offers three programs: an undergraduate program leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree; a graduate program leading to the Master of Science degree; and a post baccalaureate program that allows individuals with bachelor's degrees in other disciplines to prepare for graduate study in communication disorders.

What is Communication Disorders?

Professional practice in Communication Disorders involves working with people who have impairments of speech, language, swallowing, and hearing. A speech-language pathologist diagnoses and treats language, speech, and swallowing disorders. An audiologist provides diagnostic hearing and balance evaluations and aural rehabilitation services. The Department of Communication Disorders is a speech-language pathology program only. Students desiring to become audiologists must either earn the baccalaureate degree in Communication Disorders at EWU and then transfer to a university that offers an audiology program, or enroll from the outset in a university that has an audiology program.

The baccalaureate degree is considered to be pre-professional. A master's degree in Communication Disorders is required for national certification through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and for licensure in the state of Washington. For individuals who earned a baccalaureate degree in a discipline other than Communication Disorders, we offer a post baccalaureate program that prepares the student for graduate study in Communication Disorders. The graduate program in Communication Disorders at EWU is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA). Our current accreditation cycle is from September 1, 2011, through August 31, 2019.

The majority of employment positions are in the public schools and medical settings and require a master's degree. Opportunities also exist in community agencies and in private practice. The employment outlook continues to be very positive and speech-language pathologists earn a good salary for the amount of effort that is required to be professionally certified.