Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences Major, B.A.

The undergraduate speech, language, hearing sciences program mission is to continue the tradition of providing a diverse urban population with a comprehensive degree program that converges knowledge of communication and its disorders with everyday applications.

Our program is centered around three core goals:

• Provide an affordable and accessible gateway to employment or post-graduate study in speech-language pathology, audiology, or other allied-health professions.
• Blend foundational coursework with applied learning experiences.
• Recognize the expansive influence of communication and its disorders/differences across the lifespan on individual and collective experiences.

Our vision is to educate graduates to value and advocate for communication access across all abilities and identities.

The Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences Department (SLHS) at MSU Denver is committed to teaching students about communication and its disorders as well as serving those who are impacted by speech, language, and/or hearing disorders.  Our department offers a range of options, in line with the different ways we communicate and the communicative challenges that arise across the lifespan.

For students exploring the area, we offer introductory courses that cover topics like how children acquire language or how a speech disorder like stuttering is different from a language disorder like aphasia. For declared majors and post-baccalaureate students, we offer advanced coursework in the scientific foundations of communication as well as advanced study of speech, language, and hearing disorders.  SLHS alums often pursue graduate degrees, the entry-level requirement to be certified as speech-language pathologists or audiologists – two in-demand professions that are ranked among the best jobs in healthcare.

We link classroom to clinic by offering real-world experiences throughout our program.  With small class sizes, expert professors and the most affordable tuition in the state, the SLHS department at MSU Denver is your gateway to communication sciences and its disorders.  Explore our site to learn more.

About the SLHS Major

This major provides a sound background for students pursuing careers in education, health care, and vocational rehabilitation. Graduates with the SLHS major will have the prerequisite coursework to pursue a graduate degree in speech-language pathology or audiology, which opens careers in schools, community clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and private practice. This major is also designed for students planning to work in the schools as a speech-language pathology assistant.

Additional coursework considerations:

• Students majoring in SLHS must complete a minor. Popular options include biology, communication studies, early, elementary or special education, linguistics, psychology, or Spanish.
• Students must earn a grade of C or better in all major courses to count towards the BA in SLHS.
• Undergraduate courses in: a) social/behavioral sciences, b) biology, c) physics or chemistry, & d) statistics are required for SLP certification by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Need help determining where your older SLHS (catalog year 2020-2021 and earlier) courses fit in with the new SLHS curriculum (catalog year 2021-2022 and later)? Click here for a helpful SLHS Course Conversion Chart!

Facilities and Resources

MSU Denver is located on the Auraria Campus, which it shares with the University of Colorado Denver and Community College Denver. Its proximity to downtown Denver offers access to a wide range of clinical internships sites working with diverse clients.

Speech-language pathologists and audiologists work in schools, community clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and private practice.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, $73,419 is the median salary for speech-language pathologists and $74,890 for audiologists. The fields have an expected growth rate of 21 percent and 29 percent, respectively, from 2014-2024.

Learn more about careers in speech, language, hearing sciences here.

Jessica Rossi-Katz, Ph.D., CCC-A

Professor Jessica Rossi-Katz, Ph.D., is the Chair of the Speech, Language, Hearing Department.  She teaches anatomy and physiology of speech, speech and hearing science, and supervises students engaged in clinical and research opportunities. Her own research ranges from older adults’ difficulties understanding speech in noisy environments to loudness of personal listening devices in college students to educational theatre delivering hearing-health messages to elementary children.

Marcia Walsh-Aziz, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Assistant Professor Marcia Walsh-Aziz, Ph.D., was a speech language pathologist in Illinois for five years before coming to Colorado to pursue her doctorate. Most of her clinical and research experiences are related to children with hearing loss, American Sign Language, and language development.

These are worksites that currently or recently employed MSU Denver Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences graduates:

• Children’s Hospital Colorado
• University of Colorado Hospital
• Denver Ear Associates
• Denver Public Schools
• East Central BOCES
• Jefferson County School District
• Douglas County School District

Speech, Language, Hearing Sciences Program Alumni in Graduate School

MSU Denver Speech, Language, Hearing Science graduates are presently studying in or have recently obtained postgraduate degrees from universities in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming as well as the three in-state programs at the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Northern Colorado and MSU Denver’s very own M.S. SLP Program.