Speech-Language Pathology (MS)

The heart of the SLP Graduate Program is our on-campus Speech-Language and Hearing Center, housed in the state-of-the-art Behrakis Health Sciences Center. Here, under the guidance of highly skilled clinic supervisors, students work with individuals in other professions and provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and clinical services to members of the local community who present with a broad range of cognitive-communication needs. Students develop competence using assistive technology and computer soft- ware for academic and clinical purposes as preparation for joining the ranks of practicing speech-language pathologists.

Our Clinic is equipped with sophisticated audio-visual media technology that:

In addition to our Speech-Language and Hearing Center students are also exposed to state-of-the-art faculty laboratories such as the Computational Vision Laboratory of Dr. Ennio Mingolla, the  Communication Analysis and Design Laboratory of Dr. Rupal Patel, and the Speech and Neurodevelopment Lab of Dr. Emily Zimmerman.

Strong faculty links with world-recognized educational and medical institutions provide our students with the opportunity to apply classroom theory to evidence-based SLP interventions in the field.

Northeastern’s SLP Program is highly regarded, and off-site supervisors find our students well-prepared for clinical practice. Following graduation, many of our students are offered employment at sites where they interned.

Our faculty consists of internationally recognized researchers who are active in their fields and involve students in their research. The development and applied use of technology play integral roles in the research of many of the faculty. For example, one professor’s research focus is on evidence-based practice using augmentative and alternative communication. Another’s is on software to develop unintelligible speakers’ ability to learn to use inflection to communicate. Other research focuses include speech-motor control and language and health literacy in at-risk populations.

Students complete four semesters of clinical experience. In their first semester of Clinic (Clinic 1), students engage in rich clinical experiences under the guidance of highly skilled clinic supervisors in the Speech-Language and Hearing Center, housed in the state-of-the art Behrakis Health Sciences Building. Individuals of all ages from surrounding communities come to the Center for diagnostic and therapeutic services. Generally, in Clinics 2-4, students work multiple days a week, off-campus, with speech-language pathologists as student clinicians in community-based hospitals, outpatient clinics, educational institutions, and other settings. Consistent with ASHA guidelines, both on-campus and off-campus clinical assignments provide students with hands-on experience evaluating and/or treating children and adults with a variety of diagnoses, disorders, and impairments such as language, cognitive-linguistic, and swallowing disorders. While many of our external clinical sites are accessible by public transportation, not all are. Consequently, it is necessary for students to have access to a car during the semesters that they are enrolled in Clinics 2-4.

The SLP Program typically has about 40-50 incoming graduate students per year. As a result, students and faculty get to know each other well, and students become friends for life. At Northeastern, you have all of the advantages of a large university campus, including interprofessional opportunities and facilities you would expect to find at a major urban university, along with all of the advantages of a small, intimate program.

GRE’s are a required part of the application. SLP and AuD applicants need a minimum verbal score of 152 (current GRE system)/480 (prior GRE system); minimum quantitative score of 150 (current GRE system)/630 (prior GRE system); and minimum analytic score of 4.0. Scores must be sent directly from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to NU.

We offer an MS in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) and an AuD in Audiology. Most Programs in SLP and Audiology have similarities in their curricula since our scope of practice is determined by our national accrediting agency, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Differences among programs include settings of the programs (college, university or hospital), research interests of the faculty, and facilities. Here are some of the features that we believe make Northeastern unique and beneficial to graduate students:

1. We have a strong interprofessional focus.
We have graduate programs in both SLP and Audiology, which enable students to learn a great deal about both professions and how they relate. We are the only program in Boston with an AuD program.

Being part of Bouvè College, we are members of an interprofessional team that includes such professions as Counseling Psychology, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Physical Therapy. To read more about our interprofessional emphasis, go to https://bouve.northeastern.edu/about/index.html.

Our students have diverse undergraduate backgrounds, with some having an undergraduate degree in SLP and/or Audiology and others have an undergraduate degree in another discipline. This diversity is a positive for both our students and our faculty.

2. Our faculty are internationally recognized researchers who are all active in their fields and involve students in their research.
We emphasize evidence-based practice. This approach requires clinical practice to be motivated by the most pertinent findings in the literature, as they relate to individual clients.

Our faculty combines interests in theory with a focus on practice-oriented research. Please visit our web-site at http://www.slpa.neu.edu/faculty.html to see each faculty member’s bio and research interests.

Our faculty have links with world-recognized hospitals such as Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital, Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

3. We have student-centered and friendly faculty.
With a student-faculty ratio of 3-4 students per faculty, students have ready and ongoing access to faculty and are strongly supported throughout their Program.

Students comment on the close relationships they develop with faculty and the support they receive to reach their maximum potential. We also help students develop extracurricular activities through professional clubs and associations (e.g., the NU Student Speech Language and Hearing Association, called NUSSLHA or the Student Academy of Audiology called SAA)

4. Our facilities are state of the art and well situated.
We have faculty offices and newly renovated research space in the Forsyth Building. Behrakis Health Sciences Center, where our on-campus clinic is located, is one of the College’s newest editions.

5. Our Speech-Language and Hearing Center, our on-site Clinic, located in Behrakis, is the heart of the Department.
Our goal is to provide our students with an unparalleled interprofessional clinical experience both on and off campus. The Center provides services in both Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology to members of the Boston Community. These services are provided by the students under the supervision of our clinical faculty, five days and two evenings a week. Our Center houses $800,000 of new equipment.

6. We have many quality educational and medical external placement sites in Greater Boston and beyond.
Students complete multiple semesters of external placement work across ages, diagnoses, and settings with our practicing community-based colleagues. Students are required to have access to a car and travel to and from their external sites by car, commuter rail, and/or public transportation.

Placement site opportunities include nearby, national, and international opportunities.

Faculty work with students to explore new placement options, for example, out- of-state.

7. Our clinical Audiology Program benefits from an endowment of over a million dollars from the Boston Guild for the Hard of Hearing, a distinguished and venerable charitable organization, whose roots in Boston go back to the early 1900’s.

The generous gift allows us to expand our educational and support services into this community.

8. The university campus is a green and pleasant place for students and faculty to spend their time.
Students describe Northeastern as having a “campus feel.” The landscaping and design give Northeastern University a small town feeling.

Northeastern University’s location in the heart of the city allows rapid access to sports venues, shopping, museums, concert halls and, most importantly, many clinical sites.

We are conveniently close to public transportation. To get a feel for our campus, take a virtual tour

9. Northeastern is a large urban university nationally recognized for its focus on practice-oriented education.
Students have endless opportunities to combine theory and practice through academics, clinical experiences, research, and community service.

Students frequently choose to enroll in elective courses in areas of personal interest as part of their graduate program. For example, some of our students take electives in American Sign Language, Multicultural Service Delivery, and Neuroscience.

Students complete Comprehensive Exams or may elect to complete a thesis.

SLP MS Degree students may supplement their program of studies with Early Intervention and Geriatric Certificate Program options.

Students are given numerous opportunities to contribute their developing skills to various groups or causes within the local, national and international communities.

10. Our Programs are full-time programs.
Students complete their clinical experiences during the day.
Academic courses are primarily offered late afternoons and evenings.
Students matriculate in September.