Post-Baccalaureate Series (Non-Degree Seeking)

You can pursue your graduate degree in our School even if your bachelor’s degree is from a discipline other than speech-language pathology and audiology. For speech-language pathology, simply take certain “leveling” courses that will help to prepare you for graduate school. We offer those leveling courses in what we call our “Post-Baccalaureate Series”. But if you If you wish to apply to our doctor of audiology degree, no “leveling” courses are needed!

We offer an array of courses in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) discipline. Students do not need to formally admitted to the school's undergraduate degree program or major and they will not “graduate” from the series. Completion of these courses simply allows students with bachelor’s degrees in other majors to meet the eligibility criteria to apply for graduate programs in speech-language pathology.

While many undergraduate majors and degrees (e.g., education, psychology, linguistics, biology, sociology, and human development) provide a good foundational understanding of related topics to CSD disciplines, they do not include preliminary courses required by accredited graduate speech-language pathology programs. The post-baccalaureate courses offered through our school meet the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) Standards IV-A and portions of IV-B to help students achieve the necessary general education and in-field prerequisites to apply to graduate school in speech-language pathology.

How to enroll in Post-Bacc courses

Students who wish to complete the speech-language pathology (SLP) post-baccalaureate series courses may do so online or on-campus through the University of Akron.

First, you must apply to the University of Akron as a post-baccalaureate student: https://www.uakron.edu/admissions/undergraduate/who-are-you/post-baccalaureate.dot
Once admitted, you will enroll in courses to match graduate school application requirements - it is recommended you check with your potential graduate programs to decide which courses you need

General Education Prerequisite Courses

ASHA STANDARD IV-A: General Education Prerequisite Courses

To meet eligibility criteria for admission to any ASHA accredited graduate speech-language pathology program, applicants must achieve a C or higher in each general education prerequisite course
Students may elect to take general education prerequisite courses at another university if applying to UA's graduate SLP program, but the course syllabi will be evaluated by a post-baccalaureate advisor
The following constitute the prerequisite general education courses and their categories:
- Statistics: At least one 3-credit hour course in statistics
- Biological Science: One 3-credit hour course in the biological sciences (general human anatomy, physiology, general biology, cell biology, molecular biology, cybernetics biology, computational biology, cytology, ecology, evolutionism, environmental biology, forensic biology, genetics, marine biology, morphology, microbiology, molecular biosciences, natural science, neurobiology, neurology, radiobiology, sociobiology, or zoology)
- Physical Science: One 3-credit hour course in physical sciences (must be chemistry or physics)
- Behavioral/Social Science Coursework: One 3-credit hour course in behavioral social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, ethnic and cultural studies, archaeology, area studies, criminology, geography organizational studies, economics, political science, gender and sexuality studies, or psychobiology)

In-Field UA SSLPA Post Bacc Series Course Offerings

ASHA STANDARD IV-B: In-Field Prerequisite Courses

To meet eligibility criteria for admission to any ASHA accredited graduate speech-language pathology program, applicants must achieve a B- or higher in each in-field prerequisite courses
These courses, or their equivalents, must be completed within 7 years from the date the student plans to start the graduate program
Students may elect to take these prerequisite courses at another university, but the course syllabi will be evaluated by a post-baccalaureate advisor

For students interested in applying to the University of Akron's graduate SLP programs, the following in-field prerequisite courses are required for students who plan to apply to UA's traditional campus-based graduate program and the collaborative distance learning (online) graduate program:

UA Speech Language Pathology Graduate In-field Prerequisites

Course Number	Course Name	# Credits	Semesters Offered	ASHA Standard IV-B
SLPA:365	Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanism	3 credits	Fall (on-campus face-to-face) & Spring (online)	basic human communication processes - biological; neurological
SLPA:215	Introduction: Hearing and Speech Science	4 credits	Spring (online)	basic human communication processes - acoustic
SLPA:210	Introduction to Clinical Phonetics	4 credits	Fall (on-campus face-to-face) & Summer (online)	basic human communication processes - linguistic
SLPA:230	Language Science and Acquisition	4 credits	Fall (online) & Summer (online)	basic human communication processes - developmental
SLPA:446	Observations and Clinical Techniques	4 credits	Fall (online) & Summer (online)	Clinical Methods class

Recommended Additional (Non-required) In-Field Coursework

Course Number	Course Name	# Credits	Semesters Offered
SLPA:422	Organic Disorders of Communication (Neurogenic Disorders of Swallowing and Communication)	4 credits	Spring (online)
SLPA:321	Articulation and Phonological Disorders	4 credits	Spring (online)
SLPA:330	Language Disorders	4 credits	Spring (on-campus face-to-face)
SLPA:335	Principles of Audiology	4 credits	Fall (on-campus face-to-face)

For additional information regarding our post baccalaureate series courses or how to enroll, please contact:

Advisor: Marci Tomajko
Phone: 330-972-7908
Email: marci5@uakron.edu