jmcomicÂþ»­

I am nearing the end of my second year of a three-year online Communicative Disorders master's degree program through California State University Northridge, which will allow me to pursue a career as a speech-language pathologist. The program is rigorous, including challenging coursework in the specialty areas of the program, including language disorders, speech disorders, neurogenic disorders, hearing disorders, augmentative alternative communication, voice disorders, swallowing disorders, statistics,... Read More and clinical applications of these learned skills. Unique aspects of the program include 4-5 clinical practicum experiences across the lifespan (students provide direct clinical services for individuals ages birth to death, i.e., 0+) and a comprehensive examination after the three years to test clinical skills and knowledge. Although the course is online, the amount of works is just as much if not more than if attending on campus. The program has some great professors who care deeply about their students and their success. Acceptance into the program is also a plus because the program has more than one time to apply per year, which is nice compared to the large rush usually done at the beginning of January to apply to several schools. I would also say the cost of the program is fairly decent, currently totaling around $50,000 for the entire program (excluding textbooks, fees, and living expenses). There are a few downfalls to this program compared to others. One is that it has a larger cohort size, meaning the ratio of students to professors is not as good. This can make the response time a little slow, which can be detrimental when it comes to receiving grades on assignments. Most of my fellow classmates would agree that one of the largest stressors would be the amount of time it takes to receive feedback on some of the assignments, which are often needed prior to upcoming assignments or examinations. Another downfall is that students must find their own clinical practicum sites, which can be very difficult because many locations do not allow or already have students. Financial aid feels limited for online students. There is no summer financial aid option, so be prepared to pay out of pocket, use grants or scholarships, or save up on federal or private loans. This can get expensive. Finally, there is no option to complete any research thesis for a culminating project for this program. Students seeking to follow a more traditional research-based school should look elsewhere. Overall, the program is successful at providing sufficient access to a quality education and practice to utilize learned skills with fairly strong support from staff and faculty members. Aside from an occasional bitterness felt at a postponed grade or panic surrounding finding a clinical site, the program itself stands out to me as strong and as something that will truly prepare students to be competent speech-language pathologists. I would recommend students apply to this program, especially since the field is so competitive!