Speech-Language Pathology Assistant Certificate

Speech Language Pathology Assistant

Level:

Certificate

Credits required:

25 credits

Cost per credit:

$405 *

Next start date:

January 5, 2026

Earn Your SLPA Credentials

Being a speech-language pathology assistant is one of the most impactful and highly rewarding careers for those who work in preschool, elementary, and secondary education settings.

You can complete the SLPA certificate as part of your 1st or 2nd Bachelor in Communicative Disorders online or on-campus. You can also complete the certificate on its own if you already have atleast an associate’s degree. You can apply the coursework toward completing the USU COMD bachelor’s degree required for admission to SLP graduate education.

USU’s program lets you work with experts in the field to earn your certification in just 9 courses (25 credit hours). With USU’s SLPA certificate, you can:

  • Work under the supervision of master’s degree speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in preK-12 educational settings
  • Support students with speech-language impairments and learning difficulties
  • Become eligible to apply for national certification through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA)

Our program is distinctive nationally because we offer the following features:

  • Academic coursework in communication sciences and disorders
  • Training in professional practices
  • 25 guided observation hours
  • Earned credit for clinical experience in the workplace
  • Available in-person and online
  • Available without completing a full bachelor’s degree
  • Institutional SLPA certificate on the academic transcript
  • Eligibility for application for national ASHA SLPA certification

You can learn more about the program and clinical requirements on the Speech and Hearing Sciences SLPA website.

From a recent survey of 700 students, 95.8% said they would recommend USU’s Speech and Hearing Sciences programs to others. The USU SLPA certificate is the newest program offering from Speech and Hearing Sciences. Speech-language pathology assistants work under the supervision of master-degree speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in preK-12 educational settings, supporting students with speech-language impairments and learning difficulties. There are strong job opportunities in preK-12 educational settings across the U.S.

The First Step is a Conversation. Talk to an advisor.

Kristy Meeks

Kristy Meeks

Academic Advisor/Online 1st Bachelor Degree
(435) 797-2469
kristy.meeks@usu.edu

Brynne Davies

Brynne Davies

Academic Advisor/Online 2nd Bachelor's Degree
(435) 797-2460
brynne.davies@usu.edu

Find Your Fit

Take a few minutes to determine how a USU Online program can help you meet your education and career goals.

Sample Courses for Speech Language Pathology

Students gain a basic understanding of the developmental disorders of articulation, phonology, and related conditions. This course introduces evaluation and treatment principles, procedures, materials, and activities.
This course addresses the typical development of semantics, syntax, and pragmatics from infancy to adolescence. It includes prelinguistic communication, cognitive correlates, discourse, metalinguistics, bilingual acquisition, and the effects of sociocultural context on acquisition. Students are introduced to language sample analysis.
Students learn procedures for the assessment and treatment of speech and language disorders, including goal selection, treatment plans, progress reports, norm-referenced and descriptive testing, and test psychometrics. Family, cultural, and interprofessional factors in intervention are addressed.
Students examine childhood speech-language disorders including phonological disorder, stuttering, primary language disorder, autism, intellectual disability, and learning disability, and consider the effects of organic and social factors on identification and management. Assessment and treatment principles for developmental disorders are introduced.