The Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences offers students a pre-professional major that focuses on the development and breakdown of speech, language, and hearing. Our undergraduate programs prepare students for a variety of career options.
The BA in Speech and Hearing Sciences provides foundational coursework in normal processes of speech, language, and hearing, as well as the nature and causes of communicative disorders, techniques used to assess and diagnose speech, language, and hearing disorders, and current methods and therapies used to remedy communication disorders. Students learn the fundamentals of both speech-language pathology and audiology, providing the necessary pre-requisites for pursuing graduate programs in speech-language pathology or audiology.
The field of Communicative Disorders and Sciences (CDS) relates to many study areas and subspecialties. For this reason, the department offers a minor to students who are majors or prospective majors in other departments, including Psychology, Linguistics, Childhood Education, Health and Human Services, Biomedical Sciences (to name a few). Students may choose courses of their interest from our Department to complete the Minor and augment their Major.
Our department also partners with UB's Graduate School of Education to offer two exciting combined degree programs:
The UB Teach Track Speech and Hearing/Early Childhood-Childhood Education program is an accelerated, combined degree program that allows students to earn a Speech and Hearing BA and an Early Childhood/Childhood Education EdM within five years. It provides students with content expertise in Speech and Hearing, as well as the skills and knowledge for testing children from birth to grade 6.
The UB Teach Track Speech and Hearing/Teaching ESOL program is an accelerated, combined degree program that allows students to earn a Speech and Hearing BA and an ESOL EdM within five years. It provides you with content expertise in Speech and Hearing, as well as the skills and knowledge for teaching English as a new language to non-native English speaking students in American educational systems (PreK-12): early childhood, childhood, and secondary schools.
Speech and Hearing Science is a direct admissions major. Students can declare the major before taking any of our courses.