Master of Science Speech-Language Pathology
Frequently Asked Questions
CSUMB will be offering a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology.
Students are not required to have their undergraduate degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders or Speech-Language Pathology. However, students with an undergraduate degree from another discipline are required to complete prerequisite or leveling courses.
The minimum GPA is 3.0 for the undergraduate degree. A minimum of 3.0 is also required in Speech-Language Pathology coursework. All of our applicants must have been awarded a Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher education. The transcript from the college of where you received your Bachelor's degree will note your degree and the date you received it.
Practicum or fieldwork experiences are essential to the SLP program. Most of the practicum experiences will occur with our community partners out in the field. Practicum experiences will take place in a variety of settings to provide students with a diverse experience. There will be some onsite opportunities, but there will not be an onsite clinic.
The MS-SLP program prepares students to work in a variety of settings, including the California public schools.
The job outlook for Speech-Language Pathologists is projected to grow by 25% from 2019-2029, which the BLS (2020) indicates is much faster than the average occupation. Furthermore, BLS (2020) reports the median average salary for SLPs is over $79,000 per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020).
All applicants must apply through the CSDCAS and the Cal State Apply systems simultaneously when applying to the program. Please consult the MS-SLP website for the specific timeline.
Our program will have in person requirements throughout including course work and practicum experiences. Many of the courses are designed in a hybrid format. The general hybrid course format is that one week the course meets face to face and the next week there is online work.
Applicants without the Certificate of Clearance may be conditionally admitted to the program. The program must receive the Certificate of Clearance before the start of the program.
No, at this time, we do not offer the prerequisite leveling courses for those that do not have an undergraduate degree in the field of Communication Sciences Disorders. Our website does list the prerequisite courses.
We intend to accept 30 students per cohort.
No, the GRE is not a requirement for admission.
Each admitted student must meet the requirements for the Basic Skills Requirement.. There are several ways to fulfill this requirement. The following options are available for meeting this requirement:
- passage of the CBEST exam
- qualifying scores on SAT, ACT, ELM and EPT or EAP CSU placement exams (If you have taken any of these exams, please review the CTC's Basic Skills Requirement flier to see if your scores qualify.)
- qualifying coursework in the following areas:
- For reading proficiency: a course in critical thinking, literature, philosophy, reading, rhetoric, or textual analysis.
- For writing proficiency: a course in composition, English, rhetoric, written communication, or writing.
- For mathematics proficiency: a course in algebra, geometry, mathematics, quantitative reasoning, or statistics.
- for details on qualifying coursework, see Basic Skills Requirement (CL-667)
- Applicants can submit this form with their application to indicate the coursework taken to fulfill the requirement
A combination of applicable courses and qualifying exams
The Master of Science (M.S.) education program in speech-language pathology (residential) at California State University, Monterey Bay is a Candidate for Accreditation by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. This is a “pre-accreditation” status with the CAA, awarded to developing or emerging programs for a maximum period of five years.
The award of candidacy allows the MS-SLP propgram at CSUMB to matriculate students into the program as we continue to document compliance with the accreditation standards.