Quick answer: A communication disorders bachelor’s degree usually covers phonetics, language development, the anatomy of speech and hearing, and audiology fundamentals. It is the undergraduate on-ramp to a two-stage credential, not a practice credential by itself. The occupation on the far side of that ladder has a median of $97,870 and 15% projected growth, and this page is about getting stage one right.
What This Degree Is, Precisely
Communication sciences and disorders, CIP 51.0201, is an undergraduate major. It is the standard preparation for graduate clinical training in speech-language pathology, and it is one of the clearest examples on this site of a degree whose value is almost entirely conditional on finishing the step after it.
That framing is not a criticism of the degree. It is the design. The coursework builds the science of speech, hearing and language, and the clinical license to use it is issued at the next stage, which is covered separately on Online Speech-Language Pathology Degree. That page holds the CAA-accredited program requirement, the Praxis examination and the certification framework. This page holds the four years that come first.
If you are weighing the field at all, read both pages before you enroll in either. The most common expensive mistake here is finishing the bachelor’s and then discovering how competitive admission to the next stage is.
What the Coursework Usually Covers
Phonetics and speech science - the acoustics and articulation of speech sounds, transcribed and measured
Anatomy and physiology of the speech and hearing mechanism - the structures behind voice, swallowing and audition
Normal language acquisition - how language develops, which is the baseline every disorder is measured against
Communication disorders across the lifespan - articulation, fluency, voice, and acquired disorders after stroke or injury
Audiology fundamentals - hearing measurement, screening, and the basics of amplification
Observation and clinical hours - supervised contact time, which most graduate programs require before admission
Most programs include a required observation component. Ask each school directly how it arranges those hours for distance students, because that is where an otherwise online program most often turns out to need you in a building.
Why This Page Exists Separately From the SLP Page
Two different CIP families, two different readers, one career ladder.
CIP 51.0201 is the undergraduate program code, awarded at bachelor’s level by 145 institutions in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024). The graduate program codes for speech-language pathology, 51.0203 and 51.0204, sit on the other page along with the schools that award them. A reader searching for an undergraduate communication disorders major and landing on the graduate page would see a school list they cannot yet apply to.
At 145 institutions the undergraduate supply is thin nationally. The state and metro pages below arrange that same national pool by location and add state wage data. Online delivery is why that split holds up at this supply level - where you live changes the wage data more than it changes the school list.
Before you request information anywhere, ask how observation hours are handled for distance students and get a written transfer evaluation. With those questions ready, compare online communication sciences and disorders programs enrolling now:
Colleges Offering This Degree
Every school listed is verified in federal IPEDS data both to award this degree and to offer programs that can be completed entirely by distance education at this level. Whether this exact degree is delivered fully online varies by school, so confirm the format before you apply.
How we rank schools – graduation rate, graduate earnings, cost and retention.
Advertising plays no part.
This page lists 10 schools, closest group first, then ordered by
BOC Score with the highest at the top.
10 of them carry a score.
LOCAL RANK
Location / proximity to this page
Defines the local group
Graduation rate how often students finish
30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry whether it paid off
25%
Average net price what students actually pay after aid; lower ranks higher
20%
Retention rate how many come back for year two
15%
Fully online availability whether you can study while working
10%
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal
about the institution rather than about this subject.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from
this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Career changers who want a healthcare path without a hospital shift pattern. A large share of this work happens in schools and outpatient clinics on daytime hours, which is a genuine difference from most clinical routes.
People who are patient in a specific way. Progress in this field is measured in small increments over months. Anyone who has trained an apprentice through a skill they could not initially perform will recognize the temperament the work asks for.
Readers already committed to the full ladder. This degree is designed to be followed by graduate clinical training. If you are certain about that plan, the four years are a prerequisite rather than a gamble. If you are not certain, that uncertainty is the thing to resolve first.
Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
The Honest Version of the Ladder
The wage and growth figures on this page belong to a completed clinical credential, not to the bachelor’s. Every page on this site that describes a multi-stage credential runs the same risk of implying otherwise, and it is worth stating flatly: a communication disorders bachelor’s on its own does not authorize clinical practice.
What it does do is open the door to the graduate step, and the occupation on the other side of that door is unusually healthy. Speech-language pathology is projected to grow 15% from 2024 to 2034, moving from 187,400 jobs to 215,500, with about 13,300 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). A median of $97,870 sits well above most bachelor’s-level destinations covered on this site.
Bachelor’s holders who stop at this stage typically work in support roles under clinical supervision, in early intervention programs, or in school-based assistant positions, and those roles do not pay at the levels in the table below. That is the fork in the road, and it is better seen at the start of the four years than at the end.
Is It Worth It?
The case for is the destination occupation: strong growth, a high median, work that is not exposed to automation in any near-term way, and settings that are geographically distributed rather than concentrated in a few metros. Few fields on this site combine those four.
The case against is the length and the conditionality. This is the first half of a plan whose payoff arrives after the second half, and the second half is selective. A reader who is currently earning in a trade should count the full duration, not the four years alone, and should confirm they can meet the observation and prerequisite requirements before committing.
Is college worth it covers the general tradeoff. Individual outcomes may vary.
What These Careers Pay
Speech-language pathologists earn a median $97,870 across 183,390 jobs, with employment projected to grow 15 percent through 2034 (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). These figures describe the completed clinical credential, which this degree is designed to be the on-ramp to.
Speech and Hearing Careers at a Glance
Metric
Detail
Source
Median annual wage
$97,870 ($47.05 per hour)
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Mean annual wage
$98,170
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Wage range
$62,900 (10th pct) - $134,160 (90th pct)
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Employment
183,390 speech-language pathologists
BLS OEWS, May 2025
Projected change (2024-34)
15%, about 13,300 openings per year
BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34
Credential on this page
Bachelor’s, the undergraduate on-ramp
Program catalogs
Institutions awarding
145
IPEDS Completions, 2024
Geo coverage
State, metro and city pages - see Programs by State below
All wage and employment figures BLS OEWS, May 2025; growth figures BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
The two occupations pay similarly and are not similarly sized. Speech-language pathology employs 183,390 people and audiology 13,660, and the openings figures follow the same ratio: about 13,300 a year against about 700. Both require graduate clinical training beyond this degree, and the practical difference for a student is how many positions exist to compete for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you practice speech-language pathology with a bachelor's in communication disorders?
No. This degree is the undergraduate foundation, not the practice credential. The clinical credential, the CAA-accredited graduate step and the Praxis examination are covered on the [Online Speech-Language Pathology Degree](/programs/online-speech-language-pathology-degree/) page. Plan the two stages together before you enroll in the first one.
What do speech-language pathologists earn?
The national median annual wage is $97,870, or $47.05 an hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The bottom 10 percent earn $62,900 or less and the top 10 percent earn $134,160 or more, across employment of 183,390.
Is speech-language pathology a growing field?
Yes, strongly. Employment is projected to grow 15% from 2024 to 2034, moving from 187,400 to 215,500, with about 13,300 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
What about audiology?
Audiologists earn a median $95,780 across employment of 13,660, with employment projected to grow 9.5% and about 700 openings per year (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). It is a much smaller occupation and it also requires graduate clinical training beyond this degree.
How many schools offer this bachelor's degree?
145 institutions awarded CIP 51.0201 at bachelor's level in 2024 (IPEDS Completions, 2024). That is a thin national supply, and the state and metro pages below arrange that same pool by location with state wage data.
Can the coursework be done online?
Much of it can. Phonetics, language development, anatomy of speech and hearing mechanisms and audiology fundamentals all deliver well at a distance. Observation and clinical contact hours usually require in-person arrangements, so ask each school how it places distance students before you apply.
Does this degree make sense for a career changer from a trade?
It can, with clear eyes about the length of the path. This is stage one of a two-stage credential, and the wage figures above attach to the completed second stage rather than to this degree by itself. Individual outcomes may vary.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 - Speech-Language Pathologists (SOC 29-1127), Audiologists (SOC 29-1181)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2024-34
U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Completions, 2024 - CIP 51.0201
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
