Quick answer: A number of CAA-accredited master’s programs run distance tracks, and speech-language pathology coursework can adapt well to that format. The credential runs through a CAA-accredited master’s degree in speech-language pathology. Programs, the careers this degree opens, and what they pay are covered below.
What Do Online Speech-Language Pathology Programs Actually Look Like?
A number of CAA-accredited master’s programs run distance tracks, and speech-language pathology coursework can adapt well to that format. What does not move online is supervised clinical practicum hours and the post-graduate clinical fellowship, both of which happen in real settings with real caseloads.
Before you apply anywhere, confirm CAA accreditation and ask whether the program secures the in-person clinical placements or expects you to source your own supervisors. With those filters set, compare online speech-language pathology 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.
Programs carry accreditation from the CAA, the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, which operates under ASHA. Graduating from a CAA-accredited master’s program is the route to the Praxis examination and to the Certificate of Clinical Competence, and state licensure is generally constructed around those same components.
Separately from programmatic accreditation, the institution itself should hold accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor. Credit transfer between institutions is decided by the receiving school and genuinely varies, so get any transfer evaluation in writing before enrolling.
How to Choose a Program
Distance programs vary widely here, so the questions matter. Confirm CAA accreditation. Ask specifically whether the program secures clinical placements in your area or requires you to source and propose your own supervisors, which is the failure point for many distance students. Ask how the program supports the transition into the clinical fellowship year, and compare published Praxis pass rates.
Licensing and Credentialing
The national framework is the constant: a CAA-accredited program, then the Praxis examination in speech-language pathology administered through ASHA. What sits on top of that framework is set jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and this site does not hold a sourced dataset of per-state rules, so confirm the specifics with your state speech-language pathology licensing board before enrolling.
What to Weigh Before Committing
Two cautions. First, distance programs differ enormously in whether they secure clinical placements or leave students to find their own supervisors, and students who have to source their own are the ones who stall. Second, the clinical fellowship after graduation is a supervised year at reduced pay, so the published median is what the role pays after that year, not on day one. Set against that, this is among the faster-growing occupations BLS tracks, employment is concentrated in school systems that hire predictably, and caseload flexibility across ages and settings is unusually broad.
Questions to Ask an Admissions Office
Ask these before an application fee, and get the answers in writing rather than over the phone:
Is the program currently with accreditation from CAA, and has its status changed in the last three years? Verify the answer against CAA directly rather than the program’s own page.
Who arranges the required in-person hours, the program or the student, and what happens if no site is available in my cohort year?
What is the published first-time pass rate for the Praxis examination in speech-language pathology, and for which graduating class?
Which prior coursework or credentials transfer in, and will you evaluate my transcript in writing before I enroll? Transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies.
What is the total time to completion for someone in my situation, including prerequisites, and how many students in the last cohort finished on that schedule?
Before you shortlist schools, it also helps to be precise about the job this degree points at.
Where This Sits on the Ladder
This is the licensed tier above credentials many readers already hold. The rungs run:
Speech-language pathology assistant - state-recognized support role, works under supervision
Speech-language pathologist - CAA-accredited master’s, licensed, evaluates and treats independently
What Does the Job Involve Day to Day?
Speech-language pathologists assess and treat communication and swallowing disorders across the whole age range: a child who is not producing speech sounds on schedule, an adult relearning language after a stroke, a patient whose swallow is unsafe after intubation. Schools employ the largest share, with hospitals, skilled nursing and private practice making up much of the rest.
What You Will Study
Graduate coursework typically spans speech sound disorders, language development and disorders across the lifespan, fluency, voice and resonance, swallowing and feeding, augmentative and alternative communication, audiology fundamentals and research methods. Supervised clinical hours run alongside the coursework rather than after it, accumulating across populations and disorder types, because the credential requires breadth of clinical contact rather than depth in one area.
How Fast Is the Field Growing?
Employment is projected to change by 15.0% between 2024 and 2034, with roughly 13,300 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Openings come from growth and from replacing people who leave the occupation, which is why the annual figure can look large relative to the percentage.
What These Careers Pay
Speech-language pathologists earn a median $97,870 per year, or $47.05 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Speech-Language Pathology at a Glance
Measure
Value
Median annual wage
$97,870
Median hourly wage
$47.05
Employed nationally
183,390
Bottom 10 percent
$62,900
Top 10 percent
$134,160
Middle half
$77,730 to $114,570
Projected change, 2024-34
15.0%
Annual openings
about 13,300
Wage and employment figures: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Growth and openings: BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34.
Where Do Speech-language pathologists Earn the Most?
State
Median annual wage
Employment
California
$118,970
16,930
Colorado
$110,750
4,420
District of Columbia
$109,380
390
Washington
$105,550
3,570
Nevada
$104,510
1,270
Highest-paying states, BLS OEWS, May 2025. Cost of living is not held constant, so a higher median does not automatically mean more disposable income.
Cost, Time and Whether It Pays
This site does not publish tuition figures, because there is no sourced dataset behind them and the number varies enormously by institution and residency. What can be stated is the wage structure the degree can lead into. The middle half of speech-language pathologists earn between $77,730 and $114,570, with the bottom 10 percent at $62,900 and the top 10 percent at $134,160 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The gap between the 25th and 75th percentile is the honest range to plan against - not the median alone, and not the top figure.
Where the Jobs Are
State
Employment
Median annual wage
Texas
19,120
$99,910
California
16,930
$118,970
New York
15,310
$100,610
Florida
10,080
$99,990
Illinois
9,040
$95,080
Largest employing states, BLS OEWS, May 2025. Employment concentration and pay do not track each other, which is why the highest-paying states above are not the same list. State and metro pages linked below carry the full distribution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you earn a speech-language pathology degree online?
The coursework, in many CAA-accredited programs, yes. The clinical hours, no. Supervised practicum and the clinical fellowship that follows graduation are completed in person with real caseloads. Distance programs differ substantially in whether they place you or expect you to find your own sites.
How much do speech-language pathologists make?
The national median annual wage is $97,870, or $47.05 per 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 183,390 speech-language pathologists nationally.
What degree do you need to work as a speech-language pathologist?
A master's degree from a CAA-accredited program is the entry point in the national framework, followed by the Praxis examination, a supervised clinical fellowship, and state licensure. A bachelor's in communication sciences and disorders is a common prerequisite path rather than a terminal qualification.
What is the CCC-SLP?
The Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology is the credential awarded by ASHA after the accredited degree, the clinical fellowship and the Praxis examination. Many employers treat it as the working standard even where it is not the licensure mechanism itself.
How do I get licensed as a speech-language pathologist?
Graduate from a CAA-accredited program, complete the supervised clinical fellowship, pass the Praxis examination, and apply to your state board. Because requirements past that framework are set state by state, confirm them with your state speech-language pathology licensing board.
Is speech-language pathology a growing field?
It is among the faster-growing occupations BLS tracks. Employment is projected to change by 15.0% from 2024 to 2034, with about 13,300 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, SOC 29-1127 Speech-Language Pathologists.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, 2024-34.
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/.
