School of Allied Health Professions

Department of Communication Disorders

Speech-Language Pathology Non Background

Why LSUHSC?

At LSU Health New Orleans, our Non-Background Master of Communication Disorders (MCD) track is designed for students who earned their bachelor's degree in a field other than Communication Disorders. We provide the prerequisite coursework and graduate education needed to prepare you for a rewarding career in speech-language pathology. 

The Non-Background Track is designed for students who are passionate about helping others but earned a bachelor's degree outside of Communication Disorders. Students come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds, including psychology, education, and many other fields. Visit our Admissions page to review prerequisites, application requirements, and important deadlines.

The master's degree program in Speech-Language Pathology is one of the programs offered within the Department of Communication Disorders. The department is housed within the School of Allied Health Professions and includes state of the art classrooms and research laboratories.

Our program is located in one of the most exciting cities in the U.S.!  We are surrounded by hospitals such as University Medical Center and the VA Hospital in which we have affiliation agreements for clinical training for our students.  Additionally, we have more affiliation agreements within a wide variety of clinical settings such as schools, private practices and  additional hospitals.  As a graduate student you will receive hands-on training in all areas of speech-language diagnostics and treatment with patients who have a wide variety of disorders. We serve communicatively disordered from a diverse population across the life span from infancy to geriatrics.  Onsite clinical experiences may include clients with:

• Fluency disorders
• Voice disorders
• Voice feminization
• Dysphagia
• Aphasia
• Motor speech disorders
• Augmentative/alternative communication
• Adult neurogenic disorders
• Speech sound disorders
• School-Age language/literacy
• Literacy
• Social communication disorders (Autism Spectrum Disorders)

The average pass rate for the PRAXIS examination by speech-language pathology graduates was 100% for the past three years. The program completion rate has been 100% for the past three years and 100% of our graduates are employed full-time.