SUNY Cortland master’s program in speech-language pathology is re-accredited

CORTLAND — SUNY Cortland’s five-year-old master’s degree program in speech-language pathology has been re-accredited, the university recently announced.

The Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) voted in April to award SUNY Cortland full accreditation for its residential graduate program through Jan. 31, 2023, SUNY Cortland said in an Oct. 9 release. 

Today, the program is nearly at full enrollment with 29 future communication-disorders professionals preparing for careers at schools and medical clinics in this “high-demand field.” The tally brings total graduate and undergraduate enrollment in the college’s Communication Disorders and Sciences Department to almost 300 students, equaling its “all-time high.”

“The master’s degree has become the entry level for the profession,” Ann Blanton, associate professor and the current department chair, said in the release, noting the importance of the program and accreditation. “So it was very timely that this department developed a master’s degree.”

Traditionally, graduates in the field who had bachelor’s degrees could always work in elementary, middle, and high schools without a master’s degree, she said.

But that will soon be a thing of the past. New York is among many states that are phasing out school clinical practice by college graduates who have only an undergraduate degree in the discipline. Hospitals and medical centers stopped employing clinicians who lack master’s degrees in certified programs “some years ago,” the university said.

Seeing this change coming, faculty in SUNY Cortland’s Communication Disorders and Sciences Department more than a decade ago began working on creating a graduate program and making sure it met the “strict professional standards” that come with accreditation, per the release. The department also shifted the teaching emphasis of the speech and hearing clinic the department runs for community members on campus.

The graduate students now help deliver the majority of free public services offered to clients of all ages at the Center for Speech, Language and Hearing Disorders. During their two years at SUNY Cortland, that gives the students the “extra hands-on experience” expected from an accredited graduate program.

Creation of the graduate program and this year’s re-accreditation mark “critical milestones” in the Communication Disorders and Sciences Department’s 50-year history, the university said.

The CAA is run by the Maryland–based American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), which is the national professional, scientific and credentialing association for more than 182,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists; speech-language pathologists; speech, language, and hearing scientists; audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel; and students.