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Kraena Pre-Health
Career Library

Therapy & Rehab

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)

Treats communication and swallowing disorders across every age group.

Years after high school

6

Degree

Master's in speech-language pathology

Entrance exam

GRE (many programs)

Median pay

$97,870 national median for speech-language pathologists (BLS, May 2025).

What the job is actually like

In a school you might run small-group articulation sessions all day. In a hospital you could be evaluating whether a stroke patient can safely swallow — a genuinely life-or-death assessment. The range within one credential is wide.

The path

  1. 014 years undergraduate, commonly in communication sciences and disorders
  2. 022-year master's program
  3. 03Clinical fellowship year (paid)
  4. 04Praxis exam and ASHA certification

Good fit if

  • You are fascinated by language and how the brain produces it
  • You want the option of school-year scheduling
  • You like measurable, incremental progress with individual clients

Think twice if

  • You want a fast-paced acute care environment as the default

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All salary figures here are median annual wages from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 — the most recent full national dataset. 'Median' means half of workers earn more and half earn less. Three things to keep in mind: (1) pay varies enormously by state, city, setting, and experience — a nurse in California and a nurse in rural Alabama earn very different salaries; (2) training lengths are typical, not guaranteed, and programs differ; (3) these numbers change every year. Always verify current figures at bls.gov/ooh before making a decision. For context, the BLS median wage for all U.S. occupations was $50,980, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations had a median of $86,530 — one of the reasons health care is such a stable field.