Best Master's in Speech and Language Impairment Education Programs in 2026
All 4 programs reviewed from the IPEDS database, ranked on degrees awarded and local teacher pay. CIP 13.1012.
- Most master's programs run 30 to 36 credits and take about two years, with many built to be completed part-time by working teachers.
- 0 of 4 ranked programs offer an online or hybrid option.
- Graduate programs are ranked on degrees awarded, cost-of-living-adjusted local pay, and institutional standing, not the undergraduate stats that do not describe a master's.
- 1
CUNY Lehman College
79score- 49Master's/yr
- $96,900Metro teacher pay
- Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology with TSSLD certification
- On-campus
About the programLehman College offers a Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology that pairs the clinical degree with New York State Teacher of Students with Speech-Language Disabilities (TSSLD) certification, the credential required for speech-language pathologists working in New York schools, preschools, and clinics that provide IEP services. The M.A. program is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation of ASHA, while the TSSLD component is a state-registered teacher certification program delivered online during winter and summer sessions with a required school externship. Candidates complete at least 150 clinical hours with school-age students spanning early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence, plus four mandatory training modules covering child abuse identification, school violence prevention, autism, and DASA. The 63-credit sequence, along with a CFY or CCC-SLP credential and the state EAS exam, positions graduates specifically for school-based practice. Its dual clinical and educational focus reads as a program built for those who intend to serve students in New York's public schools. It is a master's degree in speech and language impairment education at the master's level, based in New York.
Why it ranks hereSchool siteMaster's programs are judged differently here. Undergraduate stats do not apply, so the ranking looks at whether the program is established, the pay its graduates walk into locally, and how the university stands behind it. On the first, it is clearly established, turning out 49 master's degrees a year, one of the larger cohorts in the specialty. Its graduates step into New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ, where elementary teachers earn a median $96,900, roughly $86,085 once local cost of living is factored in, a real-world read on what the credential is worth in that market.
Area teacher pay: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025, adjusted for local cost of living via U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities. A location figure, not this program's graduate earnings.
- 2
Syracuse University
57score- 28Master's/yr
- $78,560Metro teacher pay
- Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology
- On-campus
About the programSyracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences offers a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology, a residential program that carries graduates toward full clinical certification and school-based practice. Communication sciences majors move through a minimum of four full-time semesters plus a summer, while students entering from other backgrounds complete additional leveling coursework across seven semesters, a structure that welcomes career-changers without shortchanging clinical depth. Practicum is woven throughout, beginning in the on-campus Gebbie Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic and extending to off-site placements that broaden the range of clients and settings. Completion meets ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence requirements, qualifies graduates for New York State SLP licensure, and enables certification as a Teacher of Students with Speech-Language Disabilities. Accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation of ASHA, the program prepares clinicians equally for medical and educational careers. This program offers a master's degree in speech and language impairment education in New York.
Why it ranks hereSchool siteA master's degree earns its rank on program-appropriate signals, not undergraduate ones: established scale, local teacher pay, and institutional strength. On the first, it is clearly established, turning out 28 master's degrees a year, a steady if smaller cohort. Its graduates step into Syracuse, NY, where elementary teachers earn a median $78,560, roughly $82,054 once local cost of living is factored in, a real-world read on what the credential is worth in that market.
Area teacher pay: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025, adjusted for local cost of living via U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities. A location figure, not this program's graduate earnings.
- 3
University of Nebraska at Omaha
43score- 21Master's/yr
- $62,670Metro teacher pay
- Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology
- On-campus
About the programThe University of Nebraska Omaha offers a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology, a full-time on-campus program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of ASHA, with its next accreditation review scheduled for 2028. The five-semester, roughly 20-month sequence carries 41 graduate credit hours and interleaves coursework with supervised clinical practice across an onsite clinic, community schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and other community-based settings. That breadth of placements gives graduates hands-on experience with clients of every age and need, preparing them for ASHA certification as a CCC-SLP, Nebraska state licensure, and the Nebraska Department of Education Speech-Language Pathology teaching endorsement. The intensive full-time structure and layered clinical rotations mark a program designed to move students efficiently from classroom into professional practice. Its multiple credential outcomes open both clinical and school-based career paths. As a master's degree in speech and language impairment education, it adds to the master's-level speech and language impairment education options in Nebraska.
Why it ranks hereSchool siteA master's degree earns its rank on program-appropriate signals, not undergraduate ones: established scale, local teacher pay, and institutional strength. On the first, it is clearly established, turning out 21 master's degrees a year, a steady if smaller cohort. Its graduates step into Omaha, NE-IA, where elementary teachers earn a median $62,670, roughly $68,186 once local cost of living is factored in, a real-world read on what the credential is worth in that market.
Area teacher pay: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025, adjusted for local cost of living via U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities. A location figure, not this program's graduate earnings.
- 4
Ithaca College
25score- 8Master's/yr
- $63,610Metro teacher pay
- Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology with Teacher Certification
- On-campus
About the programIthaca College offers a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology with Teacher Certification, a full-time residential program built for students who want to practice across both schools and clinics. Structured as a five-semester sequence completed within two years of matriculation, its single track pairs clinical SLP preparation with at least one externship in an educational setting, a full-semester capstone externship, and a comprehensive exam. That embedded school placement signals a deliberate dual orientation, readying graduates for medical and educational settings alike. Completion opens eligibility for the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence, New York State SLP licensure, and initial New York State teaching certification. Accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of ASHA, the program reads as a route for clinicians who intend to serve children in schools. This program offers a master's degree in speech and language impairment education in New York.
Why it ranks hereSchool siteMaster's programs are judged differently here. Undergraduate stats do not apply, so the ranking looks at whether the program is established, the pay its graduates walk into locally, and how the university stands behind it. On the first, it is clearly established, turning out 8 master's degrees a year, a steady if smaller cohort. Its graduates step into Ithaca, NY, where elementary teachers earn a median $63,610, roughly $61,568 once local cost of living is factored in, a real-world read on what the credential is worth in that market.
Area teacher pay: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025, adjusted for local cost of living via U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities. A location figure, not this program's graduate earnings.
How we rank
Each master's program is scored 0 to 100 against the other master's programs in its specialty on the measures the federal data actually supports at the graduate level: the number of master's degrees it awards each year (30%), counted as a sign that the program is established rather than rewarding sheer size: a program reaches full credit at about fifty degrees a year and awarding thousands more adds nothing, so a high-volume online degree factory earns no advantage here; the median wage for elementary teachers in the program's local area (30%), from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The wage is the metropolitan-area figure where the school sits in a metro (about 85% of programs) and the state figure otherwise, and it is adjusted for the local cost of living using the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, so a high nominal salary in an expensive metro does not outrank a lower salary that goes further. It is a measure of local earning potential in the field, not the earnings of this program's graduates, which are not published. The third and largest measure is a program-strength score (40%), 0 to 100, led by the institution's Carnegie research classification, so a very-high-research university outranks a small teaching college on institutional standing. It adds a bonus where the program names a national programmatic accreditor like CAEP or AAQEP, but does not lean on it, because several states approve educator preparation through their own boards rather than CAEP, and a strong flagship should not be marked down for its state's accreditation choice. A clearly identified degree and licensure pathway adds a little more, and private for-profit programs, whose graduate outcomes are documented as weaker, take a deduction. Graduation rate, admission rate, and tuition are deliberately NOT scored: the first two are institution-wide undergraduate figures that describe the wrong population, and verified graduate tuition exists for too few programs to rank on fairly. Cost is shown on each card where we have it, but it does not affect the ranking. Every master's program is ranked and shown, with no per-state cap.
- Established program size, degrees awarded per year, capped so volume alone does not win: 30%
- Local-area teacher pay, cost-of-living adjusted (BLS + BEA): 30%
- Program strength, institutional research standing plus accreditation, less a for-profit deduction: 40%
Prefer a single measure? See most popular, highest area pay.
How much a master's in Speech and Language Impairment Education program costs in 2026
Graduate tuition is priced by the credit rather than the year, and most master's in Speech and Language Impairment Education programs run 30 to 36 credits, so the total turns on a school's per-credit rate and whether you pay the in-state or out-of-state figure. Public universities are usually the least expensive for residents, while private and out-of-state rates run higher. Because IPEDS reports only an institution-wide undergraduate tuition that does not describe a graduate program, each card shows a researched per-program cost wherever a school publishes one, rather than a misleading campus-wide number.
Sticker price is rarely the final cost. Graduate students can borrow through federal Direct Unsubsidized and Grad PLUS loans, and teachers have targeted help: the TEACH Grant provides up to $4,000 a year for a commitment to teach a high-need subject in a low-income school, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness can clear the remaining balance after ten years of qualifying payments in a public school or district. Many districts also reimburse part of a master's for teachers who earn it on the job, since a graduate degree usually moves them up the salary schedule.
Sources: program data from IPEDS; the TEACH Grant and Public Service Loan Forgiveness from Federal Student Aid.
Ways to earn your master's in Speech and Language Impairment Education
Most programs here are delivered on campus, often on evening or cohort schedules built around working professionals, with any required field hours arranged locally. A typical master's runs about two years part-time, or twelve to eighteen months full-time.
The right format depends on why you are enrolling. Licensed teachers pursuing a master's for advancement or an added specialization can usually study fully online while they keep teaching. Career-changers who need an initial teaching license should instead look for a Master of Arts in Teaching or another licensure-track program, which pairs coursework with a supervised student-teaching placement or a paid residency and so includes in-person clinical time.
Sources: program and delivery data from IPEDS.
Data sources for our Master's in Speech and Language Impairment Education ranking
- Program counts and degrees awarded: IPEDS, US Department of Education. Cost figures are researched from each program's own published tuition, since IPEDS reports only undergraduate tuition.
- Program descriptions: each school's official catalog and program pages.