School of Communication Sciences & Disorders

The School of Communication Sciences & Disorders offers an undergraduate minor, a post-baccalaureate program, and a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology. All three programs are offered through the College of Education on our historic Forest Grove Campus. The post-baccalaureate program is also available entirely online.

Pacific University is located on the native lands of the Tualatin Kalapuyas, who called themselves the Atfalati. We respectfully acknowledge the ancestors and current Native communities of the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde Community of Oregon. These tribes represent a community devoted to the values of honesty, integrity, responsible stewardship, and preservation of tribal traditions. We acknowledge that irrevocable harm was imposed upon Native peoples when they were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. When on this land, we gather with gratitude, reverence, and care. We recognize our responsibility and relationship with these lands and to commit to the work ahead as we attempt to reconcile historic injustices.

As a school, we value community, equity, compassion, critical inquiry, advocacy, and lived experience. These values are visible throughout the curriculum across all three programs with our focus on excellence in teaching. 

The School of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at Pacific University is committed to upholding equity through sustained, long-term actions. We act to support the rightful belonging of students, staff, and faculty who are marginalized because of any aspect of their identity or combination of identities in this institution of higher education, across educational and healthcare systems, and in the profession of speech-language pathology. We stand in solidarity with Pacific’s students, staff, and faculty who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in condemning racism, hate, inequity, and intolerance of any kind. 

As health professionals and educators, we are committed to eradicating racism and its destructive impact on the social, emotional, and physical health of individuals and communities. We embed this commitment in our classrooms, clinical experiences, research, and service as faculty and staff. It is our goal that graduates of our programs develop their own awareness of how they can each serve as advocates and allies to marginalized communities. It is imperative that every member of our community contributes to the non-violent dismantling of systemic racism. 

Pacific CSD values the different lived experiences that a diverse student body contributes to the field of speech-language pathology. As we strive to achieve equity, inclusion, and belonging we commit to a process of continuous evaluation and actions that will serve to dismantle systems of inequity.

The faculty and students in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders are active in clinical service delivery through multiple community partnerships and outreach throughout the greater Portland area.

The School of CSD faculty advance the field of speech-language pathology through our research and scholarship in theoretical and clinical science, through the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), and our engagement in service to local, regional, and national professional organizations.