Why Earn an AuD Degree?
The doctor of audiology (AuD) program at Pacific University prepares students for rewarding clinical careers as audiologists. Students in Pacific’s audiology program earn their AuD degree over an accelerated three-year timeline via the program’s year round curriculum blocks. As part of Pacific's renowned College of Health Professions (CHP), the School of Audiology teaches students the skills needed for evidence-based clinical practice in an interprofessional and highly collegial health professions learning environment. All courses in the audiology program are taught by professors who have either a PhD or AuD degree. Adjunct faculty from the community and faculty from other departments at Pacific University also assist in teaching audiology courses. The audiology program’s location on the CHP campus in Hillsboro includes onsite simulation labs and the Pacific EarClinic, which prepares students with hands-on training while also serving and supporting the community.
What Can You Do With an AuD Degree?
Pacific graduates with an AuD degree are prepared to provide hearing and balance healthcare as audiologists. Audiologists evaluate, diagnose, and treat individuals of all ages, from newborns to 100-plus years, who have hearing and balance disorders and related issues. Treatment and management of hearing loss may involve programming and dispensing complex amplification technology and other related hearing assistance devices. Audiologists work in a variety of settings, including private practice, hospitals, medical facilities, industry, universities, research labs, government and military agencies, school systems, and more.
Audiology is a relatively small profession with approximately 13,000 practitioners who must be licensed to practice in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Students who wish to apply for licensure take the Praxis exam outside of the AuD degree program at Pacific. In 2021, 100 percent of Pacific’s graduating class passed the PRAXIS exam, and 96 percent of the 2021 class were employed in audiology within one year of graduation.
Audiology has consistently ranked high on U.S. News & World Report's top career lists in recent years. The AuD degree is the most common degree granted for the clinical practice of audiology. Employment of audiologists is projected to grow 16 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the average for all occupations. Hearing loss increases as people age, so the aging population is likely to increase demand for audiologists (U.S. Department of Labor, 2019).
Get Involved
Pacific’s SAA chapter serves as a collective voice for audiology students here in Oregon. We engage students in lifelong learning activities that promote and advance the profession of audiology, and provide services, information, education, representation, and advocacy for the profession and those individuals that can benefit from our services.
Hands-On Clinical Experiences
The Pacific EarClinic is a state-of-the-art audiology clinic in Hillsboro, Oregon. The clinic is open to the public and provides a full range of hearing and balance care services to all ages. In the EarClinic, Pacific audiology students experience an innovative educational environment to gain clinical experience. First-year audiology students work with patients in the EarClinic, and they also administer pediatric hearing screenings throughout the Portland area.
Additional clinical experiences continue throughout the three-year doctor of audiology program. In their second year, audiology students are placed in full-time clinical internship sites for several weeks each semester. The entire third year of the audiology program is a year-long clinical externship.
Interprofessional Concentration
Pacific’s audiology program provides opportunities for students to explore models of person-centered healthcare and gain the skills to practice in a changing healthcare environment. Students who choose to pursue interprofessional experiences beyond what is required by their degree program can earn the Concentration in Interprofessional Education, offered by the College of Health Professions. This formal recognition is documented on transcripts as a specialization, indicating that students have gained specific competencies in interprofessional education.
Carmel Nicol | Assistant Director of Graduate and Professional Admissions
800-933-9308, ext. 7226 | 503-352-7226 | AuD@pacificu.edu
The residential Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.) educational program in audiology at Pacific University is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard #310, Rockville, Maryland 20850, 800-498-2071 FREE or 301-296-5700. This program meets the educational requirements for licensure or certification in these U.S. states and territories. Student outcome data is available here, and additional student learning outcome and curriculum information is available in the academic catalog.
