Undergraduate Education Policies

A bachelor of science or arts (BS/BA) or second BS/BA degree in communicative disorders prepares students to apply for graduate programs in speech-language pathology or audiology. There may be opportunities to work as an SLP-Assistant with a COMD BS/BA or a SLPA certificate. Within COMDDE there are three programs to obtain an undergraduate degree: Logan Main Campus BS/BA, Online 1st BS/BA, and Online 2nd BS/BA. Students are accountable to all General Departmental Policies.

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) accredits USU’s programs, including all COMDDE programs. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) accredits the COMDDE graduate audiology and speech-language pathology programs.

Academic Honesty

Students are required to take many of their formal exams through approved proctors. Proctored exams are password-protected and require the proctor to be present during the examination period. USU’s proctor standards and proctor approval process exceed the industry standards. Proctors must be pre-approved and must agree to meet the stringent standards set by our university. According to Regional Campuses and Distance Education (RCDE) at Utah State University, we are one of the few universities that formalizes work done by proctors, their professional positions, the names of the students they serve, their proctoring locations, etc.

  • The Center for Innovative Design and Instruction (CIDI) provides the technical support needed to make our courses secure.
  • Many of the exams and quizzes used in our classes pull from pools of questions that are randomly selected so that students taking an exam do not all get the same questions.
  • Faculty members adjust assignments to reduce the likelihood of students using materials from previous students year after year.
  • If a student is found to be in violation of USU’s Academic Honesty policy and/or USU’s Student Code of Conduct, he/she is subject to the consequences described in ARTICLE VI. University Regulations Regarding Academic Integrity.

Course Load

University policy states that students can take up to 18 credits per semester, but we have learned from experience that online students typically can handle a maximum of 4 courses (or 12 credits) per semester without having their course performance (and grades) impacted. We strongly recommend taking no more than 4 courses (or 12 credits) per semester.

Graduation Requirements

  • 120 overall credits
    • Complete University Studies (general and depth education)
    • 40 upper division credits (3000 level or above)
    • 30 USU credits
    • COMD courses not older than 10 years
  • For courses required for COMD major within student's Program of Study
    • COMD Core and Options courses
    • General Education and Additional Core courses
    • Must be taken taken for a letter grade (or credit awarded for AP or CLEP)
    • Grade of C or higher in COMD-prefix courses
    • Cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher
  • Submit a Graduation Application one semester prior to program completion

Transfer Credit

Please see USU’s Transfer Credit Policy

Also see Transfer Credit under Online Education Policies for COMDDE.

Registration and Adding Courses

Courses added after the first week require instructor’s signature. Refer to the Academic Calendar for important dates and deadlines.

Repeating Courses

For the first bachelor's degree, students are allowed a maximum of three repeats of COMD-prefix courses and a maximum of ten repeats (including the three COMD repeats) for courses required for the COMD major. For the second bachelor's degree, students are allowed a maximum of three COMD-prefix repeats to count toward major requirements and GPA calculation. The repeat limit for the second bachelor's degree includes courses and repeats that occurred in the first bachelor's degree.

The most recent grade of a repeated course is the one included in the GPA calculation. For more information on the policy refer to Repeating Courses in USU General Catalog.

Required GPA

In order to graduate with a COMD major, a minimum GPA of 3.0 for the major and a grade of C or better in all COMD-prefix courses used for the Major Program of Study are required. 

For the first Bachelor’s degree, the GPA requirement is met across COMD and non-COMD courses required for the major and specified in the student's Program of Study. First bachelor’s students who fail to meet the GPA requirement following the maximum allowed repeats must change to another major or to General Studies.

For the second Bachelor’s degree, the required GPA is met only through COMD courses. Second bachelor’s students who fail to meet and maintain the retention criteria will be placed on probation. Probationary students may take up to a total of three repeated or new COMD courses over a maximum of three sequential semesters. Students who fail to meet the retention requirement following probation must change to another major or Non-Degree Seeking status. Only one probationary period is permitted.

Cautions:

The minimum grade of C in COMD-prefix courses allows students to have occasional marginal performance. However, any course grade below B must be compensated by grades above B to meet the 3.0 GPA requirement.

Acceptance into graduate programs is on a competitive basis. Students are selected on GPA in combination with other indicators of achievement. Some graduate programs do not accept undergraduate coursework grades below B-. For SLP-Assistant positions, the Bachelor's degree is the only opportunity to develop the needed knowledge and skills, so strong performance is also important for this type of position. Thus, students planning on any careers in speech-language pathology, audiology, or deaf education should honestly evaluate their program potential and progress toward a strong GPA and individual course grades.

Logan Campus Bachelor's Degree

Senior Clinic

Senior clinic, COMD 4100, is offered on campus on a Pass/Fail basis in the spring semester to selected seniors. The total number of senior students participating in clinic each semester is based upon availability of appropriate clients and faculty supervision. Graduate student clinic assignments are given priority with undergraduates being assigned any remaining clinic openings. Seniors are selected based on GPA and other indicators of academic performance.