Audiology

Types of Degrees Audiology Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many speech pathology & audiology graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	4,479
Master’s Degree	2,992
Doctor’s Degree	243
Associate Degree	141
Graduate Certificate	58
Basic Certificate	32
Undergraduate Certificate	23

What Audiology Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to audiology and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Audiology Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in audiology should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Skills for Audiology Majors

When studying audiology, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Audiology Majors

As a audiology major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Audiology Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with audiology:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Audiologists	20.3%	$75,920
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Speech-Language Pathologists	17.8%	$77,510

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Audiology?

The major attracts more women than men. About 96% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of audiology majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	154
Black or African American	254
Hispanic or Latino	580
White	3,199
International Students	30
Other Races/Ethnicities	262

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Audiology, too. About 0.7% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Audiology

Some degrees associated with audiology may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for audiology careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.1%
Bachelor’s Degree	3.0%
Master’s Degree	47.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	7.8%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.2%
Doctoral Degree	33.4%
Post-Doctoral Training	5.8%

Online Audiology Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	3	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	14	0
Bachelor’s Degree	7	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	99	6
Post-Master’s	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	35	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	20	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Audiology

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to audiology.

Major	Number of Grads
General Communication Sciences & Disorders	7,298
Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist	6,775
Audiology/Audiologist	1,010
Other Communication Disorders Sciences & Services	237

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Ghozt Tramp under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.