Before Enrolling: Before enrolling in Mitchell Tech’s online Speech-Language Pathology Assistant program, it is your responsibility to determine whether this program will meet your state's requirements (if any) for SLPA certification or licensure. More information can be found below.

Admission Requirements: All students applying to the ONLINE Speech-Language Pathology Assistant program must submit to a criminal background check at the student’s expense. Mitchell Technical College has partnered with CastleBranch to complete your background check. You will need to create a username and password. Details are available from the Admissions office. Please click here to begin the process. 

Students are required to have good reading, writing, hearing and communication (verbal, written and articulation) skills in order to competently perform the job of a speech-language pathology assistant and to gain successful employment.  Students must possess the motor skills necessary to manage clients and manipulate therapy materials in home and school environments.  Applicants must have minimum scores on the English and Reading portions of the ACT or ACCUPLACER.
 
Additional requirements may have to be met before entrance to fieldwork sites.  Contact the instructor for details.

State Licensure Disclosure:  The MTC SLPA program meets the requirements allowing a graduate to apply for SLPA Licensure from the South Dakota Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology. Requirements for Speech-Language Pathology Assistants (SLPAs) vary from state-to-state. MTC will attempt to determine whether our coursework will meet your state’s requirements, but this is not possible in all cases. Please view this summary of state requirements for information about practicing as an SLPA in all 50 states, including where requirements may differ to practice in a school setting.

Speech-language pathology assistants are not licensed or certified in the following states: Connecticut, Hawaii, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin.

Mitchell Technical College has determined that our program’s curriculum meets the educational requirements for licensure or certification in the following states: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota (SLPP only), Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming.

Mitchell Technical College has determined that our program's curriculum does not meet the educational requirements for licensure or certification in the following states: Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota (SLPA), Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas.

Mitchell Technical College has made no determination that our program’s curriculum meets the educational requirements for licensure or certification in the following states: Georgia, Illinois, America Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands.

Please contact program director Jennifer Schultz to discuss your state’s requirements. Mitchell Technical College strongly encourages prospective students to verify that MTC’s coursework will meet their state’s requirements. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association website has information regarding state requirements on their website at http://www.asha.org/advocacy/state/info/.

Experiential Program Requirements: Hands-on skill practice, observation, and fieldwork requirements for the program cannot be completed online. Students will work with their academic advisor to identify resources for these requirements.

• Lab Activities: Each semester, students will meet with an SLP to practice hands-on speech-language pathology assistant technical skills. Three lab meetings are required per semester. SD students meet in regional lab groups. Out-of-state students meet in an online lab group.
• Observations: Students observe a total of 25 hours of speech-language therapy services in SLPA 101 Clinical Observation I and SLPA 202 Clinical Observation II courses. These observations are completed with an SLP in their geographic area.
• Fieldwork: An 8-week, full-time fieldwork placement is required for successful completion of the program requirements. A total of 240 hours of clock time and 100 hours of supervised clinical experience is required. Fieldwork placement is completed in the last half of the student’s final spring semester. The fieldwork placement is completed with an SLP in their geographic area.

Program Graduation Requirement: It is the goal of this program to prepare competent entry-level speech-language pathology assistants. To achieve that goal, students must earn a grade of C (2.0) or higher in all technical courses as a prerequisite to SLPA 240 Clinical Fieldwork. Students must earn a grade of C (2.0) or higher in their clinical fieldwork in order to graduate.

Learn more by downloading the SLPA Online Student Guide.

Computer Requirements: Computer, iPad, and internet access required. Your computer and iPad will have to meet our specifications to assure your operating system and software are current and compatible.

Here are the minimum specifications for computers or iPads for this program:

Computer/Laptop Minimum Specifications:
Processor – Intel Core i Series (i3, i5, i7) or AMD Ryzen
Operating System – Windows 10
Webcam Recommended
Memory - 4 GB or more
Internal Storage – 64 GB or more
Microsoft Office is available at no charge as long as enrolled at MTI
NO APPLE/MAC COMPUTERS

 iPad Specifications:
4th Gen or newer
Internal Storage – 16 GB or more (32 recommeneded)
No iPad Minis
No Tablets