For over 50 years, Fontbonne’s deaf education program has prepared professionals to teach children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. Here, your interest in teaching deaf students is nurtured with dedicated faculty who understand the challenges and rewards of this demanding educational field. Bachelor of Arts in Deaf Education graduates are knowledgeable of current trends and are committed to collaboration, lifelong learning and professional development. With a Fontbonne education, you’ll graduate with a broad background in deaf education and special education as well as speech and hearing sciences.

Enrollment in the undergraduate deaf education major is temporarily paused while program is under review.

The Bachelor of Arts in Deaf Education is accredited by the Council of Education of the Deaf (CED).CED conducts a nationally recognized process for the accreditation of post-secondary programs which train teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students. The CED Accreditation program is built upon the core competencies in special education set forth by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and also has standards specifically for teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students. As Fontbonne is a CED certified program, our graduates are eligible for CED individual Certification which represents the highest standard for teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students.

Your choice to study at Fontbonne puts you among an elite group of deaf and special education leaders, as our program is nationally recognized for providing an exceptional education with a forward-thinking approach.

• One of the few four-year undergraduate deaf education programs in the country
• Program accredited by the Council on Education of the Deaf
• Senior-year teaching experience designed to fit your interests
• Work directly with children using the latest listening technology, including cochlear implants
• Participate in field experiences in a variety of settings and age levels
• Eligibility for Missouri teacher certification in birth-12th grade deaf/hard of hearing education —Fontbonne University is a member in good standing of the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) while preparing for the AAQEP Quality Assurance Review in spring 2023. AAQEP is recognized by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MoDESE) by agreement and in support of quality assurance, continuous improvement, and innovation in educator preparation.

• St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf 
• Central Institute for the Deaf
• Special School District of St. Louis County
• St. Louis Public Schools
• Moog Center for Deaf Education
• Central Institute for the Deaf

• Sheila Petasek ’05, MA ’06, an Early Childhood Hearing Impaired Teacher at Lowell Elementary School in Waukesha, Wis., is the President of the AG Bell Chapter in Wisconsin.
• Libby Brauss ’14, a hearing itinerant teacher working for Legacy Traditional Schools in Arizona supporting student with hearing loss in general education settings, is completing her master’s degree in Literacy Education at Arizona State University.
• Jenna Voss ’03, MA ’04 pursued her Ph.D. in the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as a National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities fellow. She is now an assistant professor in the department of communication disorders and deaf education at Fontbonne.
• Melanie Paticoff ’11 is the creator and author of Sophie’s Tales, a series of children’s books designed to support kids with hearing loss and help raise awareness about oral deaf education and cochlear implants.