In the United States, speech-language pathology is a Master's entry-level professional degree field. Clinicians must hold a master's degree in Communicative Disorders/Speech-Language Pathology ("e.g." M.A., M.S., or M.Ed.) that is from a university that holds regional accreditation and from a communication sciences and disorders program that is accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the profession's national governing body as well as individual state's governing board. Programs that offer the M.Ed. degree are often housed within a university's College of education, but offer the same education and training as programs with a M.A. or M.S. degree. Beyond the master's degree, some SLPs may choose to earn a clinical doctorate in Speech-Language Pathology ("e.g." CScD or SLPD), or a doctoral degree that has a research and/or professional focus ("e.g.", Ph.D., or Ed.D.). All degrees must be from a university that holds regional accreditation, but only the master's degree is accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).