A study was conducted to assess the skill of students in identifying meanings of facial expressions in photographs used in the Facial Meaning Sensitivity Test (FMST). Subjects were 55 speech pathology students, 39 nursing students, and 36 speech communication students. The first part of the three part test asked subjects to match 10 photographs with the 10 broad classes of facial meaning, including happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, and fear. Part two presented 30 photographs and required subjects to pick three showing gradations of the 10 broad classes of meaning. Part three presented the 30 photographs arranged in triads, which subjects must then match to the appropriate category. None of the subjects had received any training in reading facial expressions at the time of the testing. The results indicated that one-third of the subjects demonstrated below average skills in decoding facial expressions. The results suggest a need for instruction in nonverbal communication for students in the helping professions such as nursing and speech pathology. (HTH)