Speech Pathology now offered in Yuma
NAU–Yuma Now Offers Master’s and Certificate Programs in Speech-Language Pathology
Are you interested in serving the Yuma community as a Speech Language Pathologist or Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant (SLPA)? NAU’s Master of Science in Clinical Speech-Language Pathology Program is now offered in person at NAU Yuma and our SLPA Certificate Program fully online!
In fact, the first Yuma cohort of 11 students just finished their first Summer Track Program, and admission applications for the next cohort are being taken now through January 15, 2023. That’s a strict deadline by which potential students should submit 1) a program admissions application and 2) a graduate admissions application, says Elena Arroyo, Academic Program Coordinator for the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at NAU Yuma.
“There is a great need in the community for licensed speech pathologists. There are a good amount of SLPAs in the community, but there are very limited in-person supervisors (Speech-Language Pathologists).” To fill that gap, the program was approved to be delivered in Yuma, where local students can complete their degrees and spend their careers serving their own community if they choose.
Ten applicants who have bachelor’s degrees and who also meet Program requirements will be admitted into the Yuma cohort each summer, and only for the summer, Arroyo says. “The bulk of the coursework is typically done over the course of four summers, but students may take one or two classes online during the fall and spring semesters.”
One benefit to students is that they can work year-round in the speech pathology field, or at least during the academic year, the latter of which is a program requirement. “Students must be employed at least part time in the field throughout the academic year—August through May—either in a school district or a private therapy agency that is currently licensed through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association,” Arroyo says.
Students also benefit from participating in the Yuma cohort because it eliminates costs for housing and living expenses associated with leaving town to complete a degree program, she says.
Though this summer’s courses were taught online and in-person at NAU in Flagstaff; however, they will be offered in person in Yuma next summer, she says.
A Speech-Language Pathology Assistant Certificate Program is also being offered through NAU Online.
“It is open enrollment through rolling admitting,” she says. “Any student who is interested in becoming an SLPA can be admitted fall, spring or summer. No degree or certificate is required.”
Classes for the certificate program are only taught online, and students who attend full time can complete the program in three semesters, she says.
For more information about the speech-pathology master’s and certificate programs, please visit our website at https://nau.edu/csd/program-overview/, send an email to speech@nau.edu, or call (928) 523-2969.