Summer Track Master’s in Clinical Speech-Language Pathology

Initiative Categories

Focus Areas

Summary

Northern Arizona University’s (NAU) Summer Track master’s program in Clinical Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) creates a pathway to graduate education for students whose work, family responsibilities, or location make a traditional program difficult to attend. It is uniquely designed to support students whose educational journeys differ from the conventional route, while also promoting advancement in access, diversity, and representation within our profession. For more than 25 years, the Flagstaff-cohort Summer Track program has welcomed students from across the country. The addition of our Yuma satellite campus has extended this pathway to a rural community, supporting our long-term goal of increasing access to higher education and over time, to specialized speech, language, and swallowing services to the surrounding communities. The first Yuma cohort graduated in summer 2025, which marked an important milestone in that effort. Together, the cohorts aim to reduce geographic, financial, and scheduling barriers to graduate education while still preparing effective clinicians to serve their communities.

The Summer Track program attracts a range of students but was initially developed to support Speech-Language Pathology Assistants who provided services within schools for many years without an accessible pathway to obtaining a master’s degree. Concentrated in-person coursework in the summer allows students to continue working during the academic year and throughout portions of their clinical training. The helps reduce some of the financial barriers to earning a master’s degree and opens the door to an increasing number of individuals who would not otherwise be able to pursue an advanced degree in SLP.

In addition, we strive to support our students financially. The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) awards annual tuition support via a collaborative contract between ADE and NAU CSD specifically to our Summer Track students who are Arizona residents employed in schools and who plan to work in an Arizona school post-graduation. This further supports financial access to the master’s program while maintaining an increased availability of speech-language pathologists providing services.

In the future, we plan to strengthen outreach and accessibility of graduate education to prospective students. Recruitment of alumni has been an important way students learn about the program, but broader outreach could help us reach qualified applicants who may not know this pathway is available.

In summary, NAU’s CSD Summer Track in Clinical SLP program expands access to a master’s degree for students balancing work and family and helps prepare clinicians to better serve their home communities. Future growth will focus on reaching more prospective students and exploring how we can expand access to the program.

For More Information

See this NAU CSD Program brochure [PDF], visit NAU's webpage about the Master of Science in Clinical Speech Language Pathology or contact Julia Cai at julia.cai@nau.edu.

This initiative was submitted on September 21, 2026.

Culturally Responsive Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, Graduate Certificate