charlottearoora

The best place to ask this might be the Facebook group for the program.  I did the program, but I did it in a different order and number of classes per semester than recommended, so I'm probably not the right person to ask.  If you search in the group, a lot of people have asked similar question-- I used it to figure out which courses to pair by workload.

I'm trying to compile a list of schools that tend to be generous with funding (e.g., tuition waivers for the out-of-state portion, tuition remission, assistantships, etc.). If you've been awarded funding or know of programs that fit this criterion, feel free to add to this list. You can also share your stats.
Current List:
Texas Christian University East Tennessee State University University of Memphis University of Maryland Thanks so much!

Former student here. 
1) I would say that they have high expectations but not over the top. My overall take on grad school was that it was challenging but not overwhelming. The professors themselves will tell you that it's okay to get B's now that you've been admitted to the program. The clinical faculty is supportive and take the process of helping students improve seriously. The atmosphere also depends on your specific cohort as well. My cohort was very supportive and we were all very friendly with each other. We were not competitive with each other at all. We shared notes, study guides, studied together. We all felt like there wasn't a point to being competitive because we'd all really already achieved the ultimate goal of getting into a good school.
2) Funding is not all that common. Of the students in my class maybe 2-3 people got a TA-ship or paid research position. The TA-ships were offered to students specifically but I think the paid research positions were something people sought out. TA-ships were only offered for one semester with no repeats. I do know that some students sought out TA-ships in other departments, like linguistics or Spanish. One nice thing is that the final semester in the second year you only pay for 4 credits so it's significantly cheaper than the other semesters. 
3) What I like most about the program was how close my cohort was. We all helped each other and were very supportive, I really felt like I could have gone to any one of them with a problem and they would have listened and tried to help. I also liked how knowledgeable the clinical and academic staff were, they are very good at their jobs and I always felt like I was learning cutting-edge EBP practices. I also really liked doing the stuttering camps for kids and teens in the summer. It's a great crash course in stuttering therapy which not all universities have experiences in. Iowa also allows you to do your clinical practicums anywhere in the country and will help you find one if they have connections in the city you are looking for. You may still have to do some cold calls on your own if it's a new city but they'll assist you in setting it up once you've ascertained the place you are looking at is open to taking a student. My least favorite part was that team experiences during the summer are shorter than during the semester--I was doing early intervention team during the summer and was sad that I didn't get to do a full semester's worth of working with clients. I was there when they had two preschool classrooms in the building that we serviced and they no longer have those, which is a shame because it was a great experience.

I went to both Iowa's and Purdue's open houses and I preferred the vibe that I got from Iowa. All the faculty, no matter how busy they were took the time to pop in and introduce themselves to the group and talk with us during the luncheon. I didn't get that same welcoming feeling at Purdue. I also didn't care for the fact that the department head bashed a bunch of the other top schools in his address to the group. Like you, I was interested in getting a research position and had contacted people at both universities. I got a prompt response from Iowa and met with her to discuss a potential position when I was there for the open house.  I never heard back from Purdue, even just to say they didn't have anything open. My friend went there and had a good experience so I think it just depends.

I am doing a 20 hour assistantship, which covers almost all of my tuition and gives me a stipend of 24k a year. It also allotted me in state tuition for Maryland. 
 
 

Apply to Purdue, Memphis or Texas Christian. 

Logan is definitely bikeable. I can't say from personal experience but several of my cohort (I just finished at usu) would bike all the time even to campus. It gets hot and cold, there's lots of outdoorsy stuff which I'm not huge into but I did a few hikes. Supposedly there's one bar but I'm one of them Mormons so that didn't matter. The others would go down to salt lake if they wanted that. We all got along great, but for a couple it was a slight culture shock. 
Program wise I'm not sure how much funding there was. Several had assistantships and I was offered a small scholarship after the first summer. But if you qualify for that regional state agreement that helps so much. Many students came for that. 
For more specifics on usu feel free to pm me. 

Be forewarned that the LEND program is on the chopping block with the new administration. http://cqrcengage.com/aucd/app/write-a-letter?5&engagementId=364373
I would not count on it to be around past the end of this fiscal year in September.

There are some bike paths, but I don't know if you would consider it bikeable. One does see the Mormon missionaries biking around town, but not others really. I spent the school year 14-15 at UMass in Amherst. It was the coldest winter on record and I nearly froze. Utah is a much drier climate than the northeast, so in that respect the weather isn't as bad. But, it's still pretty miserable in the winter. I dislike having no sunshine.

Utah State is in Logan. I have been there many times. It is located in the Cache Valley and the mountains to the east are pretty all the way to Bear Lake. The valley itself is OK, not gorgeous, but not ugly either. Lots of farms. Gets very hot for a couple of weeks in the summer (over 100 degrees) and there is an inversion in the winter that creates a very cold, grey area. As you are from WA state, you know how the western part of the state is prone to that. It seems that the snow does not melt, and stays on the ground until it begins to warm up in the spring. It is not like the Denver area at all, where the snow melts after a couple of days. I'm not Mormon, but the area has a high percentage of Mormons or former Mormons. Many things are closed on Sundays, or they were a few years ago. I never noticed or felt there was a problem. I really know nothing about Utah State. If you are a party person, this is not the town to be in. I don't believe I ever saw a bar there, and to buy beer, wine or alcohol in Utah, you used to have to go to the state liquor store. Don't know if Logan has one. The whole valley's population is about 100,000. Logan itself is about 30,000.