Certification & Licensure Requirements

To become a professional speech-language pathologist (SLP), obtaining a graduate degree from a program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) program is only the first step.  

You also need to complete a supervised post-graduate experience (a clinical fellowship), pass a national Praxis exam in speech-language pathology and be appropriately credentialed to practice professionally.

Credentialing

There are two types of credentialing for speech-language pathologists: national certification and state licensure.

National Certification

The UW Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology is specifically designed to meet the educational knowledge and skill requirements for professional certification through ASHA, which is the national professional, credentialing, and scientific organization for speech-language pathologists. Any student graduating from a CAA-accredited program meets the educational eligibility requirements for ASHA’s Certification of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP).  

State Licensure 

All 50 states in the U.S. oversee and regulate the practice of speech-language pathology through licensure, which varies from state to state. The type of required state licensure often depends on the setting in which a speech-language pathologist will work. Licensing regulations and licensing bodies differ for noneducational versus educational settings in many states.

Educational Track students are prepared for licensure in the schools AND non-school settings in states as indicated on the lists below. Students in the other two tracks (Medical and Clinical Research) are prepared for licensure only in non-school settings upon graduation; however, with (typically minimal) additional training, they can be licensed for schools as well if they choose to pursue that setting.

If you’re planning to pursue state licensure or certification outside of Washington State, we strongly recommended that you contact the appropriate licensing entity in the state you’re seeking employment to obtain information and guidance regarding their requirements before beginning an academic program. We also encourage you to review ASHA’s state licensure requirements, which summarize licensure requirements for all states and territories. 

The information below outlines how the UW Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology meets the educational requirements for professional licensure or certification across all U.S. states, districts and territories. These findings are accurate as of September 2024. For the locations where our educational offerings do not meet a specific state’s requirements for licensure or certification, you may be required to obtain alternate or additional courses or more experiential or clinical hours.