Moving from a clinical fellowship credential to a full SLP license is a separate application. Most boards want a completion form sent or signed by your supervisor, a passing Praxis score sent by ETS, and a new fee. Texas charges $150 for the intern upgrade, and New York will not accept the completion form from the applicant.
The last week of a clinical fellowship feels like the finish line. For licensing purposes it is the start of one more application. Your fellowship credential, whatever your state calls it, authorizes supervised practice only, and it has an expiration date. The full license is a separate decision by the board, made on paperwork that mostly comes from other people: your supervisor, ETS and sometimes ASHA.
How does the upgrade work in Texas?
Texas treats it as a new license type. The Intern Upgrade to Speech-Language Pathologist application costs $150, which includes a two-year initial license, according to TDLR's upgrade page. To qualify you need the full internship (36 weeks and 1,260 hours) and a passing Praxis score; TDLR may waive the Praxis for holders of ASHA's Certificate of Clinical Competence.
The step that slips is the Report of Completed Speech-Language Pathology Internship. Your supervisor completes it, both of you sign, and it must be submitted within 30 days of finishing the internship. You do not need new fingerprints if you already submitted them for the intern license. Once the application is in, you have one year to meet every requirement before you have to start over with a new application and fee.
Meanwhile, remember what you are holding. TDLR's renewal page says intern licenses are valid for one year, against two years for a full license. See Texas SLP licensing.
What does California want at the end of the RPE?
After 36 full-time weeks (or 72 part-time) of Required Professional Experience on an RPE temporary license, you submit the Permanent License Application with the RPE Verification Form. The board's fee schedule sets the SLP application and license fee at $150, and an applicant who already paid the $35 RPE fee pays the remaining $115. Your Praxis score must be at least 162, no more than five years old, and reported by ETS with code R8544.
The first full license runs no less than 13 months and up to 24, and renewals fall on the last day of your birth month. See California SLP licensing.
Who sends the completion form in New York?
Not you. The State Education Department says your supervisor must send Form 4B directly to the Office of the Professions, and it "will not accept this form if it is submitted by the applicant." If you are ASHA certified, you can instead ask ASHA to send a verification statement. Your Praxis 5331 score of at least 162 goes to code R7747, and the fee for licensure and first registration is $294 on the department's page today.
New York lets you keep practicing under the supervision of a licensed SLP until the department decides on your experience, which it signals by issuing the license. You have four years in total to meet the experience requirement. See New York SLP licensing.
Does earning the CCC replace the state application?
No, and Indiana's Professional Licensing Agency says so plainly: "Getting your ASHA certificate does not allow you to practice as an SLP, it will however assist you in obtaining your license through our office." After an Indiana Clinical Fellowship Year registration, you still apply for the SLP license and pass the Indiana jurisprudence exam, which no applicant is exempt from.
The CCC does shortcut parts of many applications. California has an equivalent-qualifications pathway for current CCC holders, Texas may waive the internship and Praxis, and Illinois accepts ASHA certification in place of the Praxis results and the experience form. The two applications are still separate, with separate fees, and ASHA's processing time does not change the state's. See ASHA's CCC is not a state license.
When does the gap between credentials open?
The risk is the stretch between the end of the hours and the issue date of the full license. Three things widen it:
- The fellowship credential expires first. Illinois issues its temporary license for 18 months, Ohio its conditional license for 18 months, and Texas its intern license for one year. A fellowship that ran long can leave only weeks of cover.
- A deadline you did not know about. Alabama gives you 30 days after the supervised experience to complete the process for a full license (Ala. Admin. Code r. 870-X-2-.05). Texas wants the completion report within 30 days.
- An old score. California rejects Praxis scores more than five years old. Fellows who tested early and then took a long or part-time fellowship can be caught by it.
Where do upgrade applications usually stall?
- The supervisor's form. It has to come from the supervisor in New York and be co-signed in Texas. A mentor who changed jobs or went on leave can hold up the whole file.
- A gap in the mentor's credentials. ASHA does not count hours earned while a mentor did not meet its supervision requirements. Fellows are told to check their mentor's certification status at each segment.
- Scores sent to the wrong place. Each board has its own ETS code. A score reported to a school district or another board does not reach the licensing board.
- Two supervisors, one form. When the fellowship was split between supervisors, Texas wants a completion report for each portion, including a signed statement where no hours were earned.
What if your full license will be in a different state?
Then it is not an upgrade at all. It is a first full license in a new state, usually by examination rather than endorsement, with that state's own forms, fees and background check. Expect to supply the fellowship verification, your Praxis score and verification of the fellowship credential you held. See doing your clinical fellowship in a different state and license verifications.
How can we help you close out the fellowship?
Our Clinical Fellowship and Provisional License service ($349 per state) handles the fellowship credential and its deadlines. If your first full license is in a different state, our Full State License Application service is $749 per state. In both cases we track the supervisor's forms, the score report and the board, and you sign and attest to every application. Board, ETS and fingerprint fees are separate.
Common questions
- Does my CF license turn into a full license automatically?
- Usually not. Texas, California and New York each require a new application with a supervisor's completion form and a Praxis score. File as soon as the hours are done, because the fellowship credential has its own expiration date.
- Can I keep working while my full license is pending?
- It depends on the state. New York lets you continue under a licensed SLP's supervision until it decides. In states with a time-limited fellowship credential, you can work only while that credential is valid.
- Does getting my CCC give me a state license?
- No. Indiana's licensing agency says the ASHA certificate does not allow you to practice as an SLP. The CCC can replace some documents on a state application, but you still apply to the board.
- Who sends the clinical fellowship completion form?
- Usually your supervisor. New York will not accept Form 4B from the applicant, and Texas requires both of you to sign the completion report within 30 days of finishing.
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