Licensing During Your Clinical Fellowship: What Each State Calls It

Your clinical fellowship has two sets of rules running at the same time. ASHA's rules decide whether the hours count toward the Certificate of Clinical Competence. Your state's rules decide whether you are allowed to treat anyone while you earn them. The two are separate, and the state side is the one that can stop you on day one. Texas says it directly: approval from ASHA to begin the clinical fellowship "is not a license to practice in Texas."

Most states that license speech-language pathologists issue some credential for the fellowship year. The names change from state to state (intern license, provisional license, temporary license, conditional license, permit, registration), and so do the deadlines, the supervisor requirements and how long the credential lasts. A few states require nothing from the fellow at all.

What does ASHA require during the fellowship?

ASHA's guide to the clinical fellowship, which explains Standard VII of the 2020 SLP certification standards, sets the baseline that most state rules borrow from:

• At least 36 weeks and 1,260 hours, with a minimum of 5 hours per week for a week to count. Working more than 35 hours a week does not shorten the 36 weeks.
• Three segments, each at least 12 weeks long, with at least 6 hours of on-site, in-person direct supervision and 6 hours of indirect supervision from each mentor in each segment.
• At least 80% of the time in direct clinical contact.
• Completion within 48 months of the date the fellowship began.
• A mentor who holds a current CCC-SLP, has at least 9 months of full-time experience after earning it, and has completed 2 hours of professional development in supervision.

None of that creates a right to practice. That comes from the state where your clients are.

Which states issue a license or permit for clinical fellows?

These are the states we checked against the board or the statute itself. Fees are the amounts on the page or rule we read; confirm the current figure before you pay.

Texas: Intern in Speech-Language Pathology license

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) issues an intern license for a $75 application fee, which includes a one-year license. You submit an Intern Supervision Plan signed by you and your supervisor, proof that you passed the Texas Jurisprudence Examination, and fingerprints for a national criminal history review. The internship "cannot begin until the intern license has been issued and the intern is listed on the supervisor's license." Your supervisor needs two years of experience, may oversee no more than four interns and assistants at once, and cannot be your parent or child. Only hours earned under a Texas-licensed, TDLR-approved supervisor count. See Texas SLP licensing.

California: RPE temporary license

California calls the fellowship Required Professional Experience. You complete 36 weeks full time or 72 weeks part time while holding an RPE temporary license, and experience completed in California counts only if you held that license during it. The board's fee schedule lists a $35 RPE application fee and notes that RPE temporary licenses are non-renewable and can only be extended under California Code of Regulations section 1399.153.10. Every applicant is fingerprinted. See California SLP licensing.

Florida: provisional license

Florida requires a provisional license of every SLP applicant who cannot document at least 9 months of supervised professional employment and a passing national exam score, and you must be certified by the board before the experience starts. The statute caps a provisional license at 24 months (Fla. Stat. § 468.1155). See Florida SLP licensing.

Illinois: Speech-Language Pathology Temporary License

Illinois requires a temporary license before you begin supervised professional experience, under an IDFPR-licensed SLP. It lasts 18 months and can be renewed once for good cause. The IDFPR qualifications sheet is blunt about the difference from ASHA: ASHA allows up to 48 months, "that is not the case for speech-language pathology licensure in Illinois." Illinois counts 30 hours a week as full time, and fewer than 15 hours a week does not count at all. A 120-day license-pending status exists only for people who have finished the coursework but whose degree has not yet been conferred. See Illinois SLP licensing.

Ohio: conditional license

Ohio Revised Code 4753.071 requires a conditional license, applied for with a plan for the supervised experience. An applicant "may not begin employment until the conditional license has been issued," and the license is valid for 18 months. We read the section through an archived copy of the Ohio code site because the live site blocks our server. See Ohio SLP licensing.

Pennsylvania: provisional license

Pennsylvania issues a provisional license to applicants completing the supervised professional experience for the CCC. It is valid for 18 months and may be renewed one time (49 Pa. Code § 45.23), and the fee schedule in § 45.1 lists the provisional license at $50. See Pennsylvania SLP licensing.

Alabama, Indiana and Georgia

• Alabama requires a clinical fellow to apply for a provisional license within 30 days of beginning employment, finish the fellowship within 36 months, and apply for the full license within 30 days after it ends (Ala. Admin. Code r. 870-X-2-.05).
• Indiana uses a Clinical Fellowship Year registration. The fellowship is nine months full time or its equivalent and may not exceed 18 consecutive months. Weeks under 15 hours do not count, and a fellow who runs past 18 months must register again and loses the hours already earned. The Professional Licensing Agency lists the registration fee at $50.
• Georgia issues a nonrenewable Paid Clinical Experience temporary permit. Full-time experience must be finished within 12 months and part-time within 24, according to an archived copy of the board's how-to guide.

Where can a clinical fellow work without a state credential?

New York exempts people working under supervision to complete the experience requirement. The State Education Department offers an optional Limited License for $70, valid for one year, created for settings that bill Medicare directly. Otherwise you can file Form 4a to identify your supervisor and setting. New York counts 36 weeks and 1,260 hours, completed within four years, and no more than 45 hours a week. See New York SLP licensing.

Connecticut has no clinical fellow license either, but the Department of Public Health must approve your Supervised Professional Experience before it counts, under a Connecticut-licensed SLP. Its rule is 36 weeks and 1,080 hours full time (30 hours a week) or 48 weeks and 1,440 hours part time (15 hours a week), which is not the same arithmetic as ASHA's.

Why does the state clock matter more than ASHA's?

ASHA gives you 48 months. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio give you 18, Florida 24 and Alabama 36. A fellow who goes part time, takes leave or changes jobs mid-year can be fine for the CCC and out of time for the state credential. Indiana's rule is the harshest we found, because the hours are lost, not just paused. If your schedule is likely to stretch, check the state clock before you accept a part-time offer.

Minimum weekly hours differ too. ASHA counts a week at 5 hours, Texas at 5, Indiana and Illinois only at 15. A fellow working 10 hours a week in two settings can be building ASHA hours that Illinois will not accept.

Can a clinical fellow practice through the ASLP Compact?

No. The Commission's FAQ says professionals practicing through the compact "must have a license to practice independently. If your role requires supervision (such as a clinical fellowship), you are not eligible." A fellow needs the credential of the state where the clients are, even when the mentor holds a compact privilege there. More in who the ASLP Compact does not cover.

What should you have in hand before your start date?

1. The state credential itself, issued, not just applied for, in Texas, Ohio, Illinois and Florida.
2. A supervisor who qualifies under both sets of rules: licensed in that state and holding a CCC-SLP that stays current for the whole fellowship.
3. The plan or supervision form your state requires, signed by both of you.
4. Any jurisprudence exam the state requires up front, as Texas does.
5. Fingerprints, if the state requires them for the fellowship credential.

When the hours are done, the move to a full license is its own application. See moving from a CF license to a full license, and if your fellowship is in a state other than where you trained, doing your clinical fellowship in a different state. School-based fellows may also need an education credential; see school SLP credentials.

How can we help with the fellowship paperwork?

Our Clinical Fellowship and Provisional License service is $349 per state. We confirm which credential the state requires, prepare the application and supervision plan with you and your mentor, coordinate fingerprints, and calendar the state's deadlines next to ASHA's. You and your supervisor sign and attest to everything. State fees, fingerprint vendor fees and ASHA fees are separate. The state license index has each state's requirements.