Tennessee SLP Licensing and the Compact

Tennessee licenses speech-language pathologists and audiologists through the Board of Communication Disorders and Sciences, part of the Department of Health's health related boards. The statutes are in Tennessee Code Annotated Title 63, Chapter 17, Part 1, and the board's rules are Chapter 1370-01.

Tennessee is also one of four states issuing ASLP Compact privileges. It opened on May 28, 2026, after Louisiana and West Virginia (October 28, 2025) and Ohio (February 9, 2026). No fifth state had been announced as of October 2026.

How does a Tennessee compact privilege work?

If your home state is Louisiana, West Virginia or Ohio and you meet the compact's eligibility rules, you can buy a privilege to practice in Tennessee. The cost is Tennessee's $150 state fee plus the Commission's $50 administrative fee, $200 in total, the highest among the issuing states. Fees are nonrefundable.

Tennessee also requires a jurisprudence exam for a privilege, and the Commission says it must be completed before you apply. That makes Tennessee and West Virginia the two issuing states with a jurisprudence step. Our post on jurisprudence requirements for ASLP Compact privileges has the details.

A few rules apply in every compact state:

• The privilege expires with your home-state license and goes "Inactive" at its printed expiration date, even during a grace period.
• You follow Tennessee's practice act while practicing there, and Tennessee can discipline the privilege.
• You apply, attest and pay yourself in CompactConnect.
• SLPAs and clinical fellows are not eligible.

Uptake so far is tiny. The Commission's FY26 annual report shows one privilege purchased for Tennessee, for an SLP, in the year ending June 30, 2026. Tennessee had been issuing for about a month by then.

Can a Tennessee SLP use the compact elsewhere?

Yes. If you live in Tennessee and hold an active, unencumbered Tennessee license, you can buy privileges in Louisiana, West Virginia and Ohio. Your background check runs through Tennessee as the home state. See your home state and the ASLP Compact.

What are the routes to a full Tennessee license?

The board's paper application instructions (revised in 2017) list three routes for SLPs and audiologists:

• Certificate of Clinical Competence: ASHA sends verification that your CCC was awarded, plus a letter of recommendation on the signer's letterhead.
• Reciprocity: an official copy of the licensure requirements of the state where you are licensed, and a copy of your renewal certificate showing the expiration date and number.
• Criteria: verification of at least 400 practicum hours (1,820 for audiology), nine months full-time or eighteen months half-time of professional employment, a current passing Praxis score sent by ETS, and a letter of recommendation.

Every route also needs an official transcript sent from the graduate school, verification from every state where you hold or have ever held a license, a passport photograph taken within the past 12 months, a certified birth certificate or notarized copy, a declaration of citizenship, a criminal background check, the mandatory profile questionnaire and the jurisprudence exam. The instructions said documents must be dated within one year of receipt. Check the current application in the board's online licensure system before relying on any older form.

Which jurisprudence exam applies to a license?

For full licensure, the board's instructions dated October 2024 say the jurisprudence exam covers Tennessee's statutes and rules, is scored by the board administrator, and requires 80 percent to move forward. You complete a notarized affidavit that you had no unauthorized help. If you score under 80 percent, the board sends a new exam. The exam is open to the statutes and rules; the instructions tell you to complete it using them. See state jurisprudence exams for SLPs and audiologists.

When can you start working?

The older application instructions put the average approval time at four to six weeks absent complications, and said applications still deficient 60 days after the first deficiency letter are closed. The instructions are blunt about practice: you must have a Tennessee license "in your possession before you may lawfully practice." Those instructions do not mention any temporary license for experienced clinicians.

Can someone else set up your Tennessee online account?

Be careful here. The board's licensure page says only one online account can be created for a professional license. If a third party creates it, "the licensee, without knowledge of the user id and password, will not be able to manage their professional license," and you have to call the board during business hours to have the license disassociated. If anyone offers to set it up for you, say no and create your own.

What about teletherapy into Tennessee?

The board's FAQ, written before Tennessee began issuing privileges, says that unless you work in a free clinic, a provider must be licensed in Tennessee and the client must be in Tennessee for telehealth. Since May 28, 2026, a Tennessee compact privilege is the other way in for clinicians from Louisiana, West Virginia and Ohio, because the Commission treats a privilege as equivalent to a license. See teletherapy for SLPs across state lines.

Where do we fit in?

For a Tennessee license, our License by Endorsement service is $599, or $749 for a full application through the criteria route. Jurisprudence and State Law Exam Support is $249 per state; you take the exam yourself. For a Tennessee privilege, our ASLP Compact Readiness Review is $149, and our Compact Privilege Concierge is $299 for the first state: a guided session in which you complete CompactConnect and pay the fees yourself. State, Commission and ETS fees are separate. See Tennessee details on the Tennessee state page and the issuing map on our ASLP Compact hub.