How to Become a Speech-Language Pathologist in Alaska

Alaska is a state that comes with vast challenges in delivering both health and rehab services. Hundreds of miles of untracked wilderness  and open water separate citizens from clinicians. Months of darkness and challenging weather conditions create obstacles to travel.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Alaska have the opportunity to work with both urban and widely dispersed rural populations with communicative disorders. But it’s a place where the practice is like no other. From the streets of Juneau to the docks in Kodiak, just getting to the people you need to treat can be half the job.

As a licensed SLP in Alaska, you’ll have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of some incredibly dedicated individuals who have forged those paths. They’ve helped hundreds of patients overcome communicative disorders. By following the steps we’ve outlined here, you can join them—if you have the grit to make it stick.

Earning an SLP License in the Northernmost State Requires National Certification

In order to become licensed as an SLP in Alaska, you’ll need to meet all requirements for the CCC-SLP credential through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) before applying for licensure through the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development.

It’s a process that, including earning an undergraduate degree, can take you seven or more years. But it is also a process that will give you the confidence and skill to take on any kind of speech impediment, swallowing problem, or fluency disorder that you run into whether in the wilderness or in the city.

	Earn a Speech Therapist Degree: Complete a Qualifying Master’s Degree Program in Communicative Sciences and Disorders
	Gain Required Professional Experience (RPE) Through a Clinical Fellowship Program
	Pass the National Examination and Earn the CCC-SLP Credential
	Become Licensed and Begin Your Career as a Speech-Language Pathologist
	Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

Step 1. Earn a Speech Therapist Degree: Complete a Qualifying Master’s Degree Program in Communicative Sciences and Disorders

To become a speech-language pathologist you will have to have a master’s degree at a minimum. Many SLPs even go on to the doctoral level, though it’s not required.

You don’t have to hold a bachelor’s degree in the field in order to be accepted into a master’s program in communicative sciences and disorders, but it helps.

If your bachelor’s degree is outside the field of communicative sciences, you will need to complete prerequisite courses in SLP fundamentals before beginning the graduate coursework.

Standard prerequisite courses include:

• Introduction to Audiology
• Speech and Language Development in Children
• Science of Language
• Neuroanatomy and Physiology of Communication
• Phonetics and Phonemics of American English
• Anatomy and Physiology of Speech and Hearing Mechanism
• Audiology: Intervention Strategies across the Lifespan

Most graduate programs will require you to submit the following with your application:

• A resume of your experience in the field
• A statement of purpose explaining your goals
• GRE scores
• An official transcript from all undergraduate programs
• Two letters of recommendation from academic references

As of 2025, there are no qualifying SLP programs in Alaska with accreditation from ASHA’s Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. However, University of Alaska Anchorage does now cooperate in offering a Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders program in partnership with East Carolina University. While the degree is through ECU, Alaskan students have the opportunity to remain in Alaska while completing practicum and other coursework.

Like the ECU degree, accredited online programs ideal for students in the state. With transportation and relocation challenges that students in other states can’t even understand, online options open up possibilities for study that Alaskans never had access to before.

Through your online graduate program, you’ll study topics including:

• Linguistics
• Psychology
• Physiology
• Physics and Chemistry

You’ll be engaging in interactive problem modules, exams, quizzes, and live lectures just as traditional students do. You’ll be able to complete your required professional experience in approved clinics, rehab centers and hospitals near to you… or at least somewhere in the state!

Core courses typically include:

• Foundations of Communication Disorders
• Anatomy and Physiology of Speech and Hearing
• Phonetics
• Language Development Across the Lifespan
• Phonology and Articulation Development and Disorders
• Audiology
• Aural Rehabilitation
• Dysphagia in Adults and Children
• Principles of Intervention with Speech-Language Disorders
• Phonological Analysis of Normal and Disordered Speech
• Multi-Cultural Issues in Communicative Sciences and Disorders
• Professional Issues in Communicative Sciences and Disorders

Electives can broaden your skill set or zoom it in on a specific type of issues that interest you. Those can include:

• Counseling Skills for Communicative Sciences and Disorders
• Computerized Analysis of Language Transcripts
• Hearing Loss: Rehabilitation
• Perception and Production of Speech
• Interdisciplinary Habilitation of Speaking Voice
• Interdisciplinary Case-Based Dysphagia Management
• Approaches to Natural Language
• Communicative Science and Disorders Research Colloquium

You’ll also cover communication and swallowing processes, the nature of speech and language, and the biological bases of hearing and communication disorders. After completing the program, you’ll have gained hands-on experience with various populations and patients with many kinds of communicative disorders.

Step 2. Gain Required Professional Experience (RPE) Through a Clinical Fellowship Program

In order to gain CCC certification from ASHA, you’ll need to complete a clinical fellowship. ASHA requires that the clinical fellowship be:

• 36 weeks of full-time (35 hours per week) experience (or the equivalent part-time experience), totaling a minimum of 1260 hours. You are permitted to work on this part-time, as long as you put in more than 5 hours per week. Working more than 35 hours per week will not shorten the minimum requirement of 36 weeks, however.
• Mentoring by an individual holding ASHA certification in speech-language pathology and required supervisory training.
• 80% of time in your fellowship must be spent in direct clinical contact. That includes both tasks you might expect, such as assessment, diagnosis, evaluation, screening and treatment, but also report writing, family or client consultation, and counseling.

Your mentor will be tracking your performance the whole time and offering guidance and feedback. At the end of the program, they will be required to submit a CF Report and Rating Form to ASHA in order to validate your hours.

Finding opportunities for fellowships isn’t always a breeze in a huge state with a small population and limited treatment facilities. This is where cooperative programs like the ECU/UAA MS can be helpful, as well as other contacts you make in Alaska’s tight-knit SLP community. Fellowships are often listed on regular SLP job sites, but many of those opportunities will be out-of-state.

Step 3. Pass the National Examination and Earn the CCC-SLP Credential

As the last major step on your path to CCC-SLP certification, you’ll need to pass the National Speech and Pathology Exam, offered through Praxis.

When registering online, you’ll need to prove you’ve completed all the previous steps. That means you’ll be instructed to send:

• An official graduate transcript from your SLP program
• Proof of completion of a clinical fellowship

Praxis offers test preparation materials, including practice questions, an interactive practice test, and an information bulletin which offers additional details about taking the exam.

The computer-based speech-language pathology test has 132 questions that are to be completed over 150 minutes. The questions fall into the following categories:

• Foundation and professional practice—44 questions
• Screening, assessment, evaluation, and diagnosis—44 questions
• Planning, implementation, and evaluation of treatment—44 questions

The questions test knowledge in the areas of:

• Speech and production
• Fluency
• Voice
• Resonance
• Motor speech
• Receptive and expressive language
• Social aspects of communication, including pragmatics
• Cognitive aspects of communication
• Augmentative and alternative communication
• Hearing
• Feeding and swallowing

The required minimum score on the exam is 162.

In Alaska, you can find a Praxis test center in any of the following cities, usually at school district or university locations:

• Anchorage
• Bethel
• Nome
• Dillingham
• Fairbanks
• Kodiak
• Palmer

As an important option for students in the Land of the Midnight Sun, Praxis also now allows at-home tests with a remote proctor.

Step 4. Become Licensed and Begin Your Career as a Speech-Language Pathologist

Once you’ve passed the national exam, you’ll need to do two things:

• Apply for the CCC-SLP certification through ASHA
• Apply for licensing through the Alaska Department of Commerce

To apply for CCC-SLP certification, you’ll need to fill out the application, which will include:

• A section signed by your graduate program director to verify completion
• Your graduate transcript
• A passing score from the national exam
• The speech-language pathology clinical fellowship report and rating form

The fellowship experience can be submitted online and must be verified by your supervisor.

It usually takes about 6 weeks for the ASHA to process your application and award certification.

Completing the Alaska State SLP Licensure Process

Once you’ve been awarded certification, you can move on to the next step: licensure through the Alaska Department of Commerce.

You’ll need to fill out the Speech-Language Pathologist License Application, including a section signed by your clinical fellowship advisor. You can make a paper application, or apply online through the MyAlaska professional licensure system.

The application is generally processed within a few weeks, at which point you’ll be mailed a license.

If you’re currently licensed in another state, Alaska DoC may issue you a temporary license immediately after you submit your licensure form here.

Alaska also offers temporary licenses to SLPs licensed in other states if they play to practice in Alaska for less than 60 days in any particular year.

Now that you’re a licensed SLP in Alaska, there are three traditional ways to start your career:

Join the Clinic Where Your Clinical Fellowship Was Conducted

Many clinics prefer to hire SLPs who have previous experience with their clients and staff. In fact, some clinical fellowship providers offer CF-to-full time job opportunities, allowing you to gain experience under supervision before embarking in a full time role.

Of course, this may be a challenge in Alaska, where limited venues for fellowships can restrict where you might perform your RPE—it may well be in parts of the state where you don’t plan to live.

Typically, you will be able to feel out these opportunities while you are still in your fellowship period. By the end, you should have a good idea if anything is available and if it’s a good fit for you.

Start an Independent Practice or Partnership

As a licensed SLP in Alaska, you are able to start your own independent practice, or partner with another SLP to open a business, provided that you obtain an Alaska Business License.

Opening your own independent practice will allow you to set your own schedule and take on as many clients as you’d like to serve. You may also be able to meet the needs of more specialized populations or travel to clients.

Of course, in independence-minded Alaska, with needs scattered across a huge territory, this is often an appealing option. But it requires taking on all the overhead of business ownership, from marketing to taxes.

You may use your clinical fellowship provider as a reference for future clients, or choose to work in a clinic before beginning your own practice to build a client base and credibility.

Pursue Job Openings in Other Treatment Facilities

Even if you don’t wish to work for your RPE provider or start your own clinic, there are numerous options in Alaska even outside the major population centers. Those can include Alaska Native healthcare clinics and traveling treatment programs, schools and school districts across the state, and ordinary healthcare clinics and hospitals.

Rehabilitation facilities and specialized therapy clinics are also common candidates for SLPs looking to get their foot in the door.

Step 5. Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

Alaska does not require continuing education requirements in order to renew, but you will need to renew your license every two years. The cost of renewal is $70.

Although Alaska doesn’t require or track your CE, you must certify that you continue to hold your CCC-SLP in good standing. That does require continuing ed, as outlined on the Certification Maintenance page of the ASHA site.

Briefly, you’ll need to accumulate at least 30 professional development hours during each three-year renewal period for the credential. Those hours have to come from approved providers and in required content areas, including ethics.

You’ll need to fill out the license renewal form and mail it to the DOC, or apply through the MyAlaska online system.

Speech-Language Pathology Salary in Alaska

On average Alaska’s SLPs state earn $96,870 annually. The most experienced speech-language pathologists in Alaska earn upwards of $123,380 a year. Of course, you’ll need to factor in cost-of-living in a famously expensive state in order to see what your total take-home might be.

Salaries for speech-language pathologists have increased considerably in recent years, however, including in Alaska. And there are plenty of benefits to the position besides just salary. According to US News & World Report SLPs are in the third-best profession among all health care jobs.

Speech-Language Pathologists in Alaska Earn Unusually High Salaries

Alaska’s speech-language pathologists earn the 13th highest average salary in the country even though Alaska is the 49th most populous state. Alaska’s SLPs earn an average of 5% more than their counterparts nationally.

Fairbanks SLPs at the high end of their profession take the prize for the largest annual salaries in the state, starting at $135,720 for those in the top ten percent. They’ll typically have more experience and expertise than the average.

Job Growth in a High-Paying Field that Promises Job Satisfaction

Between 2020 and 2030 the number of Alaska SLP jobs is expected to grow by 13%.

Both academic and private sector audiology and communicative disorder centers offer career opportunities for speech-language pathologists. Alaska offers a number of private practices that specialize in SLP.

Finding Support in Your New Profession

Whether it’s look for a job or finding support in your existing role, it’s always useful to look to your peers. The Alaska Speech-Language-Hearing Association (AKSHA) is one organization in the state that helps support and honor those individuals.

AKSHA has recognized the SLPs working in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in Alaska for their innovative solutions in the field of speech therapy. Some SLPs in the Kenai Peninsula district have flown to as many as 11 villages within a semester to give instruction to students in need of speech therapy services.

The Kenai Peninsula SLP team, like many others here, leans heavily on a pioneering telespeech distance delivery program. This distance delivery program is paired with on-site work; SLPs rotate through the schools to provide in-person assistance to students, as well as assessment and collaboration with parents.

A Detailed Salary Analysis for Speech-Language Pathologists in Alaska

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a highly detailed breakdown of hourly wages and annual salaries for speech-language pathologists throughout Alaska (10th to 90th percentiles). You’ll find that the typical salary rates in the cities come in above those in rural Alaska, but at the entry level, there’s not as much difference as you might expect.

Anchorage:

• Annual: $68,680 – $123,870
• Hourly: $33.02 – $59.55

Fairbanks:

• Annual: $71,580 – $135,720
• Hourly: $34.41 – $65.25

Rural Alaska:

• Annual: $66,430 – $107,320
• Hourly: $31.94 – $51.60

2023 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary figures shown here for Speech-Language Pathologists. Job growth projections are from the US Department of Labor-sponsored resource, CareerOneStop. Figures are based on state data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed March 2025.

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