How to Become a Speech Therapist in Arizona

Arizona’s population is booming, and with it comes a strong demand for therapists and healthcare providers like SLPs. Both young families and older retired individuals are among the most likely to need speech-language therapy… and Arizona has plenty of both.

They’ve come to the right place—Arizona is home to innovative SLP clinics and dedicated practitioners. Both researchers and everyday speech therapists here are making contributions to the field through research, building awareness, and developing new methods of treatment.

To showcase their work, the Arizona Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ArSHA) holds an annual convention where SLPs share developments related to areas like:

• Split brain research
• Social learning strategies
• Assistive technology
• Behavioral challenges
• Embedded coaching
• Student health outreach
• Health literacy for the homeless

Whether you are interested in forging ahead in any of those areas or simply providing quality treatment to Arizonans of all ages, a strict path of education and experience is the only way to licensure.

Follow the steps below to learn how to become a speech therapist by earning your SLP license through the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS):

	Earn a Speech Therapy Degree: Complete a Qualifying Master’s Degree Program in Speech-Language Pathology
	Gain Required Professional Experience (RPE) Through a Clinical Fellowship Program
	Pass the SLP Praxis Examination
	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 Speech-Language Pathology

Arizona SLPs must hold at least a master’s degree to get licensed.

In order to max out your shot at acceptance to a graduate program in speech-language pathology, your best bet is to first earn a bachelor’s degree in communicative sciences and disorders. If your bachelor’s degree is in a different field, you’ll need to complete required prerequisites that are fundamental to the practice of SLP.

Standard prerequisite courses include:

• Physiology of Communication
• Phonetics and Phonemics
• Introduction to Audiology
• Speech and Language Development
• Anatomy and Physiology of Speech and Hearing Mechanisms
• Science of Language

It also doesn’t hurt to have excellent academic references, a high undergraduate GPA, and an excellent GRE score. SLP graduate programs tend to be competitive, so you’ll need to present a strong academic portfolio in order to be admitted to a program no matter what.

In addition to online graduate programs in communicative sciences and disorders now widely available to students everywhere, schools in Arizona’s university system are making important contributions to the field, expanding the options available to students interested in both clinical practice and research.

ASHA’s Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology accredits five universities with graduate SLP programs in Arizona. You may choose to enroll in a traditional program or pursue a wider variety of accredited programs online that are hosted by universities nationwide.

Core courses typically include:

• Phonological Development & Disorders
• Neurobiology
• Augmentative & Alternative Communication for SLPs
• Motor-Speech Disorders
• Aphasia and Right Hemisphere Damage
• Clinical and Educational Methods in SLP
• Swallowing Disorders: Evaluation and Treatment
• Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in SLP
• Physics and Chemistry

You will also have a substantial choice of electives to fill out your studies. You can use them to further develop your specialization or area of interest in the field, in areas like:

• Augmentative and Alternative Communication
• Therapeutic Procedures in Speech Pathology: Voice Disorders
• Craniofacial Anomalies
• Voices and Listeners
• Interdisciplinary Case-Based Dysphagia Management
• Natural Language
• Communicative Science and Disorders Research
• Neurogenic Speech Disorders
• Language and Communication in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Your graduate program will also include a clinical practicum. The practicum must be a minimum of 400 clock hours of supervised clinical experience.

Twenty-five hours of your practicum must be spent in guided clinical observation, and 375 hours must be spent in direct client/patient contact.

Your practicum must include experience with patient populations across the life span and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It also must include experience with various types and severities of communication or related disorders or disabilities.

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

The AZDHS requires that you complete a 36-week clinical fellowship before becoming licensed. You may seek a sponsor or available clinical fellowships here.

A fellowship is essentially on-the-job training under the close mentorship of an SLP who is currently licensed and has special training in supervision. You will have to demonstrate competency in the standard list of tasks that SLPs are required to perform. But at the same time you are showing your stuff, you’ll be getting guidance and learning to adapt your classroom training to real-world contingencies.

The Arizona board requires that you undergo at least 18 on-site observations, with no more than 6 in any 24-hour period, and a minimum of 18 monitor activities.

Your supervisor has to sign off on this and submit your total hours of clinical interaction as part of your licensing packet.

Step 3. Pass the SLP Praxis Exam

Once you’ve completed your clinical fellowship, you can register for the national Speech-Language Pathology Exam offered through Praxis.

This is a national exam that is standard for both licensure and certification in the field. The test covers foundational practice, assessment and diagnosis, and implementing and evaluating treatment of patients. In addition, you’ll be tested on your knowledge of speech and hearing processes, voice and resonance disorders, variances of language, social and cognitive aspects of communication, and feeding and swallowing.

When registering online, you’ll be instructed to send:

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

The required minimum score on the exam is 162.

You’ll find plenty of test prep materials online. But you’ll also find that what you are being tested on will closely cover the material you studied in your graduate program and learned through your fellowship placement.

In Arizona, you may take the exam at a Praxis test center in most major cities and some smaller ones. Test centers are often located at universities or other educational centers. Alternatively, it’s possible to take the test remotely with online proctoring. You can consult the Praxis information bulletin for more details about the test process.

Optional Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP)

You may also elect to pursue the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) credential once you’ve passed the national exam.

Offered through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the CCC-SLP is not required for licensure in Arizona, but is a highly respected credential in the SLP professional community.

Most of the qualifications for the CCC-SLP are more or less identical to licensing requirements.

Because of the similarity in requirements, it’s possible to earn your CCC-SLP first and submit that in lieu of transcripts, fellowship documents, and so on as proof to AZDHS. This is a fairly common path for anyone who has completed their fellowship and degree outside the state.

You apply for the CCC-SLP directly through ASHA, providing proof that you completed a graduate program and clinical fellowship and achieved passing scores on the national examination.

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

Once you’ve passed the national exam, you’re eligible to apply for licensure through the AZDHS.

The application fee is $100 plus another $200 as a license fee assuming you are accepted. You can apply on the strength of your CCC-SLP if you have already earned it, or you will need to separately submit:

• The official transcript from your graduate program
• Documentation of a passing score on the Praxis exam
• Proof of completion of a clinical practicum
• Proof of completion of a clinical fellowship

SLPs who work in the public school setting must also obtain an Arizona Department of Education Speech-Language Pathologist, Pre-kindergarten-12 Certificate. The Arizona Department of Education certificate costs $60 and will require you to submit your transcripts, proof of clinical clock hours (only 250 are required so you should be good to go at this point), and a valid ASHA CCC-SLP.

As a newly-licensed SLP, you may begin your career in one of three ways:

Join the Clinic That You Worked With During Your Fellowship

Many newly-licensed SLPs choose to continue working for the employer who provided their clinical fellowship. This is an ideal situation because you’ll already have built relationships with clients and staff. Clinics often feel more comfortable hiring someone with whom they’ve had direct experience.

Some clinics even advertise clinical fellowship-to-full time position opportunities to encourage SLPs to stay on with the clinic. To pursue an opportunity like this, contact your clinical fellowship provider to inquire about job opportunities.

Start an Independent Practice or Partnership

Once licensed as an SLP in Arizona, you’ll be able to start your own independent practice or partnership. Benefits include:

• Setting your own wage
• Setting your own schedule
• Taking on as many patients as you feel comfortable with
• Pursuing specific patient populations

Drawbacks include dealing with the IRS, employees, business licensing regulations, and marketing. But with a little extra hassle comes enormous flexibility and the chance to be your own boss.

Pursue Job Openings

If you don’t wish to work under your RPE provider or start your own practice, there are still plenty of options for you in Arizona. From clinics to hospitals to rehab centers, there are hundreds of employers in the state who hire SLPs to treat patients.

Depending on your career goals, you may also choose to seek specialty certifications through ASHA. If you want to serve a specific patient population, specialty certifications are a good way to build credibility and become more prepared.

Step 5. Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

In order to maintain SLP licensure, speech-language pathologists are required to obtain 20 hours of continuing education every two years in Arizona.

Although the timing isn’t necessarily convenient, this roughly fits together with the 30 contact hours of professional development over a 3-year period you’ll need to keep your CCC-SLP… 10 CEUs per year.

CEUs may be earned through group activities (such as workshops, conferences), independent study (like course development, research projects, internships, attendance at educational programs, and self-study (through watching videos, listening to podcasts, or reading journals), provided that the CEs are gained from ASHA approved providers.

Just as when you initially applied, each time you renew comes with a $200 license fee. You can skip the paper forms, however, and renew online through the Arizona DHS.

Speech-Language Pathology Salary in Arizona

Arizona’s SLP salaries are eye-catching from a statewide perspective. The average salary is $97,510 annually. Experienced SLPs at the top of the field earn a yearly salary that starts at $132,680.

Arizona ranks first in the nation for its projected job growth rate for speech language pathologists over the decade leading up to 2030. At 55%, this growth rate is even more impressive considering it’s 13 points ahead of the closest runner-up!

The Speech-Language Pathology Profession Offers Rewarding Careers

In addition to earning high salaries, SLP has proven to be a rewarding profession on the interpersonal level. In fact, speech-language pathology made the list of the 15 most meaningful jobs that pay well according to a survey of more than two million workers published by salary aggregator specialist company, PayScale.

In addition to academic SLP centers and schools that offer a broad array of therapy options, Arizona offers a number of private clinics that specialize in speech-language pathology. Healthcare centers and rehab facilities are also often hiring competent SLPs as part of multidisciplinary care teams.

Salaries for Speech-Language Pathologists Throughout Arizona

Nationally, Arizona ranks 11th among the highest average annual salaries for speech-language pathologists. Statewide, salaries range from $65,490 to 132,680 annually, or $31.49 to $63.79 hourly (10th to 90th percentile). The local breakdown of salaries is as follows:

Flagstaff:

• Annual: $69,910 – $166,400
• Hourly: $33.61 – $80.00

Metro Lake Havasu City:

• Annual: $44,290 – $122,470
• Hourly: $21.29 – $58.88

Metro Phoenix:

• Annual: $65,580 – $132,710
• Hourly: $31.53 – $63.80

Prescott:

• Annual: $63,500 – $127,130
• Hourly: $30.53 – $61.12

Tucson:

• Annual: $61,640 – $123,590
• Hourly: $29.63 – $59.42

Yuma:

• Annual: $43,710 – $127,360
• Hourly: $21.01 – $61.23

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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