How to Become a Speech Therapist in Connecticut

Speech-language pathologists all seem to agree that choosing a career in the field provides no shortage of opportunities to make a meaningful contribution to improving the lives of the clients in their care. Ranking among the top-five states nationally for having the highest average SLP salary, Connecticut’s SLPs enjoy a high standard of living that’s only rivaled by their high job satisfaction.

As the field continues to grow around a thriving academic and professional community, the Connecticut Speech-Language-Hearing Association (CSHA) has become a go-to for both current SLPs and those interested in entering the profession.

While CSHA is a good way to both stay up-to-date on what SLPs in Connecticut are up to and stay current in the latest techniques, you’ll have to do all the heavy lifting of getting qualified and licensed to join them yourself.

Learn more about how to become a speech therapist by earning your SLP license through the Connecticut Department of Public Health by following the steps in the guide below:

	Enroll in a Master’s Program in Speech Therapy (Speech-Language Pathology)
	Gain Required Professional Experience (RPE) Through a Clinical Fellowship Program
	Pass the National Speech-Language Pathology Examination
	Become Licensed and Begin Your Career as a Speech-Language Pathologist
	Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

Step 1. Enroll in a Master’s Program in Speech Therapy (Speech-Language Pathology)

To qualify for SLP licensure through the Connecticut Department of Public Health, you must hold a master’s or doctorate from a program that has received accreditation from the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA).

CAA standards ensure that your coursework and practical experience meet not only the stringent requirements for Connecticut licensure, but also those required by ASHA (the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) for a national Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP).

While online programs that have earned accreditation through CAA continue to be the option of choice for many SLP graduate students, the University of Connecticut and Southern Connecticut University SLP programs are also well-known across the region. You’ll have to decide if the flexibility is your major factor, or if a local option is more to your liking.

Foundational Courses and Admissions Requirements

Though it is helpful to have a bachelor’s degree in communication science and disorders, most graduate programs gladly welcome applicants with a bachelor’s degree in another major. Frequently, they even give students an opportunity to complete foundation courses through the school before transitioning to graduate-level coursework.

Standard prerequisite courses include:

• Introduction to Developmental Communication Disorders
• Introduction to Communication Disorders in Medical Setting
• Phonetics and Phonological Systems
• Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Hearing Mechanism
• Neurological Bases of Communication
• Language Acquisition: School Age-Adolescence

Most graduate programs will require you to submit GRE scores and at least two academic letters of reference. SLP graduate program admission can be quite competitive, so it’s best to be prepared with the following:

• Undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or higher
• GRE verbal score of at least 153 and quantitative score of at least 144
• Resume explaining your experience in the field, such as clinical hours, volunteer experience, and prerequisite courses you have completed

Graduate Programs

Accredited online master’s programs in communication science and disorders allow students to complete conventional coursework, problem modules and quizzes, and gain hands-on experience through practicums in clinics in their area.

Through your coursework, you’ll study courses in fields such as:

• Research Methods in Communication Disorders
• Disorders of Phonology
• Cognitively Based Communication Disorders in Adults
• Disorders of Fluency
• Language Acquisition Disorders
• Voice and Velopharyngeal Disorders
• Dysphagia
• Chemistry

Practicum courses are for-credit class that puts you out in actual practice to develop your skills under careful supervision. You’ll get at least 400 hours of this in any CAA-accredited program. The practicum must be completed during your graduate program and will allow you to gain experience in assessing and treating patients in a supervised environment.

Although that all packs in a lot of studying, you’ll still have room for a few electives in your course load. You can use these to specialize or investigate areas of special interest in your career path. Electives may include:

• Augmentative & Alternative Communication
• Topics in Medical Speech-Language Pathology
• Developmental Disabilities
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Counseling and Guidance Procedures in Speech and Hearing
• Educational Audiology
• Central Auditory Processing Disorders in Children

Step 2. Gain Supervised Professional Experience (SPE) Through a Clinical Fellowship Program

In order to become licensed in Connecticut, you will also need to gain supervised professional experience through a post-graduate clinical fellowship.

While this is usually what is called RPE, or Required Professional Experience, Connecticut refers to it as SPE, or Supervised Professional Experience.

The Connecticut DPH requires that all SLPs complete a 36-week, 1,080 hour, full-time clinical fellowship. You may also complete a part-time clinical fellowship of 48 weeks and at least 1,440 hours.

During your clinical fellowship, you’ll need to complete at least 6 sessions of supervised activity per month for a total of 4 hours. Of these 4 hours, at least 2 hours over 2 sessions must include direct, on-site observation by the supervisor.

All clinical fellowship hours must be completed under the supervision of a licensed SLP. These activities will include assessing and diagnosing patients, performing administrative work related to clients, and meeting with clients’ family to discuss progress.

Finding fellowship opportunities is all on you, although most schools will at least help point you in the right direction. However, you’ll find that many fellowships are listed in the same places as ordinary SLP jobs.

Following the completion of the SPE, your supervisor must complete a report form detailing their evaluation of your performance and submit it directly to the Connecticut DPH.

Step 3. Pass the National Speech-Language Pathology Praxis Examination

You’ll need to take and pass the National Speech-Language Pathology Exam in order to become licensed in Connecticut. You can register online after completing your clinical fellowship directly through the third-party exam administrator Praxis.

The national exam is scored on a 100-200 score scale, and the required minimum score is 162.

To prepare for the exam, it’s a good idea to review practice questions in the Speech-Language Pathology Praxis Study Companion. You may also want to take practice exams to get familiar with the format and material.

The test has 132 questions covering foundation and professional practices, ranging through the following areas:

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

Connecticut has a number of different Praxis test center locations, but you’re not restricted to using those in the state itself. If you live closer to centers in Massachusetts or New York, you are free to find something more convenient across the state line. It’s also possible to take the exam at home through the use of remote proctoring.

Once you’ve passed the national exam, you may also choose to apply for the CCC-SLP through ASHA, although the credential is not a requirement for licensure in Connecticut. It takes up to six weeks to receive the credential. Employers will typically prefer to hire a CCC-SLP over someone without the credential. It can also make your life easier if you decide to get licensed in any nearby states to expand or move your practice.

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

The next step is to apply for your SLP license in Connecticut. You’ll need to fill out the license application, either on paper or online. If you go the old-fashioned route, you’ll also need to get it notarized. Either way, you’ll have to submit it along with a $200 fee to the board.

You’ll also need to send to the board:

• An official graduate transcript
• Verification of completion of a supervised professional experience, signed by your supervisor
• Results of the national examination
• A photograph
• If applicable, verification of SLP licenses held in other jurisdictions

How to Begin Your Career as a Licensed SLP in Connecticut

With a license in hand, you’ll have any number of different paths to building a career as an SLP.

In Connecticut, licensed SLPs are able to start their own independent practices. If you want to serve a wider patient base, you might also consider starting a partnership with another SLP. Starting an independent practice or partnership is an excellent way to focus on a specific patient population and set a flexible schedule for yourself.

Alternatively, you may want to join the clinic where you completed your clinical fellowship. If you have a good relationship with the clinic’s patients and staff, this is often an easy call. Working for the clinic that provided RPE is a good way to build credibility and experience for the future.

Connecticut is home to hundreds of SLPS working in hospitals, clinics, rehab centers, and the educational system. All of these are hiring for SLPs on a regular basis. Some of these employers include:

• Local school districts
• Hospitals
• Clinics and other healthcare providers
• Dedicated speech therapy clinics

You can boost your appeal to certain employers by earning specialty certifications through ASHA. This delivers an extra measure of expertise in those specific areas, such as child language disorders, as well as official validation of that expertise.

Step 5. Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

In order to maintain SLP licensure, you’ll need to complete 20 continuing education hours every two years. You will renew your license on the same timetable through the Connecticut DPH.

Qualifying continuing education activities include workshops or courses, including online courses and journal studies with content deemed acceptable by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) or courses offered by national and state speech-language-hearing associations, such as CSHA.

Each year CSHA hosts a conference where practicing SLPs and students can connect with each other and explore new educational technologies and methods of therapy. In the past, these conferences have included symposiums on topics like stuttering, childhood apraxia of speech, and the PROMPT technique.

You’ll be able to renew your license online for a fee of $205.00

Speech-Language Pathology Salary in Connecticut

Connecticut SLPs earn an average of $102,500 annually, or $47.28 hourly. Salaries towards the top end in this field, usually specialists or SLPs with extensive experience, extend above $151,250 annually, or $72.72 hourly.

Danbury ranks ninth nationally among all cities for its high average SLP salary, coming in at $111,140 as of 2023.

Both those salaries and overall job growth for SLPs have been increasing in Connecticut lately, though.

Between 2016 and 2023 the average salary rose by more than 14%. And in the decade leading up to 2030 the number of SLP jobs is projected to increase by 21%, a rate that’s higher than the national average.

Salaries for Speech-Language Pathologists in Connecticut’s Major Cities

Salaries were high in all of Connecticut’s major cities. Still, if you’re deciding where to locate your practice, it’s a good idea to get a look at the actual numbers. The range of annual and hourly salaries is shown below for comparison (10th to 90th percentile):

Metro Bridgeport:

• Annual: $72,330 – $163,190
• Hourly: $34.78 – $76.70

Danbury:

• Annual: $68,250 – $159,540
• Hourly: $32.81 – $76.70

Hartford:

• Annual: $65,870 – $127,160
• Hourly: $31.67 – $61.14

New Haven:

• Annual: $67,490 – $142,490
• Hourly: $32.45 – $68.51

Metro Norwich:

• Annual: $61,890 – $142,910
• Hourly: $29.76 – $68.71

Metro Springfield:

• Annual: $60,150 – $117,460
• Hourly: $28.92 – $56.47

Waterbury:

• Annual: $65,400 – $151,220
• Hourly: $31.44 – $72.70

Metro Worcester

• Annual: $61,070 – $120,680
• Hourly: $29.36 – $58.02

The SLP Profession Offers a High Degree of Job Satisfaction

You probably don’t need any extra convincing that becoming a speech therapist is a rewarding career path. But you’ll be happy to know that the evidence backs you up on it.

Two recent studies indicated that speech-language pathologists tend to find their careers highly rewarding. US News & World Report rated the SLP profession as the third-best type of health care job.

Also, the compensation company PayScale surveyed two million people to find out if their work makes the world a better place. Based on these responses, speech-language pathology ranked among the 15 most meaningful jobs that pay well.

Whether in schools and academic centers, or private practice, Connecticut offers many paths for you to enjoy the benefits of a long-term career in speech-language pathology.

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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