How to Become a Speech Therapist in Idaho

Idaho is a small state where sometimes it seems like everyone knows everyone else. Speech-language pathologists here are part of an even more tightly-knit professional community. That community extends from the state’s university system to its public schools to the healthcare system and out even

With a projected increase of 20% in the number of SLP jobs in Idaho during the ten years leading up to 2030, there has never been a greater demand for qualified speech-language pathologists in the state. But in order to become one of them, you’ll first need a license to practice.

Speech-language pathologists are licensed through the Idaho Speech and Hearing Services Licensure Board. The board has strict standards for those licenses, standards that will take you on a multi-year, multi-step process to changing lives and becoming a part of the small but elite group of speech therapists in the Gem State.

Follow these steps to learn how to become a licensed speech therapist in Idaho.

	Complete a Qualifying Master’s Degree Program in Speech-Language Pathology
	Gain Supervised Experience Through a Clinical Fellowship
	Pass the Speech-Language Pathology Praxis Examination
	Become Licensed and Begin Your Career as a Speech-Language Pathologist in Idaho
	Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

Step 1. Complete a Qualifying Master’s Degree Program in Speech-Language Pathology

The Idaho Licensure Board requires a master’s degree with an emphasis in speech-language pathology as the minimum educational qualification for SLP licensure. The degree must be offered through a nationally accredited school and include a Board-approved curriculum.

Programs can be completed online or on campus. Online degrees accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) are an excellent choice for working professionals with busy schedules, and particularly in a largely rural state like Idaho.

If you have completed a bachelor’s degree related to communicative sciences and disorders, this gives you a distinct advantage going into a graduate program. For example, the graduate program at Idaho State University requires completion of a bachelor’s degree in this field or a full year of pre-professional coursework before you can be accepted into their master’s program.

Nationally accredited master’s programs are often structured to take two-years when attending traditional campus-based classes, or three years in enrolled in a more flexible online program. Your program will typically consist of 60 credits for non-thesis students and 64 for those registered as thesis students.

Core courses often include:

• Early Language Development and Disorders
• Principles of Research in Communication Disorders
• Disorders of Swallowing
• Neuropathologies of Speech
• Fluency Disorders in Children and Adults
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication

A major part of your master’s program will be a clinical practicum completed under the supervision of a licensed SLP. Completion of 350 hours of this practicum is required both for your master’s degree and for the SLP license through the Idaho Board of Licensure.

Something else to consider at this point, however, is the CCC-SLP (Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology) credential offered by ASHA, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

The CCC-SLP requirements are similar to most state licensing requirements, but you’ll need to accumulate 400 hours of practicum experience total.

Since many employers look to ASHA certification as a sign of your competency, and the organization has many specialty certification areas on which you can build additional expertise, it’s a path that many SLPs in Idaho and elsewhere follow together with official licensure. In fact, holding a CCC-SLP can ultimately make getting your Idaho license a little easier, since the state will accept it as verification of other required steps.

Step 2. Gain Supervised Experience Through a Clinical Fellowship

As required by the Idaho Licensure Board, you must complete a supervised post-graduate clinical fellowship consisting of at least 36 weeks of full time work, defined as at least 35 hours a week.

You can complete your fellowship hours on a part-time basis, so long as it does not take longer than 48 months.

The Board also requires that you apply for a provisional permit before you begin your post-graduate work. That permit will cost you $70 but should be good for the length of your fellowship.

As long as you are working under a provisional permit, you need to submit quarterly reports recording the number of hours you’ve completed and including a short evaluation from your supervisor. You can fill out the quarterly report form and submit it by January 10th, April 10th, July 10th, and October 10th for the three months preceding each due date.

This also mirrors ASHA requirements, although you will have to submit your experience to them separately, and only upon completion of your fellowship.

During your supervised post-graduate work, you’ll be getting first hand experience as a professional speech-language pathologist. ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) has written a Scope of Practice for SLPs that discusses how a SLP should focus their professional efforts. You’ll be practicing the process of advocacy and education, research, counseling, and treatment. All of this will prepare you for your professional career.

After completing your fellowship, you’ll be ready for the next step: demonstrating your knowledge on the Praxis exam.

Step 3. Pass the Speech-Language Pathology Praxis Examination

You will have the following professional experiences behind you at this point:

• A master’s degree in communicative disorders and sciences
• A clinical practicum during your master’s program
• About nine months of Required Professional Experience with a licensed SLP

This combined experience means you are prepared to take the Praxis exam, a requirement for becoming licensed to practice in Idaho, or earning your CCC-SLP.

The national exam is administered by Praxis. You will register using the instructions on the registration page, with the option of scheduling the exam at one of the testing centers located in Idaho or a nearby state. You can also choose to take the test remotely, proctored by an online observer while you perform the exam at home.

The speech-language pathology exam is 150 minutes long and has 132 multiple-choice questions. Praxis has provided study materials that will help you prepare for the exam. The exam covers three basic categories, with a series of topics under each:

• Foundations and Professional Practice
  • Characteristics of common communication and swallowing disorders
  • Counseling, collaboration, and teaming
  • Legislation and client advocacy
• Screening, Assessment, Evaluation, and Diagnosis
  • Feeding and swallowing disorders
  • Assessing factors that influence communication and swallowing disorders
  • Fluency
  • Social aspects of communication
  • Hearing
  • Disease processes
• Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation of Treatment
  • Creating development goals
  • Treatment principles and procedures
  • Treatment of fluency issues
  • Communication impairments related to cognition
  • Swallowing and feeding

The exam is graded on a scale of 100 to 200, with a minimum score of 162 required to qualify for the Idaho license and CCC-SLP credentials.

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

As the final step to becoming licensed through the Idaho Speech and Hearing Services Licensure Board, you’ll need to apply online through the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses Online Services website.

You’ll have to pay a $25 application fee and a $50 license fee. You’ll also have to submit transcripts and documentation proving your degree attainments and clinical fellowship experience. You should also have your Praxis scores transmitted directly to the state, an option you’ll get when you take the exam.

If you have earned a CCC-SLP, however, you may provide proof of that certification in lieu of submitting all that various data to the state itself.

If you are currently licensed in another state, you may be eligible for licensure by endorsement. You’ll need to have had that license, or been licensed in multiple states, for at least five years. Your license must be current and active, and you must not have had any disciplinary actions taken against you during the past five years.

Finding Jobs as a Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in Idaho

With your license in hand, you are ready to get to work as an SLP. But where?

The first place you might look for a job is with the clinics or hospitals in which you completed your fellowship. You can also look through recent job postings for different opportunities. Schools, hospital systems and rehabilitation centers represent the biggest employers of SLPs in Idaho.

Starting your own practice can be a rewarding option. Starting out as an independent practitioner is a great way to serve patients in your community. You can establish a practice in which you serve the clients you most like to work with, whether patients with autism or elderly clients recovering from stroke or even military service veterans in rehabilitation programs for traumatic head injuries.

Step 5. Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

Idaho SLP licenses expire on your birthday, so you shouldn’t forget! Just like your birthday, renewal also comes up every year. You’ll receive a renewal application 6 weeks ahead of time. You can renew it online through the DOPL website, using the same account which you initially applied with.

You also need to complete 10 hours of continuing education each year to stay current on the latest SLP practices. You are responsible for documenting the contact hours yourself. The Board conducts random audits to ensure that licensed SLPs are staying up to date on their education requirements.

One path to maintaining those requirements is through Idaho Speech, Language, Hearing Association (ISHA), the statewide non-profit professional association and advocacy group that works on behalf of both the SLP professional community and those suffering with communication disorders.

ISHA works to provide support and promote professional opportunities for licensed SLPs in the state’s public schools, hospitals and rehabilitation centers. You can also participate in their annual convention and take advantage of Board-approved continuing education courses that meet license renewal requirements.

Speech-Language Pathology Salary in Idaho

Statewide, Idaho SLPs earn an average salary of $73,890 annually, or $35.52 hourly. As you advance in experience and skill, you’ll be glad to know that SLPs at the top end of the salary spectrum make upwards of $105,760 annually, or $50.85 hourly, state-wide.

The projected 20% growth in Idaho’s SLP job market between 2020 and 2030 is above the national average. This rate of growth should result in an average of 60 jobs a year becoming available during this period.

Salaries for Speech-Language Pathologists in Idaho’s Labor Market Regions

There’s a lot of variation between the Panhandle and Southern Idaho in character and opportunity, and you can see that in salary differences as well. You can browse the Idaho SLP salary figures shown here for comparison, ranging from the 10th to 90th salary percentiles:

Boise:

• Annual: $42,290 – $106,960
• Hourly: $20.33 – $51.42

Coeur d’Alene:

• Annual: $42,290 – $106,960
• Hourly: $20.33 – $51.42

Idaho Falls:

• Annual: $60,920 – $102,580
• Hourly: $29.29 – $49.32

Metro Logan UT:

• Annual: $47,890 – $118,350
• Hourly: $23.02 – $56.09

Twin Falls:

• Annual: $51,880 – $102,150
• Hourly: $24.94 – $49.11

Rural Northwestern Idaho:

• Annual: $49,540 – $109,550
• Hourly: $23.82 – $52.67

Rural Southeast-Central Idaho:

• Annual: $23,980 – $104,670
• Hourly: $11.53 – $50.32

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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