How to Become a Speech Therapist in Wisconsin

The speech-language therapy community in Wisconsin is making significant strides, helping people of all ages overcome their challenges and live more fulfilling lives. From major healthcare centers like the Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire and Children’s Wisconsin in Milwaukee to the growing number of private practices popping up everywhere from Madison to Green Bay, Wisconsin’s speech-language therapy providers provide life-changing speech, language, and swallowing services for the state’s most vulnerable populations.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are champions for those struggling to be heard. Whether they’re using play-based strategies to help the youngest clients develop their language skills or employing cognitive training to help those with traumatic brain injuries regain their voice, their tireless work is led with expertise and compassion.

To join Wisconsin’s community of SLPs, you must become licensed through the Wisconsin Hearing and Speech Examining Board, part of the Department of Safety and Professional Services.

Follow these steps to become a licensed speech therapist in Wisconsin:

	Earn a Speech Therapy Degree: Complete a Master’s Degree Program in Speech-Language Pathology
	Complete a Clinical Fellowship Program
	Pass the National SLP Examination
	Become Licensed to Practice in Wisconsin 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 Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology

To become a licensed SLP in Wisconsin, you must complete a master’s degree in speech-language pathology that’s earned accreditation through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA).

Online graduate programs in speech-language pathology, offered by institutions throughout the U.S., provide the ultimate in flexibility for students, particularly for those with demanding schedules and professional responsibilities. For those that prefer a campus experience, there are seven CAA-accredited SLP programs in Wisconsin.

Undergraduate Requirements

Completing a bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders or a similar field provides the most direct route to a master’s degree in speech-language pathology. If you hold a bachelor’s degree in an unrelated field, you can still gain admission; however, you may need to first complete a number of prerequisite courses or a pre-professional program before you can begin your graduate studies.

Some of the typical undergraduate prerequisites you can expect to take include:

• Introduction to Communication Disorders
• Language Acquisition
• Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech and Swallowing Mechanism
• Diagnostic Audiology and Aural Rehabilitation

Graduate Program Requirements

A master’s degree in speech-language pathology consists of approximately 48 graduate-level credits.

Some of the courses you can expect to take at the graduate level include:

• Language and Learning Disorders of Children
• Motor Speech Disorders and Augmentative & Alternative Communication
• Fluency and Phonological Disorders
• Neural Mechanisms of Speech, Hearing, and Language
• Voice Disorders

You must also complete a supervised practicum of at least 400 hour as part of your graduate program.

Step 2. Complete a Clinical Fellowship Program

Upon graduation from your SLP master’s degree, you’ll pursue a clinical fellowship as part of the licensure process. Wisconsin follows the American Speech-Language Hearing Association’s (ASHA) clinical fellowship recommendations, requiring at least 36 weeks of full time work (35 hours a week or more). You can also complete the clinical fellowship on a part-time basis, provided you work at least five hours a week.

Before you begin your clinical fellowship, you must apply for a temporary license by completing the Application for Temporary License to Practice Speech-Language Pathology.

Your fellowship is a paid experience that will provide plenty of opportunities to gain exposure to a wide variety of situations that will prepare you for real-world practice in a setting that aligns with your career goals.

You are responsible for lining up your own fellowship by contacting prospective employers who may be interested in taking on a new fellow. Possible employers in Wisconsin that may help facilitate a paid fellowship include:

• Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin: Milwaukee
• Mayo Clinic Health System: La Crosse
• Communication Pathways, De Pere
• Affinity Health System, Appleton

Every practice has different demands, which makes the Scope of Practice for SLPs a helpful document for understanding how to cultivate and apply a wide variety of skills, including teamwork, counseling, research, assessment, and advocacy.

Step 3. Pass the National SLP Examination

You must take and pass the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA) National Examination in Speech Language Pathology at some point during your clinical fellowship.

You’ll apply directly through Praxis, the exam’s administrator, and choose a date, time, and location for your exam. You can take the exam at any one of the hundreds of Praxis testing centers located throughout the U.S. In Wisconsin, there are testing centers located in:

• Green Bay
• Brookfield
• Eau Claire
• La Crosse
• Ladysmith
• Madison
• Oshkosh
• Stevens Point
• Wausau
• Whitewater

The SLP exam includes 132 questions and a 150-minute time limit. You can prepare for the exam by reviewing the exam preparation materials. The exam is organized into the following categories:

• Foundations and Professional Practice – 1/3 of the exam
  • Typical development and performance across the lifespan
  • Factors that influence communication, feeding, and swallowing
  • Characteristics of common communication and swallowing disorders
  • Culturally and linguistically appropriate service delivery
• Screening, Assessment, Evaluation, and Diagnosis – 1/3 of the exam
  • Screening for communication disorders
  • Developing case histories
  • Assessment procedures for fluency disorders
  • Genetic and developmental disorders
• Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation of Treatment – 1/3 of the exam
  • Evaluating factors that can affect treatment
  • Determining appropriate treatment details
  • Establishing methods for monitoring treatment

To pass the exam, you need to score 162 on a scale of 100-200.

Optional CCC-SLP Certification

After passing the national SLP exam, you can apply for CCC-SLP certification, a professional certification that denotes a high level of skill and professional authority in speech-language pathology.

Although not a requirement for becoming licensed in Wisconsin, if you earn the CCC-SLP designation before you apply for state licensure, you can submit proof of certification in lieu of other documentation required for licensure.

To apply for the CCC-SLP, you’ll apply directly through ASHA and provide them with a completed SLP Clinical Fellowship Report and Rating Form and a copy of you graduate transcripts. Praxis will send exam scores to ASHA directly.

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

Once you have completed your clinical fellowship and passed the Praxis SLP exam, you will apply for your SLP license through the LicensE online portal and submit a formal request to AHSA to send your Praxis exam score to the Board.

The institution where you earned your master’s degree in speech-language pathology must also complete and send the Board a Speech-Language Pathology Certificate of Professional Education Form.

Once you’ve earned your SLP license, you can begin exploring the many professional opportunities available to you.

The Wisconsin Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Association (WSHA) Career Center provides a clearinghouse of job postings for area hospitals, schools, rehab centers, private practices, public health clinics and more.

ASHA offers several specialty certifications that complement the CCC-SLP for those interested in establishing a specialty practice or otherwise working in a specialized capacity for an established employer. These certifications allow you to demonstrate your expertise in three different areas of communicative sciences and disorders:

• Child language and language disorders
• Fluency and fluency disorders
• Swallowing and swallowing disorders

Step 5. Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

You must maintain your SLP license in Wisconsin by renewing it every two years on the date of your initial application through the LicensE online portal.

License renewal requires the completion of at least 20 hours of continuing education.

The Wisconsin Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Association (WSHA) is an excellent resource for continuing education. Members of the WSHA also enjoy access to professional publications, legislative support, and discounts for the WSHA annual conference.

Speech-Language Pathology Salary in Wisconsin

The average SLP salary in Wisconsin is $83,820, or $40.30 hourly. Those SLPs at the top of the pay scale (90^th percentile) in Wisconsin earn about $112,870, or $54.26 hourly.

We’ve listed the biggest cities across Wisconsin below, sorted by which offers the highest average SLP salary. The range of data presented represents the average to high-end (90^th percentile) SLP salaries:

Metro Chicago:

• Annual: $90,740 – $122,740
• Hourly: $43.62 – $59.01

Milwaukee:

• Annual: $89,140 – $118,570
• Hourly: $42.86 – $57.00

Fond du Lac:

• Annual: $88,940 – $116,470
• Hourly: $42.76 – $55.99

Metro St. Paul-Minneapolis:

• Annual: $85,590 – $102,100
• Hourly: $41.15 – $49.09

Oshkosk:

• Annual: $84,830 – $113,850
• Hourly: $40.78 – $54.74

Janesville-Beloit:

• Annual: $83,050 – $112,180
• Hourly: $39.93 – $53.93

Madison:

• Annual: $83,050 – $104,700
• Hourly: $39.93 – $50.34

Sheboygan:

• Annual: $82,210 – $98,480
• Hourly: $39.53 – $47.35

La Crosse:

• Annual: $81,780 – $100,620
• Hourly: $39.32 – $48.38

Wausau:

• Annual: $81,150 – $104,130
• Hourly: $39.02 – $50.06

Racine:

• Annual: $80,090 – $103,720
• Hourly: $38.50 – $49.86

Metro Duluth:

• Annual: $78,910 – $96,320
• Hourly: $37.94 – $46.31

Green Bay:

• Annual: $76,270 – $104,920
• Hourly: $36.67 – $50.44

Appleton:

• Annual: $75,810 – $105,520
• Hourly: $36.45 – $50.73

Eau Claire:

• Annual: $73,980 – $95,860
• Hourly: $35.57 – $46.09

Nearly 7,000 Organizations in Wisconsin Employ Speech-Language Pathologists

As of 2023, the schools were the largest employer of SLPs in Wisconsin:

Schools:

• Individual schools – 3,317
• Religious schools – 399
• School Districts – 128
• Schools with special academic education – 21

Healthcare Organizations:

• Physical therapists – 1,197
• Home health services – 719
• Hospitals – 293
• Nursing and convalescent homes – 190
• Speech pathologists – 110
• Hospices – 82
• Audiologists – 67
• Convalescent homes – 65
• Medical centers – 52
• Occupational therapists – 37
• Adult care facilities – 32

Largest Speech Pathology Practices

Shown below is a sampling of clinics and independent SLP practices in the state that employ at least five people. Some of these employers may serve functions other than SLP, and there is no guarantee that these practices are currently hiring:

• Eau Claire: Center for Communication
• Kenosha: Birth To 3 Early Intervention
• Menomonee Falls: Speech Therapy at Community Memorial
• Mequon: Ozaukee Therapy Services, LLC
• Milwaukee: Curative Care Network
• Milwaukee: Marquette University
• River Falls: UW-River Falls Speech & Hearing
• Stevens Point: Center for Communicative
• Stevens Point: University of Wisconsin—Center for Communication
• Waukesha: Kidzspeech, LLC

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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