# How to become a hearing aid specialist

Most people train on the job: a supervised trainee period, then a state exam. Florida's floor is 6 months, Washington wants a degree or certificate first.

- **Author:** MedJobList Team
- **Published:** Jul 26, 2026

## What a hearing aid specialist does

A hearing aid specialist tests hearing, recommends and fits hearing aids, takes ear impressions, and handles the adjustments and repairs afterward. The job goes by several names and you should search for all of them: this site lists it as hearing instrument specialist, federal occupation code 29-2092 says hearing aid specialists, Texas licenses hearing instrument fitters and dispensers, and employers also post it as hearing aid dispenser.

Audiology is a separate profession with a separate license and a clinical doctorate behind it. Hearing aid specialists work beside audiologists in retail hearing centers and in ENT and audiology practices, and a Texas trainee can be supervised by either.

## How long it takes to become a hearing aid specialist

Between 6 months and 2 years in the states that let you train on the job, and longer where the board wants school first. The International Hearing Society lists a licensing agency for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and sends every candidate to their own agency because the training rules are set jurisdiction by jurisdiction.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Florida | A board-run training program, minimum 6 months under a sponsor, then the licensing exam. The 6 months is written into section 484.0445 of the Florida Statutes. |
| California | No minimum training period. You pass the state's own written and practical exams. If you want to work while you prepare, the trainee temporary license runs 6 months and can be renewed twice, and you have to sit the written exam inside the first 10 months. |
| Texas | A temporary training permit, 160 hours of directly supervised practicum, 3 tests, then a full year on an apprentice permit before you can apply for the license. |
| Washington | School first. The Board of Hearing and Speech will not license you without a 2-year degree or a 9-month certificate from a program it has approved. |

Washington asks the most, because both of its approved routes start with school and the 9-month certificate wants a degree in hand before you enroll. Texas is the long one among the states that train you on the job: the apprentice year starts only once the practicum and the exams are behind you. California can be the quickest, since it sets no training floor. Florida's 6 months plus an exam fits inside a year.

## The training your state will accept

There are 2 routes: on-the-job training under a licensed supervisor, or a college program in hearing instrument sciences. IHS says most people take the first. Both end at a licensing exam.

The workplace route starts with a trainer. You find a supervisor your board will accept, get the trainee permit your state issues, and learn the clinical skills on real clients while that supervisor signs off on the hours. Who qualifies varies: Texas accepts a licensed fitter-dispenser or an audiologist, California wants a dispenser who has held a California license for at least 3 years. Texas spells out what those hours contain: 25 contact hours of audiometry, 25 of hearing instrument evaluations, 20 of fittings, 10 of earmold orientation, 5 of ear impressions and otoscopic exams, and 65 more across troubleshooting, case history, the law, and supplemental work. On top of the 150 come 10 hours of masking. A Texas supervisor may not supervise more than 2 trainees at once, and Florida caps a sponsor at 3.

IHS recommends pairing the hours with a course, and some states require one. The course IHS sells, Distance Learning for Professionals in Hearing Health Sciences, is 7 units of textbook, workbook and online course, and its 2022 edition is the reference material every ILE question is written against.

The school route means a named program. Spokane Falls Community College in Washington runs the Associate in Applied Science, Hearing Instrument Specialist over 6 quarters and 97 to 100 credits, and it is on Washington's approved-school list. The other entry on that list is a 9-month certificate from the Washington Hearing Society, which wants an associate or bachelor's degree in any subject before you enroll, including at least 5 credits each of 100-level or higher English composition, basic math and humanities. College of DuPage in Illinois teaches a 22-credit certificate over 4 semesters and prepares students for the Illinois Department of Public Health written and practical exams.

The two Washington routes end differently. Every applicant sits the written exam, and the board excuses graduates of the 2-year degree from the practical one.

## Getting your state license

Your state board issues the license, under a name that changes at the state line: hearing aid dispenser license in California, hearing instrument fitter and dispenser license in Texas, hearing aid specialist license in Florida and Washington. Apply to the board, not to a national body.

Most boards use an off-the-shelf written exam. The International Licensing Examination belongs to IHS, is 105 multiple choice questions in 120 minutes with 80 of them scored, and IHS says the majority of US and Canadian jurisdictions use it. Texas is one of them, and adds a $34 online jurisprudence test on state and federal law. California develops its own written and practical exams through the state's Office of Professional Examination Services.

BC-HIS is a voluntary national board certification above the state license, with its own eligibility rules and its own fees. Our [BC-HIS guide](/guides/bc-his-certification) covers what it asks for and what it costs.

## Step by step: how to become a hearing aid specialist

1. Read your own state board's requirements before anything else. IHS keeps a [contact list for every US and Canadian agency](https://www.ihsinfo.org/licensing-education/become-a-hearing-aid-specialist/licensing-exams-preparation/licensing-agency-contacts/), and the rules differ enough that another state's timeline will tell you nothing useful.
2. Decide between a trainer and a program. If your state accepts on-the-job training, look for trainee and apprentice postings and ask hearing centers directly, since a clinic can only train as many people as it has supervisors for.
3. Apply for the trainee permit before you see a client. Texas charges $205 for the temporary training permit and wants a supervisor's affidavit and proof of a high school diploma with it.
4. Enroll in the coursework and work through it alongside the hours, so you cover each topic around the time you first do it on a client.
5. Log the supervised hours your state requires and get them certified by your supervisor.
6. Sit the exams. Texas and California add a practical exam to the written one. Washington requires the practical only of its 9-month certificate graduates, and Florida asks for the ILE plus a 2-hour laws and rules course.
7. Serve the apprenticeship if your state has one, then apply for the full license. Texas asks for a year as an apprentice and 10 hours of continuing education inside it, no more than 5 of them online.

## What it costs to get there

In Texas the 2 permits, the license and the jurisprudence test come to $649, and the IHS course adds $789 or $839 on top of that. The ILE and the practical test are billed separately, by IHS and by TDLR's vendor PSI. Board and school figures below, read in July 2026.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Texas permits and license | $205 each for the temporary training permit, the apprentice permit and the license, plus $34 for the jurisprudence test. The license then runs 2 years. |
| Florida board fees | $105 to register for the training program, then $150 application fee, $320 initial licensure fee and $5 unlicensed activity fee at licensure by exam. |
| IHS Distance Learning course | $789 for IHS members, $839 for everyone else, covering the textbook, workbook and online course. Digital e-books add $160. |
| Spokane Falls associate degree | $13,157 for a Washington resident across 6 quarters, by the program's own cost chart. Its maximum-estimate table comes to about $16,400. |
| Bond | Texas requires your employer to file $10,000 of surety bond or other financial security. Washington asks the applicant to attest to a $10,000 bond. |

Check the school's number twice before you budget. The Spokane Falls page has 2 cost tables that disagree with each other. The program chart totals $13,157; the maximum-estimate table below it comes to about $16,400, because it raises resident tuition from $10,164 to $10,966, books from $702 to $1,874 and course fees from $781 to $2,002. Non-resident tuition, $18,429, appears only in the second table.

## What hearing aid specialists earn

The median was $65,160 a year, or $31.33 an hour, in 2025, according to the federal wage data O*NET publishes for occupation 29-2092. About 10,700 people held the job in 2024, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics projections O*NET carries put growth for 2024 to 2034 at 7% or higher.

Retail is the biggest single employer. In the May 2023 federal wage survey, health and personal care retailers employed 3,690 of the 10,250 hearing aid specialists counted, at a mean of $62,160. The next industry on that list employed 490.

## FAQ

### How long does it take to become a hearing aid specialist?

Between 6 months and 2 years, set by the state that licenses you. Florida's statute puts a floor of 6 months on its supervised training program. Texas adds a full apprentice year after the practicum and the exams. Washington asks for a board-approved program before anything else, and California sets no minimum training period.

### Do you need a degree to become a hearing aid specialist?

In most states, no. The common route is on-the-job training under a licensed supervisor plus a licensing exam, and Texas asks only that you be 18 with a high school diploma or equivalent to start. Washington is the exception among the states covered here. Its Board of Hearing and Speech wants either a 2-year degree in hearing instrument science, or a 9-month certificate that you can only enroll in if you already hold a degree in some other subject.

### What exam do hearing aid specialists take?

The International Licensing Examination, in most jurisdictions. IHS owns it, says the majority of US and Canadian agencies use it, and writes every question against the 2022 edition of its Distance Learning course. Some states add a practical exam or a law test on top. Texas requires both, and California uses written and practical exams of its own.

### How much does it cost to become a hearing aid specialist?

In Texas, $1,438 with an IHS membership and $1,488 without: $649 for the 2 permits, the license and the jurisprudence test, plus $789 or $839 for the IHS course. The ILE and the practical test are billed on top by IHS and PSI. Florida's board fees are $105 to register the training program and $475 more at licensure by exam. School is the expensive route, and Spokane Falls Community College puts its 6-quarter associate degree at $13,157 for a Washington resident.

### What is the difference between a hearing aid specialist and an audiologist?

2 professions, 2 licenses. An audiologist holds a clinical doctorate and a state audiology license. A hearing aid specialist gets there through supervised training and a state exam, and the work is testing hearing and selecting, fitting and servicing hearing aids. Our [BC-HIS guide](/guides/bc-his-certification) goes through the audiology track in more detail.

### Can you work while you train?

Yes, in the states that issue trainee permits, which is how most people enter the job. Texas issues a temporary training permit valid for a year and extendable once, then an apprentice permit for the year after that. California's trainee temporary license is renewable twice. Either way you are in front of clients under a named supervisor who stays responsible for your work.

Source: https://medjoblist.com/guides/how-to-become-a-hearing-aid-specialist