License portability for speech-language pathologists and audiologists has been a long time in coming in the United States, but suddenly it’s nearly here: the Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact (ASLP-IC) has been finalized and is getting ready to roll out for providers in 36 states by late 2025.
That means SLPs from Washington to Florida and Maine to Nevada suddenly will have a much easier time either relocating to participating states, finding remote positions, or broadening their own practice areas across state lines.
This is only possible because of a lot of coordination and fancy footwork by ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association), state-level advocates, legislators, and technologists.
It’s all coming together in September 2025, and it will change the way that SLPs across the country think about their career and job prospects.
- Emerson College - Master's in Speech-Language Pathology online - Prepare to become an SLP in as few as 20 months. No GRE required. Scholarships available.
- Arizona State University - Online - Online Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science - Designed to prepare graduates to work in behavioral health settings or transition to graduate programs in speech-language pathology and audiology.
- NYU Steinhardt - NYU Steinhardt's Master of Science in Communicative Sciences and Disorders online - ASHA-accredited. Bachelor's degree required. Graduate prepared to pursue licensure.
- Pepperdine University - Embark on a transformative professional and personal journey in the online Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program from Pepperdine University. Our program brings together rigorous academics, research-driven faculty teaching, and robust clinical experiences, all wrapped within our Christian mission to serve our communities and improve the lives of others.
Why Do Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists Need an Interstate License Compact?
Speech-language pathology practice has managed to get along just fine without smoother interstate transitions up to now, so what’s changed?
The simple answer is, technology and expectations.
The COVID-19 pandemic showed speech therapists the same thing that many other healthcare professions found out… a lot of the work can be done with remote video connections. It’s no longer necessary to sit in the same room with a patient to help them.
This has been a particular boon for patients in rural areas where SLP appointments in the past meant hours of driving. But it can also work for any region where there’s an imbalance in available SLP services and high demand.
When you put that sort of leverage to work on an interstate basis, it only opens the field up further toward connecting qualified SLPs with patients who need them. And, of course, it makes the life of any speech therapist who plans to move between states, or who works close to state lines, that much easier. Their patients, too, can enjoy greater continuity of care if they have to move.
A Roadblock in Renewing Telehealth Authority for Therapists May Torpedo Some of the Utility of the Interstate License Compact
Telehealth authority for SLPs is fully authorized under Medicare Part B rules through the end of September 2025. It’s a legacy of the COVID-19 emergency authorities passed to allow treatment without exposing people to the spread of the virus, but in the five years since the pandemic emerged, many therapists have built thriving practices around it.
SLPs had every reason to expect the Expanded Telehealth Access Act to be introduced and passed before that expiration date, making their remote practice authority permanent. But then came DOGE and an enormous upheaval at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). What looked like a done deal at the end of 2024 seems almost impossible in mid-2025.
It looks very much like the interstate compact will become active on exactly the same day it becomes mostly worthless.
Of course, government payers aren’t the only insurers that SLPs deal with. Private insurers are free to set their own standards for covered services, including telehealth. But the historic trend has been that private insurers tend to follow the lead of CMS. That could lead to a complete collapse of both in-state and interstate telehealth options for SLP services—inconveniencing or cutting off thousands of patients.
Now, telehealth is riding on a short-term extension, and providers can only hope that a deeply divided Congress will look to the best interests of patients rather than continuing to play politics.
What Are Interstate Licensing Compacts?
Interstate licensing compacts are nothing new, particularly in the healthcare industry. Unless you are someone who works in one of those professions, however, the concept and execution of a compact might not be familiar.
A licensing compact is a legal agreement forged between various states, usually through a separate professional commission, to offer practice privileges in any of those states for practitioners licensed in one of them.
Typically, states have to pass additional legislation to amend their existing licensing laws in order to recognize the compact. This is a process that can take years, considering the grinding pace of politics. Even after the legal authorities are established, there are usually extra operational steps that have to be put in place by regulators to check and recognize out-of-state licenses.
Different compacts have different approaches to how this privilege is exercised as a practical matter. For nurses in Nursing Licensing Compact (NLC) states, for example, they have to apply for a special multistate license in their home state for their privileges to be granted in other participating states.
How the Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact Will Work for SLPs
In the audiology and speech-language pathology compact, things are little simpler.
Assuming it is from one of the states participating in the compact, your existing home state professional license as a speech-language pathologist, , will by itself allow you to apply for what is called a compact privilege to practice in another state. Although not a license itself, compact privilege acts as a license for legal purposes.
ASHA first proposed the interstate compact for members in 2016.
It’s all governed by the Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact Commission, an interstate body built to administer the details of the process. There are two delegates to the commission from each member state’s existing SLP licensing board.
The ASLP-IC Commission will charge each SLP taking advantage of the compact a $50 fee per state in which they plan to practice (apart from their home state). Each participating state may set its own fees to cover administrative costs.
Making Sure That Your License Will Qualify You for Interstate Practice as a Speech Therapist
Of course, because state licensing laws around SLPs differ, there are a number of details that had to be hammered out by the compact.
Your license must be active and unencumbered, which typically means that you are not currently under investigation or practicing with reduced privileges of any sort.
If the state in which you plan to obtain a compact privilege requires a jurisprudence exam for licensure, you will still have to take that exam in order to practice.
You also must have an accredited degree at the master’s level in speech-language pathology. The compact also stipulates that you have passed a national exam, completed a supervised practicum, and gone through supervised post-graduate professional experience. It’s also required that you be able to practice independently under your current license, which rules out any state licenses that require supervision.
While these are typically features of any state license, there are a number of places where individuals without these qualifications may have been grandfathered in or in other ways earned a license. These rules ensure a uniform standard of qualification for practitioners from every state.
Making the Magic Happen Behind the Scenes Makes Life Easier for Speech Therapists Practicing Across State Lines
How exactly are those rules going to be established and tracked? That’s where the technology piece of the puzzle comes together.
ASLP-IC hasn’t just been wining and dining state legislatures with cushy expense accounts since 2016. It’s also been participating in the development of a national data system, CompactConnect, which will connect the licensing boards in participating states.
New technology will give each board a quick, accurate reference to SLP licensure for members applying for compact privileges.
This should all be seamless to individual SLPs making use of the system, but it will dramatically streamline the process and reduce the amount of paper shuffling and waiting for certified mail delivery involved.
This is such a great idea that it isn’t just speech therapists who plan to take advantage of it. In fact, the project is being used not just by ASLP-IC, but also by compact commissions for licensed counselors and occupational therapists. It has received funding and support from organizations as diverse as:
- American Counseling Association
- American Occupational Therapy Association
- ASHA
- Department of Defense
- National Board for Certified Counselors
- National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy
Making all these systems talk to each other is no walk in the park, but the system is supposed to be up and running for all member states by the deadline, meaning no delays for therapists eager to get started in interstate practice.
Does the License Compact Offer SLPs Any Extra Privileges?
You might be wondering what all this hard work and coordination actually gets you in terms of being able to practice in states other than your own. The answer is, quite a lot of freedom and flexibility.
There are no restrictions on the abilities of SLPs practicing under compact privilege versus those with local licenses. However, if you’re coming in from another state, you should be aware that those local laws governing SLP practice authority may be different.
You will be expected to conform to local laws governing speech-language pathology practice no matter what your original license authorizes.
If you happen to already have multiple state licenses, which was the only option to practice consistently in various states previously, you are free to maintain those—but won’t need to as long as your existing states of licensure are participants. For purposes of the compact, only one of your licenses can be considered your home license, and it will be the one from your state of residence, or where you pay taxes and hold a driver’s license.
- Emerson College - Master's in Speech-Language Pathology online - Prepare to become an SLP in as few as 20 months. No GRE required. Scholarships available.
- Arizona State University - Online - Online Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science - Designed to prepare graduates to work in behavioral health settings or transition to graduate programs in speech-language pathology and audiology.
- NYU Steinhardt - NYU Steinhardt's Master of Science in Communicative Sciences and Disorders online - ASHA-accredited. Bachelor's degree required. Graduate prepared to pursue licensure.
- Pepperdine University - Embark on a transformative professional and personal journey in the online Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology program from Pepperdine University. Our program brings together rigorous academics, research-driven faculty teaching, and robust clinical experiences, all wrapped within our Christian mission to serve our communities and improve the lives of others.