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IL · SLP licensure
Everything it takes to get your speech-language pathology license in Illinois — the licensing board and application steps, the required Praxis 5331 exam and its 162 passing score, the Clinical Fellowship, fees, and renewal rules.
Required Praxis test
Praxis 5331 — Speech-Language Pathology
Passing score
162 (out of 200)
Format
132 multiple-choice questions · 150 minutes · computer-based
Registration
Register through ETS · $146 test fee · offered year-round
Every US state — including Illinois — accepts the Praxis 5331 at the ASHA-set 162 cut score for SLP licensure. There is no separate state-specific SLP Praxis exam.
Licensing board
Illinois issues SLP licenses through IDFPR and requires the Praxis 5331 at 162. School SLPs additionally hold the Professional Educator License (PEL) with a Speech-Language Pathology endorsement through the Illinois State Board of Education.
Authoritative reference: ASHA state-by-state advocacy page for Illinois →
The Illinois SLP market
Illinois has one of the larger SLP workforces in the Midwest, anchored by the Chicago metro's hospital systems and by a K-12 sector that employs the majority of the state's clinicians. Licensure runs through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), and school-based practice adds a separate Professional Educator License endorsement through the Illinois State Board of Education — the wrinkle that trips up most in-state graduates.
BLS OES, Illinois statewide (approximate range)
Passing score note: Illinois uses the ASHA-aligned 162 passing score on Praxis 5331 for the IDFPR license. The same score also satisfies the content-test requirement for the ISBE school endorsement, so you take the exam once.
Every practicing SLP in Illinois needs the IDFPR license. If you plan to work in a public school, you also need a Professional Educator License with a Speech-Language Pathologist endorsement issued by the Illinois State Board of Education. The two applications are separate, use separate portals, and charge separate fees, but both accept the same Praxis 5331 score.
Plan the sequence backwards from your start date. Districts generally cannot place you on payroll as an SLP until the ISBE endorsement is issued, and ISBE processing runs on its own calendar independent of IDFPR. Applying to both at the same time, immediately after your score report posts, is the fastest path.
Illinois issues a temporary license that allows you to complete the Clinical Fellowship under the supervision of a licensed SLP. The fellowship itself follows ASHA's standard: a minimum of 36 weeks of full-time equivalent work and 1,260 hours, with mentoring distributed across three evaluation segments.
Because so much Illinois hiring is school-based, many fellows complete the CF inside a district. That is fully acceptable, but confirm in writing that your mentor holds a current CCC-SLP — a school employing you does not guarantee that your assigned supervisor meets ASHA's mentor requirement.
Schools dominate employment statewide, especially outside Cook County. Chicago's academic medical centers and rehabilitation hospitals create the state's densest concentration of medical SLP roles, including acute care, inpatient rehab, and outpatient dysphagia and voice clinics. Skilled nursing and home health hiring is steady across the collar counties and downstate.
Bilingual Spanish-English clinicians are in persistent shortage in Chicago Public Schools and in districts across Cicero, Aurora, Elgin, and Waukegan, and Polish-English skills carry weight on the Northwest Side. Bilingual stipends and signing bonuses are common where shortages are acute.
IDFPR licenses renew on a two-year cycle with a continuing education requirement, and the ISBE educator license runs on its own renewal cycle with professional development hours tracked through the ELIS system. Keeping both current means tracking two sets of deadlines — the most common lapse among Illinois school SLPs is letting the educator license expire while the professional license stays active.
ASHA CEUs generally satisfy IDFPR requirements, and many ISBE-approved providers double-count. Log everything as you go; both systems ask for documentation on audit rather than at submission.
A partial list of larger CAA-accredited programs. All programs listed prepare graduates to sit for Praxis 5331.
Do I need both an IDFPR license and an ISBE endorsement in Illinois?
You need the IDFPR license to practice anywhere in the state. You additionally need the ISBE Professional Educator License with an SLP endorsement to work in a public school.
What Praxis score does Illinois require?
162 on Praxis 5331, the ASHA-aligned national passing score. The same score satisfies both the professional license and the school endorsement.
Can I work in an Illinois school during my Clinical Fellowship?
Yes. Illinois issues a temporary/initial credential that allows supervised fellowship work, and many districts hire clinical fellows directly. Confirm your mentor holds a current CCC-SLP.
Does Illinois accept an out-of-state SLP license?
Yes, through endorsement for clinicians holding the CCC-SLP and an active license in good standing elsewhere. You still submit transcripts, Praxis scores, and the state application.
Earn a master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology
Complete a graduate program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) — the near-universal requirement across US jurisdictions.
Pass the Praxis 5331 with a score of 162 or higher
The Speech-Language Pathology Praxis (5331) is the single national exam accepted by all state boards. 162 is the ASHA-set passing score and every state uses that same cut score.
Complete a Clinical Fellowship (CF)
A 36-week (9-month full-time equivalent) mentored clinical experience under a licensed CCC-SLP. Some states use their own name for it (California calls it the RPE) but the requirement is functionally equivalent.
Submit fingerprints and a background check
Standard across all state boards. Processing typically takes 2–6 weeks and must be completed before the license is issued.
Apply to the state licensing board
Send your Praxis score (ETS score report), transcripts, CF verification, and background clearance to the state board. Some states also require a jurisprudence exam on state SLP practice law.