Membership Categories
ASHA offers a variety of membership categories. The eligibility requirements of each category are listed below:
Certified Membership
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Certified Membership is open to individuals applying for or who currently hold the
Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC). To be eligible, you must meet the
audiology and/or
speech-language pathology standards in effect at the time of your application. Certified Members are afforded the full
benefits of membership and certification.
Membership without Certification
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Membership without Certification, as stated in
ASHA Bylaws, 3.1. Eligibility, is open to individuals who are not involved in providing clinical services* or in supervising students and/or clinical fellows and who hold either (1) a graduate degree with major emphasis in speech-language pathology, audiology, or speech, language, or hearing science or (2) a graduate degree and present evidence of active research, interest, and performance in the field of human communication. Members without Certification must reside in the United States and are afforded the full
benefits of membership.
Life Membership
Life Membership is available to current ASHA Members who meet the following requirements:
- age of at least 65 at the time of application, and
- at least 25 consecutive years or 35 cumulative years of ASHA membership immediately prior to reaching age 65.
ASHA's elected volunteer leaders have established eligibility requirements for this and all ASHA membership categories. For more information, visit our
Frequently Asked Questions.
Graduate Student Membership
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Current ASHA Certified Members who are returning to school as full-time or part-time students pursuing a degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders (or a related field) at a regionally accredited institution are eligible to receive ASHA's Graduate Student Membership dues discount. You cannot join ASHA through this category. For more information, visit our
Frequently Asked Questions.
Additional Categories
Medical Inactive Status
Individuals with medical disabilities (either short- or long term) that prevent them from working in their profession will not be required to meet the certification maintenance professional development standards, and their certification fees will be waived during the period of their medical disability.
Retired Certification Status
Retired certification is available to certificate holders who are in good standing, have retired from practice, and have held ASHA certification for at least 25 total years OR are 65 years of age or older. Retired certification status allows you to remain affiliated with ASHA and still append the CCC-A (Retired)
and/or CCC-SLP (Retired) designation to your name.
Deployed Military Inactive Status
Individuals deployed on active military duty will not be required to meet the certification maintenance professional development standards, and their certification fees will be waived during their deployment.
Certificate Holder-Only
An individual may also choose to apply for certificate-holder status that is, hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence but not become a member of the Association. Non-member certificate holders are not eligible for member benefits.
For more information on these categories, please visit
Changing Your ASHA Certification Status.
* The term clinical services is defined as evaluation and treatment of persons with speech-language and/or hearing impairments, whether such services are provided in elementary or secondary schools, in private practice, or in free-standing community clinics, rehabilitation centers, hospitals, nursing homes, or other facilities.