The Hearing Aid Dispenser license, issued under the Delaware Board of Speech/Language Pathologists, Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers in the Division of Professional Regulation, authorizes the holder to dispense prescription hearing aids in Delaware. The route to it is deliberately sequenced: the International Hearing Society’s Distance Learning curriculum and six months of directly supervised training must be completed before the Board will authorize the applicant to take the national examination at all. The PassProfessor Delaware Hearing Aid Dispenser program prepares candidates for that examination and that sequence. The companion exam guide at /delaware-hearing-instrument-specialist-exam-guide/ works through the same verified facts in greater depth.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
What this credential certifies
Delaware law defines the practice of hearing aid dispensing as the selection, fitting, dispensing, adapting, selling, or renting of prescription hearing aids to a prospective hearing aid user who is at least eighteen years of age. Within that practice, a licensed dispenser may perform otoscopic observation of the ear canal, and nondiagnostic testing of hearing, solely for the purpose of fitting a prescription hearing aid or making necessary referrals; make ear impressions for the manufacture or modification of earmolds and prescription hearing aids; make adjustments and repairs to prescription hearing aids; and provide instruction, orientation, and counseling on the use and operation of a prescription hearing aid.
Two boundaries in that definition matter for preparation. First, the testing is nondiagnostic: the dispenser tests in order to fit and to refer, not to diagnose or to perform an audiologic evaluation. Second, the credential concerns prescription hearing aids — the Delaware definitions distinguish a prescription hearing aid from an over-the-counter hearing aid. Licensed Delaware audiologists are authorized to dispense hearing aids under their audiology license and are not required to obtain a separate Hearing Aid Dispensing license; that exemption belongs to the audiology license, and every other applicant meets the full dispenser requirements described on this page.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Hearing Aid Dispenser, the Delaware license to dispense prescription hearing aids (the Board’s rule issues it as a Hearing Aid Dispensing license) |
| Licensing authority | Board of Speech/Language Pathologists, Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers, Division of Professional Regulation; 24 Del.C. Chapter 37 and 24 DE Admin. Code 3700 |
| Examination | The national examination approved by the Division, passed in accordance with scores as recommended by the national testing service, the International Hearing Society (IHS), or its successor. The Board authorizes an applicant to take the examination only after the training requirements below are met and the training verification is approved. Delaware’s current rule describes the examination in those terms and does not name a separate state practical or state law examination |
| Passing standard | As published in 24 DE Admin. Code 3700 §4.2.4: passage in accordance with scores as recommended by the national testing service, the International Hearing Society, or its successor. No numerical score is published in the rule |
| Eligibility | Meet the current standards promulgated by the International Hearing Society or its successor; high school diploma or its equivalent; successful completion of the IHS curriculum “Distance Learning for Professionals in Hearing Health Sciences” (or a Board-approved equivalent) with the completion certificate provided to the Board; and six months of training under the direct supervision of a Delaware-licensed hearing aid dispenser or audiologist, holding a valid, active temporary license throughout the training |
| Route | Temporary license → IHS Distance Learning curriculum + six months of directly supervised training (supervision tapering 100% / 50% / 25% across the three two-month periods) → verified training → Board authorization → national examination → Hearing Aid Dispensing license |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Delaware Board, the Division of Professional Regulation, or the International Hearing Society |
Not the license: the temporary license, and the audiologist’s exemption
Delaware’s route is commonly misread at its first step. The temporary license is a supervised practice document, not a junior dispensing license: its stated purpose in the Board’s rule is to permit an otherwise qualified applicant to practice under appropriate supervision pending the applicant’s scoring of a passing grade on the examination. It is the document the trainee must hold — valid and active — for the whole six-month training period; training conducted while the applicant is without a valid, active temporary license does not count toward the six months at all. The temporary license is valid for two years from issuance, and it may be renewed once for an additional one-year period in extenuating circumstances, on a written request sent to the Division at least sixty days before expiration.
The Hearing Aid Dispensing license is the full credential, issued only when the testing service confirms the applicant has passed the national examination. Separate from both documents, a Delaware-licensed audiologist dispenses under the audiology license without a separate dispenser license. Candidates for this program should keep the three positions distinct: supervised trainee, licensed dispenser, and exempt audiologist are three different legal postures toward the same work.
What the examination covers
Delaware’s examination has one component as its current rule publishes it — a national written examination — and one curriculum that stands in front of it. A complete preparation addresses both.
The training curriculum — IHS Distance Learning. Before authorization, the applicant must successfully complete the International Hearing Society curriculum entitled “Distance Learning for Professionals in Hearing Health Sciences,” or an equivalent course approved by the Board, and provide the Board with the course completion certificate. This is not an optional study aid Delaware recommends; it is a licensure requirement the Board checks, and it sets the knowledge base the supervised months and the examination then build on: the science of sound and hearing, audiometric measurement for fitting, hearing aid technology and selection, and the counseling of the wearer.
The national examination. Section 4.2.4 of the Board’s rule requires the applicant to have completed and passed “the national examination approved by the Division, in accordance with scores as recommended by the national testing service, the International Hearing Society, or its successor.” Candidates should note the rule’s exact posture: Delaware adopts a national examination and the testing service’s recommended scores rather than publishing a state paper or a state number. Its territory is the general professional knowledge of dispensing as Delaware defines the practice — measurement of hearing for the purpose of fitting, otoscopic observation, ear impressions, selection, fitting and adaptation of prescription hearing aids, adjustments, and instruction and counseling — examined at national-examination standard. Delaware’s current rule names no separate practical examination and no separate Delaware law examination for this license, and this program does not invent either.
There is no performed state practical in the current rule — and the craft is still trained. The absence of a state practical sitting does not make the work theoretical. The six supervised months are where the craft is formed and verified: the sponsor who signs the notarized training verification attests that the training was completed under direct supervision as the rule requires, and a trainee whose hands are not ready at the end of those months carries that gap into independent practice, examined or not.
What makes this route demanding
Delaware’s demand is sequence, enforced at three gates. First, no authorization before training: the Board will not authorize the applicant to take the examination until both the Distance Learning curriculum and the six months of supervised training are complete — examination study cannot be front-loaded into a sitting taken early. Second, the supervision taper is specified: direct supervision means direct, onsite observation, at one hundred percent of the time during the first two months, fifty percent during the subsequent two months, and twenty-five percent during the final two months — a training plan that cannot deliver that observation pattern cannot deliver countable training. Third, the temporary license is both the key and the clock: training outside its validity does not count, the examination must be passed inside its two-year life (with no limit on the number of attempts during that period), and the consequences of missing the window are written into the rule, as the guide sets out. The candidate who plans the curriculum, the sponsor, and the sitting as one timeline meets a straightforward route; the candidate who treats them as separate errands meets three gates in the wrong order.
The route, in order
Step one — qualify and obtain the temporary license. Hold a high school diploma or its equivalent, and apply with verification of that diploma and a plan for completing the six-month training period bearing the notarized signature of the Delaware-licensed sponsor — a licensed hearing aid dispenser or a licensed audiologist — who will provide the direct supervision and training. All Delaware applications are submitted electronically, and an application is valid for one year after submission. Step two — complete the curriculum. Successfully complete the IHS “Distance Learning for Professionals in Hearing Health Sciences” curriculum, or a Board-approved equivalent, and provide the Board with the completion certificate. Step three — complete the six months of training under direct, onsite supervision on the rule’s taper — one hundred percent for the first two months, fifty percent for the next two, twenty-five percent for the final two — holding the valid, active temporary license throughout. Step four — verify the training. The temporary licensee submits verification of completion on the Board-approved form, including the sponsor’s notarized signature attesting the training was completed under direct supervision as required; on receipt and approval, the Board authorizes the applicant to take the examination. Step five — pass the national examination approved by the Division, at the scores the testing service recommends; on the testing service’s confirmation of passage, the Board issues the Hearing Aid Dispensing license. An applicant who does not pass may retake without a stated limit during the temporary license’s two years — the rule’s timelines for longer candidacies are set out in the companion guide.
Staying licensed: renewal, continuing education, and calibration
Delaware licenses expire biennially, in every odd-numbered year, and renewal is accomplished online through the Division, with the applicable fee and attestation of the continuing education the Board requires. A licensee holding a single specialty license must obtain a minimum of thirty continuing education hours in each two-year renewal period, and — effective for the renewal period beginning August 1, 2025 — two of those hours must be in ethics, in every renewal period. A license issued for less than one year carries no continuing education requirement, and one covering more than one but less than two years requires fifteen hours. Temporary licensees are exempt from the continuing education requirement. Two working duties accompany renewal: audiologists and hearing aid dispensers must ensure the annual calibration of the electronic equipment they use to assess hearing, performed consistent with American National Standards Institute standards, and attest to that compliance at renewal; and every licensee must keep current mailing and email addresses with the Division, reporting a change within ten days. An expired license may be renewed within one year on fulfilling the renewal requirements and paying the late fee, and a licensee may hold inactive status for up to five years.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Built to Delaware’s published sequence, gate by gate. The program is organized on the route the Board’s rule actually imposes: the Distance Learning curriculum’s knowledge base, built thoroughly because the Board verifies its completion; the supervised-training months, taught as the formation of the dispensing craft — measurement, impressions, fitting, counseling — rather than as waiting time; and the national examination’s professional knowledge, prepared to the testing service’s standard.
The exact Delaware facts, kept exact. The program teaches the rule as Delaware publishes it — the national examination described in the rule’s own terms, passage at the scores the testing service recommends, no invented state practical, no invented state law paper, and no invented passing number — so candidates are never surprised by the difference between third-party summaries and the Board’s text.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Delaware Board of Speech/Language Pathologists, Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers, the Division of Professional Regulation, or the International Hearing Society. This program is not the IHS Distance Learning curriculum, does not satisfy that curriculum requirement or the six-month training requirement, and confers no license or temporary license; the Board alone licenses, and candidates train and test through the Board and its testing service.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Delaware Hearing Aid Dispenser program is in the works as PassProfessor expands its catalog of health examination preparation, and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. No date is promised, because the program will open when it meets the standard described above, not before.
Frequently asked questions
Who licenses a Delaware Hearing Aid Dispenser?
The Board of Speech/Language Pathologists, Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers, in the Division of Professional Regulation, under 24 Del.C. Chapter 37 and 24 DE Admin. Code 3700.
What examination must a Delaware applicant pass?
The national examination approved by the Division, passed in accordance with scores as recommended by the national testing service, the International Hearing Society, or its successor — section 4.2.4 of the Board’s rule. The Board authorizes the applicant to take it only after the training requirements are complete and verified.
What must be completed before the Board authorizes the examination?
Two things: successful completion of the IHS curriculum “Distance Learning for Professionals in Hearing Health Sciences,” or a Board-approved equivalent, with the completion certificate provided to the Board; and six months of training under the direct supervision of a Delaware-licensed hearing aid dispenser or audiologist, verified on the Board-approved form with the sponsor’s notarized signature.
How is the six-month training supervised?
Directly and onsite, on a taper the rule specifies: one hundred percent of the time during the first two months, fifty percent during the subsequent two months, and twenty-five percent during the final two months. The applicant must hold a valid, active temporary license for the whole period; training without one does not count.
What score passes the Delaware examination?
Delaware publishes the standard in the testing service’s terms, not as a state number: passage is in accordance with scores as recommended by the national testing service, the International Hearing Society, or its successor. No numerical passing score appears in the rule, and none is printed here.
Must a Delaware audiologist hold this license to dispense hearing aids?
No. Section 4.1 of the Board’s rule states that Delaware-licensed audiologists are authorized to dispense hearing aids under 24 Del.C. §3702(8) and are not required to obtain a separate Hearing Aid Dispensing license. All other applicants meet the dispenser requirements in full.
How long is the temporary license valid, and how often may I test under it?
Two years from issuance, renewable once for one additional year in extenuating circumstances on a written request made at least sixty days before expiration. There is no limit on the number of times the applicant may take the examination during the two-year temporary licensure period.
What happens if I have not passed within two years?
Under the current rule, an applicant who does not pass the examination within two years after making application must wait six months from the date of the last examination and complete an additional training period before the Board will grant authorization to retake it. An applicant who has not passed within four years of the first temporary license must have the supervisor certify a second review of the IHS Distance Learning curriculum or a Board-approved equivalent.
How is the license maintained?
Biennial renewal in odd-numbered years, with a minimum of thirty continuing education hours per two-year period for a single-specialty licensee, two of them in ethics, and attestation at renewal to the annual calibration of electronic equipment used to assess hearing.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Delaware Board, the Division, or IHS?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, and this program is not the IHS Distance Learning curriculum. The Board alone licenses.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.