The Georgia Hearing Aid Dispenser license, issued through the Georgia Secretary of State’s Professional Licensing Boards Division by the State Board of Examiners of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing, authorises the holder to test hearing, select and fit hearing aids, take ear impressions, and dispense hearing aids to the public in Georgia. Full licensure stands behind four examinations: the International Licensing Examination (ILE) administered by the International Hearing Society (IHS), and three Georgia examinations administered by PSI — the Audiogram examination, the Jurisprudence examination on Georgia laws and rules, and the Practical examination. The PassProfessor Georgia Hearing Aid Dispenser program prepares candidates for that full examination set. The companion exam guide at /georgia-hearing-instrument-specialist-exam-guide/ works through the same verified facts in greater depth.
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What this license authorises
The Georgia Hearing Aid Dispenser is the state’s dispensing credential for practitioners who are not licensed audiologists. The licensed dispenser’s examined work is the complete dispensing encounter: measuring hearing levels as they pertain to the fitting of hearing aids, selecting and adapting hearing aids to persons with deficient hearing, making impressions for ear molds, fitting and dispensing the instruments, and recognising the presentations that belong not in a dispensing office but in a medical or rehabilitation referral. Georgia regulates that work through the Professional Licensing Boards Division, and the board that examines and licenses dispensers is the State Board of Examiners of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing. Board forms and chapter 276 of the Georgia rules still carry the former board name, the Georgia Board of Hearing Aid Dealers and Dispensers; the credential, the examinations, and the route described on this page are the current ones.
Two neighbouring authorisations are not this license, and candidates routinely confuse them. A Hearing Aid Dealer authorisation covers the business — the dealership location — rather than the individual practitioner. And the training and apprentice permits described below are supervised, time-limited permissions to learn the work on the way to licensure; neither is the dispenser license itself, and neither survives as a practising credential once its term ends.
The examinations at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Georgia Hearing Aid Dispenser, the Georgia license for practitioners who test hearing for fitting purposes, select, adapt and dispense hearing aids, and make ear impressions |
| Licensing authority | Georgia Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards Division — State Board of Examiners of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing |
| Examinations | Four examinations for full licensure: the International Licensing Examination (ILE), the national written examination administered by the International Hearing Society (IHS); and three Georgia examinations administered by PSI — the Audiogram examination, the Jurisprudence (Georgia Laws & Rules) examination, and the Practical examination. Examination of applicants is conducted at least once during each calendar quarter |
| Passing standard | No passing mark is published in the board material relied on for this page, and none is stated; candidates should confirm the current standard with the Board |
| Examination content (Board rule) | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 276-2-.02: physics of sound; structure and function of the ear; measurement of hearing levels as they pertain to the fitting of hearing aids; selection and adaptation of hearing aids; making of impressions for ear molds; jurisprudence; and medical and rehabilitation agencies and referral methods |
| Trainee tiers | Training Permit (six months, renewable in six-month periods; practice only under the direct supervision and immediate observation of a licensed dispenser) and Apprentice Permit (one year, non-renewable; practice in an apprenticeship under the indirect supervision of a licensed dispenser, after passing the practical portion of the examination) |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Board, the Secretary of State, IHS, or PSI |
Four examinations, not one: the structure candidates miss
Georgia is not a single-examination state, and it is not an ILE-only state. The Board’s application instructions draw the line precisely: the Audiogram, Jurisprudence (Laws & Rules), and Practical examinations — administered by PSI, with the examination fees paid directly to PSI — are required already at the apprentice permit stage, and for full licensure as a dispenser the candidate must also pass the ILE, the national examination administered by IHS. The Board’s supplemental licensure material states the same structure from the other end: all applicants are required to pass all four parts of the practical examination and the ILE, with an official, certified score report sent directly to the Board — candidate copies are not accepted.
The consequence for preparation is that Georgia candidates sit two examining systems. PSI administers the Georgia examinations that test the audiogram, Georgia law, and practical proficiency; IHS administers the national written examination that tests the shared science and fitting knowledge of the profession. A study plan built only for the ILE leaves three Georgia examinations unprepared, including the one examination — jurisprudence — that no national preparation can cover, because its subject is Georgia’s own laws and rules.
What the examinations cover
The Board’s examination rule, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 276-2-.02, fixes the content of the Georgia examination in seven sections, and those seven sections are the honest outline for Georgia preparation. Physics of sound — the acoustics on which every measurement and every fitting decision rests. Structure and function of the ear — the anatomy and physiology that explain both normal hearing and the deficits the dispenser measures. Measurement of hearing levels as they pertain to the fitting of hearing aids — the audiometric core of the credential, examined in its own right by the PSI Audiogram examination: pure-tone and speech measurement, masking, and the reading of the audiogram as a fitting document rather than a diagnostic one. Selection and adaptation of hearing aids to persons with deficient hearing — the fitting judgement itself: matching instrument characteristics to the measured loss, adapting the fitting to the wearer, and verifying the result. Making of impressions for ear molds — the practical craft on which custom fittings depend, examined hands-on in the Practical examination. Jurisprudence — Georgia’s laws and rules governing dealers and dispensers, examined separately by the PSI Jurisprudence (Georgia Laws & Rules) examination. Medical and rehabilitation agencies and referral methods — the boundary of the dispenser’s practice: knowing which presentations require referral, and to whom.
The ILE overlays that Georgia outline with the profession’s national written standard, administered by IHS. The rule expressly preserves the Board’s position alongside it: the Board may adopt the International Hearing Society examination and employ IHS grading services, without surrendering its discretion to review grades or to examine applicants in subjects beyond the IHS examination — which is exactly what the three PSI examinations do.
What makes the Georgia route demanding
Three features make this route harder than a single sitting suggests. First, the examination load is sequential and staged against permits: the practical portion must be passed before the Apprentice Permit issues, and the apprentice is then approved to sit for the next available written examination and every subsequent scheduled examination until all sections of the written examination are passed or the permit expires — the Board may revoke an apprentice permit, without a hearing, if the holder fails the written portion on two occasions. The one-year, non-renewable apprentice term is therefore a genuine clock, not an administrative interval. Second, the examined knowledge is deliberately mixed in kind: acoustics and ear anatomy sit beside bench craft — impressions, testing technique — and beside Georgia statute and rule, and strength in one kind does not compensate for absence in another, because each examination must be passed. Third, supervision is substantive throughout the route: the training permit holder practises only under direct supervision and immediate observation, with the supervising dispenser physically present at all times in the dealership, and the apprentice practises under indirect supervision that still requires a minimum of eight hours of face-to-face contact in each work week, documented review of all paperwork, and direct observation of testing procedures. The route examines the candidate while the workplace watches the candidate work.
The route, in order
The route runs in stages, and the Board’s own documents fix the order. First, the Training Permit: application and fee to the Board, with a Statement of Supervision from the licensed Georgia hearing aid dispenser who will supervise the trainee and secure and verifiable proof of age; the permit runs six months, is renewable in further six-month periods while the requirements continue to be met, and authorises dispensing only under the direct supervision and immediate observation of the supervising dispenser, who may supervise no more than one training permit holder at a time. Second, the examinations for the apprentice stage: the applicant must show proof of passage of the practical portion of the examination required for licensure, and the Board’s application instructions require the Audiogram, Jurisprudence, and Practical examinations, administered by PSI, before the apprentice permit issues. Third, the Apprentice Permit: application and fee — the Board’s apprentice application carries a $110 application fee — with Statements of Supervision from the supervising licensed dispenser and from the licensed dealer who will employ the apprentice and attest to the applicant’s capability; the permit issues for one year and does not renew. Fourth, the written examination during the apprenticeship: the apprentice sits the written examination at the next available sitting and at every subsequent scheduled examination until all sections are passed or the permit ends. Fifth, full licensure: with the ILE also passed — the Board requires the official certified ILE score report sent directly to the Board — and the complete application presented to the Board, the Hearing Aid Dispenser license issues. Throughout, the Board processes complete applications in order of receipt, applications are individually evaluated by the Board, and an incomplete application left deficient is withdrawn after sixty days, restarting the process.
Working under the license
The licensed dispenser practises as the accountable professional the permits were training toward: testing, fitting, and dispensing in the dispenser’s own right, and — once experienced — supervising the next cohort of training and apprentice permit holders, with the supervision duties the rules impose: contemporaneous records of each supervision session, name-tag identification of permit holders in the workplace, and posted office signage where permit holders are involved in fitting and dispensing. A supervising dispenser may carry no more than two apprentice permit holders at any one time. The dealership itself remains separately authorised: the Hearing Aid Dealer facility authorisation runs on its own cycle and is not earned by holding the individual dispenser license. Dispensers who hold or have held licensure in another state should expect the Board to verify that licensure directly with each state or jurisdiction, on the Board’s own form, as part of a Georgia application.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Built to Georgia’s four-examination structure, not to a generic template. The program is organised examination by examination: the ILE’s national written content; the Audiogram examination’s measurement science; the Practical examination’s tested techniques, including ear impressions and testing procedure; and the Jurisprudence examination’s Georgia laws and rules, taught from the Georgia material itself rather than adapted from any other state’s law. The seven content sections of rule 276-2-.02 are the program’s organising outline, because they are the Board’s.
The permit sequence, taught as part of the subject. Georgia candidates lose time to sequence errors — applying for the apprentice stage before the practical portion is passed, or letting the non-renewable apprentice year run against an unprepared written sitting. The program teaches the route as the Board publishes it: training permit, PSI examinations, apprentice permit, written sections, then the ILE score report and full licensure, planned as one timeline.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the State Board of Examiners of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing, the Georgia Secretary of State, the International Hearing Society, or PSI. Completing this program confers no license, permit, or examination eligibility; the Board alone licenses, and candidates apply and test through the Board, PSI, and IHS.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Georgia 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 Hearing Aid Dispensers in Georgia?
The State Board of Examiners of Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing, through the Professional Licensing Boards Division of the Georgia Secretary of State. Older board forms and chapter 276 of the Georgia rules still carry the former board name, Georgia Board of Hearing Aid Dealers and Dispensers.
How many examinations does Georgia licensure require?
Four. The International Licensing Examination (ILE), administered by the International Hearing Society (IHS), plus three Georgia examinations administered by PSI: the Audiogram examination, the Jurisprudence (Georgia Laws & Rules) examination, and the Practical examination.
Which examinations come before the Apprentice Permit?
The Board’s application instructions require the Audiogram, Jurisprudence, and Practical examinations — administered by PSI — in order to be issued an Apprentice Permit, and the apprentice rule requires proof of passage of the practical portion of the licensure examination. The ILE is the additional requirement for full licensure as a dispenser.
What does the Georgia examination cover?
Rule 276-2-.02 fixes seven sections: physics of sound; structure and function of the ear; measurement of hearing levels as they pertain to the fitting of hearing aids; selection and adaptation of hearing aids; making of impressions for ear molds; jurisprudence; and medical and rehabilitation agencies and referral methods.
What is the difference between the Training Permit and the Apprentice Permit?
The Training Permit runs six months at a time and authorises dispensing only under the direct supervision and immediate observation of a licensed dispenser, physically present at all times. The Apprentice Permit runs one year, is not renewable, and authorises practice in an apprenticeship under indirect supervision — the supervisor accessible by telephone and in face-to-face contact for at least eight hours of the apprentice’s work week — while the apprentice completes the written examination sections.
What happens if an apprentice does not pass the written examination?
The apprentice is approved to sit for the next available written examination and every subsequent scheduled examination until all sections are passed or the permit expires or is revoked. The Board has the power to revoke an apprentice permit without a hearing if the holder fails the written portion on two occasions.
Is the Hearing Aid Dealer authorisation the same as the Dispenser license?
No. The dealer authorisation covers the hearing aid dealership — the business location. The dispenser license covers the individual practitioner who tests, fits, and dispenses. They are separate authorisations with separate applications.
What passing score do the Georgia examinations require?
No passing mark is published in the board material relied on for this page, and this page states none. Candidates should confirm the current standard directly with the Board before sitting.
How does the Board receive an ILE result?
By an official, certified score report sent directly to the Board. The Board’s licensure material is explicit that unofficial candidate copies of the examination score are not accepted.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Board, IHS, or PSI?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. The Board alone licenses Georgia Hearing Aid Dispensers, PSI administers the Georgia examinations, and IHS administers the ILE.
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.