The Louisiana Hearing Aid Dealer license, issued by the Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers under Revised Statutes 37:2441–2465, authorizes the holder to test hearing while engaged in the selling and fitting of hearing aids in Louisiana. The examination behind it has three parts: the written International Licensing Examination, the International Hearing Society practical examination proctored and graded by the Board, and an Open Book Examination on the Louisiana Licensing Act and Bylaws that even endorsement applicants must complete. The PassProfessor Louisiana Hearing Aid Dealer program prepares candidates for that examination set. The companion exam guide at /louisiana-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
A licensed Louisiana Hearing Aid Dealer tests hearing for the purpose of fitting and selling hearing aids, selects and fits instruments to the wearer’s measured hearing, and sells and dispenses them under the Louisiana Licensing Act — a statute that governs the transaction as well as the testing, down to testing periods, cooling-off periods, audiometric calibration, and unethical conduct. Louisiana frames the dealer as both a measurement practitioner and a regulated seller, and its examination set tests both halves of that identity.
The license is the full, independent credential in its program. It is not a diagnostic or medical credential, and Louisiana’s scope statute says so in terms: the examination consists of tests of knowledge in hearing testing and the capability of fitting and selling hearing aids, and it does not include questions requiring a formal college, medical, surgical, or audiological education. The trainee tier — the Temporary Training Permit — is the supervised route into the credential, never the credential itself, and the Certificate of Endorsement is the entry route for a dealer already licensed elsewhere, not a shortcut around Louisiana law.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Louisiana Hearing Aid Dealer, the license to fit and dispense hearing instruments in Louisiana |
| Licensing authority | Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers; Revised Statutes 37:2441–2465 and the Board’s Licensing Act Bylaws (Rev. 7/22) |
| Examination | Three parts under Bylaws Article VI: the written examination and the practical examination are both the International Licensing Examination for Hearing Healthcare Professionals (ILE) provided by the International Hearing Society (IHS); plus an Open Book Examination on the Louisiana Licensing Act and Bylaws. After Board approval the written ILE is scheduled with IHS and taken online as IHS designates; the IHS Practical Examination is given in January and on other Board-designated dates, proctored and graded by the Board; the Open Book Examination is completed and submitted online to the Board |
| Passing standard | No numeric pass mark is published in the Louisiana statute or bylaws verified for this package, and no Louisiana pass figure is printed here |
| Examination fees (state-published) | Practical Examination fee: $200 per occurrence, nonrefundable, payable to the Board. New first-time applicant fee: $200 (R.S. 37:2445). On passing, the license registration fee is $75 (R.S. 37:2448) |
| Route | Qualifications under R.S. 37:2445 → application (complete applications received at least 90 days before the next scheduled examination) → written ILE, Board-proctored practical, and Open Book Examination → license. A Temporary Training Permit is the supervised trainee tier |
| Endorsement | A Certificate of Endorsement applicant licensed in another state must still complete the Open Book Examination on the Louisiana Licensing Act and Bylaws |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers or the International Hearing Society |
Not the license: the Temporary Training Permit and the Certificate of Endorsement
Louisiana issues two documents that are routinely mistaken for the license. The Temporary Training Permit (TTP) is the trainee tier: an applicant who meets the R.S. 37:2445 qualifications and has not previously applied to take the examination may apply for one, on a fee of $100, with the sponsor’s and co-sponsor’s signatures notarized. The permit entitles the holder to participate in the fitting and selling of hearing aids under direct supervision — working out of the office where the fully licensed sponsor or co-sponsor is permanently and regularly located — for a period ending thirty days after the conclusion of the next examination the holder is required to take. A holder who sits the examination and does not pass may renew once, on a $75 renewal fee, for a period ending thirty days after the next examination; a holder who simply does not take the next required examination may not renew except for good cause shown to the Board. The Certificate of Endorsement is the parallel entry for a dealer licensed elsewhere — and it is not an exemption from Louisiana law, because the endorsement applicant must still complete the Open Book Examination on the Act and Bylaws.
What the examination covers
Louisiana examines in three parts, and Bylaws Article VI, Section 4 states the architecture in one sentence: the examinations shall be written, practical, and an Open Book Examination on the Louisiana Licensing Act and Bylaws — and the written and practical examinations shall be the ILE. Each part is prepared differently.
The written ILE — online, after Board approval. The written examination is the International Licensing Examination for Hearing Healthcare Professionals, provided by IHS: the general professional-knowledge paper of the occupation — hearing testing, hearing aid technology and selection, fitting, and the capability of selling and fitting hearing aids that R.S. 37:2447 makes the examination’s scope. The sequence is fixed by the bylaws: once the license application is approved by the Board, the applicant may schedule the written portion with IHS, and the written ILE is taken online as IHS designates. Board approval comes first; there is no sitting to book before it.
The IHS Practical — Board-proctored, Board-graded, on the Board’s calendar. The practical examination is also the ILE practical — but in Louisiana it is not a vendor appointment the candidate arranges alone. The IHS Practical Examinations for license applicants are given during the month of January each year and on any other dates the Board designates, and the practical is proctored by the Board or by persons the Board designates. Its fee is $200 per occurrence, nonrefundable, payable to the Board. The practical therefore runs on an annual rhythm that the written paper does not: miss the January sitting and the route waits for a Board-designated date.
The Open Book Examination — Louisiana’s Act and Bylaws. The third part is an examination on the Louisiana Licensing Act and Bylaws themselves. It is open book by design — the test is whether the candidate can work in the Act, not whether the candidate has memorized it — and it is completed and submitted online to the Board. It is required of first-time applicants, and it is also required of Certificate of Endorsement applicants coming from another state: Louisiana tests its own law on everyone who will practice under it, however experienced they are elsewhere.
Behind the three examinations stands the Act’s wider examined territory, which the open book paper can reach at any point: the application and permit articles, the examination article itself, the audiometric calibration provisions of Bylaws Article VII, and the unethical conduct provisions of Article VIII — the rules that will govern the dealer’s instruments, transactions, and conduct for as long as the license is held. Louisiana’s design is consistent: the national examination certifies the craft, and the state’s own open book paper certifies that the person practicing that craft in Louisiana can work inside Louisiana’s rules for it.
What makes this examination demanding
The first demand is the calendar. The three parts run on three different clocks: the written ILE waits on Board approval and is then scheduled with IHS online; the practical is given in January and on Board-designated dates only; and the application itself must be complete at the Board at least ninety days before the next scheduled examination to be eligible for it. A candidate who plans the three parts as if they were one appointment discovers that the practical’s annual rhythm governs the whole route — and that a Temporary Training Permit is written to end thirty days after the next required examination, so permit time and examination time are the same clock.
The second demand is that the practical is proctored and graded by the Board itself. This is the IHS practical examination, but the examining presence in the room is Louisiana’s: the Board, or the persons it designates, proctors the sitting, and the $200 practical fee is payable to the Board for each occurrence. Preparation is therefore preparation for a performed examination under the regulator’s own eye — audiometric accuracy, impression craft, and procedure discipline demonstrated, not described.
The third demand is the Open Book Examination’s quiet trap. Because it is open book, candidates under-prepare for it — but the Act and Bylaws it examines are the operating law of the Louisiana license: application and permit rules, examination rules, audiometric calibration, unethical conduct, testing and cooling-off periods. The dealer who cannot find and apply those provisions on the examination will not apply them across the counter either, which is precisely why Louisiana also requires it of endorsement applicants who have practiced for years elsewhere.
The route, in order
Step one — meet the R.S. 37:2445 qualifications and apply. A new first-time applicant pays a fee of $200 and shows the Board that they are a person of good moral character; are twenty-one years of age or older; hold an education equivalent to a four-year course in an accredited high school and two years of college or two years of accredited higher education (the statute also preserves the position of those who had continuously engaged in fitting and selling hearing aids during the two years preceding the chapter’s effective date); and are free of contagious or infectious disease. Applications are subscribed and sworn before a notary public, and a complete application must be received at least ninety days before the next scheduled examination. Step two — train under a Temporary Training Permit where that is the route: the $100 permit, with notarized sponsor and co-sponsor signatures, direct supervision from the sponsor’s own office, and an end date thirty days after the next required examination concludes. Permit holders issued a permit four months before the next scheduled examination are required to take that examination. Step three — complete the three examinations: the written ILE with IHS online after Board approval; the IHS Practical in January or on a Board-designated date, proctored by the Board, at $200 per occurrence; and the Open Book Examination on the Act and Bylaws, submitted online to the Board. Step four — the license: on passing, the applicant registers on payment of the $75 fee under R.S. 37:2448, and the license is displayed as the Act requires. The license expires on December 31 of each year.
Staying licensed: the working credential
The Louisiana license is annual: it expires on December 31 of each year, and renewal carries a continuing education obligation set by R.S. 37:2446.1 — twelve hours of continuing education per year in Board-approved courses, of which a maximum of four hours may be obtained through internet or correspondence courses, documented to the Board as proof of exposure to new developments in the practice. The approved categories track the working craft: procedures in the selection and fitting of hearing aids among them. A person who receives a license by endorsement or examination on July 1 or later in a year is not required to complete the twelve hours until December 31 of the following year.
The Act the Open Book Examination tested remains the operating law of the renewed license: the testing period and three-day cooling-off provisions, the audiometric calibration article of the bylaws, and the unethical conduct provisions govern every transaction the dealer makes. Louisiana’s structure makes the point by design — the law examination is open book because the law itself is meant to stay open on the dealer’s desk for the whole of the license year, and the annual renewal cycle returns the dealer to it every twelve months.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Built to the Louisiana examination set, part by part. The program is organised on Bylaws Article VI as the Board publishes it: the written ILE’s professional knowledge — hearing testing and the capability of fitting and selling hearing aids that R.S. 37:2447 makes the examination’s scope; the IHS Practical prepared as performed skills for a Board-proctored sitting; and the Open Book Examination taught as working fluency in the Louisiana Licensing Act and Bylaws — applications, permits, examinations, calibration, and unethical conduct — rather than as a text to be skimmed on the day.
The calendar and the permit, taught as part of the subject. Louisiana candidates lose time to sequence more than to content: an application that arrives inside the ninety-day line, a practical that runs in January, a training permit written to expire thirty days after the next required examination. The program teaches the qualifications, the ninety-day application rule, the Temporary Training Permit and its single renewal, the January practical rhythm, and the endorsement route’s open book requirement as the Board publishes them, so the candidate’s application, training, and sittings are planned as one timeline.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers or the International Hearing Society. This program is not a Board course, confers no permit or license, and satisfies no training requirement; the Board alone licenses, and candidates apply, train, and test through the Board and IHS.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Louisiana Hearing Aid Dealer 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 issues the Louisiana Hearing Aid Dealer license?
The Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers, under Revised Statutes 37:2441–2465 and the Board’s Licensing Act Bylaws.
What examinations does Louisiana require?
Three: the written International Licensing Examination (ILE) provided by the International Hearing Society, taken online as IHS designates after Board approval; the IHS Practical Examination, given in January and on other Board-designated dates and proctored and graded by the Board; and an Open Book Examination on the Louisiana Licensing Act and Bylaws, completed and submitted online to the Board.
What score passes the Louisiana examinations?
No numeric pass mark is published in the Louisiana statute or bylaws verified for this package, and no Louisiana pass figure is printed on this page. Candidates should treat any percentage quoted by third-party material with caution.
What does the Louisiana practical examination cost?
$200 per occurrence, nonrefundable, payable to the Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers (Bylaws Article VI, Section 2).
What are the qualifications for a first-time Louisiana applicant?
Under R.S. 37:2445, on a $200 new applicant fee: good moral character; twenty-one years of age or older; an education equivalent to a four-year course in an accredited high school and two years of college or two years of accredited higher education; and freedom from contagious or infectious disease.
What is the Temporary Training Permit?
The trainee tier. On a $100 fee, with notarized sponsor and co-sponsor signatures, the holder participates in the fitting and selling of hearing aids under direct supervision from the sponsor’s office, for a period ending thirty days after the conclusion of the next required examination. A holder who sits and does not pass may renew once, for $75; a holder who does not take the next required examination may not renew except for good cause shown to the Board.
How early must a Louisiana application be filed?
A complete application for examination must be received at least ninety days before the next scheduled examination to be eligible for it (Bylaws Article V, Section 7).
I hold a Temporary Training Permit issued four months before the next examination. Must I sit it?
Yes. Bylaws Article V, Section 8 requires applicants issued a temporary training permit four months before the next scheduled examination to take that examination.
I am licensed in another state. What does endorsement still require?
A Certificate of Endorsement — and the Open Book Examination on the Louisiana Licensing Act and Bylaws, which endorsement applicants must complete like first-time applicants.
How is the Louisiana license maintained?
It expires on December 31 each year. Renewal requires twelve hours of Board-approved continuing education per year, with a maximum of four hours by internet or correspondence courses (R.S. 37:2446.1); a license received by endorsement or examination on July 1 or later carries no continuing education obligation until December 31 of the following year.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Louisiana Board or IHS?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. The Louisiana Board for Hearing Aid Dealers alone licenses; IHS provides the written and practical examinations the Board has adopted.
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.