The North Dakota Hearing Aid Specialist license, issued by the Board of Hearing Aid Specialists under Chapter 43-33 of the North Dakota Century Code, authorizes the holder to sell and fit hearing instruments in North Dakota. Licensure by examination means a qualifying examination of written and practical tests, with a scope the Century Code itself publishes: tests of knowledge in the physics of sound, the anatomy and physiology of the ear, the function of hearing instruments, and elementary audiology, and practical tests of proficiency in fitting techniques. The PassProfessor North Dakota Hearing Aid Specialist program prepares candidates for that Board-designated qualifying examination. The companion exam guide at /north-dakota-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 North Dakota Hearing Aid Specialist measures human hearing to determine hearing loss, by means of an audiometer or by any other means, solely for the purpose of making selections, adaptations, repairs, or sales of hearing instruments — and makes impressions for earmolds. That statutory definition of the practice of fitting and dispensing hearing instruments is the shape of the credential: measurement joined to selection and craft. The license confers the right to select, fit, and sell hearing instruments, and to conduct any necessary hearing testing incident to that work. It must be conspicuously posted in the licensee’s office or place of business.
The license is not a medical or diagnostic credential, and North Dakota law says so on the face of every transaction: the receipt a specialist furnishes must carry the statement that any examination or representation made by a licensed hearing aid specialist in connection with the fitting and selling of the instrument is not an examination, diagnosis, or prescription by a person licensed to practice medicine, and must not be regarded as medical opinion or advice. The Code is equally plain in the other direction: the qualifying examination may not be conducted in a manner that requires college training to pass, and may not imply the medical competence normally expected of physicians. It is a licensing examination for a measured, hands-on trade, set at the trade’s own level.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | North Dakota Hearing Aid Specialist, the license issued under North Dakota Century Code Chapter 43-33 to a hearing aid specialist |
| Licensing authority | Board of Hearing Aid Specialists, established by §43-33-15; the Board prepares and administers the qualifying examinations, issues and renews licenses, and designates the time and place for examining applicants (§43-33-14) |
| Examination | Licensure by examination under §43-33-07: the applicant appears at a time, place, and before such persons as the Board designates, to be examined by means of written and practical tests. The Board gives examinations once a year, and may give more frequent examinations if it deems them necessary. The Century Code does not name the written test, does not attribute it to any outside testing organization, and provides for no separate state law or rules examination |
| Examination scope | §43-33-09: tests of knowledge — basic physics of sound; the anatomy and physiology of the ear; the function of hearing instruments; elementary audiology; and any other requirements established by the Board — and practical tests of proficiency in fitting techniques (stated in full below) |
| Passing standard | No passing score or percentage is published in Chapter 43-33, and none is printed in this package (see the INTERNAL Omissions note) |
| Eligibility | At least 18 years of age; of good moral character; an education equivalent to a four-year course in an accredited high school; and free of contagious or infectious disease (§43-33-07) |
| Route | Qualifications → (optional Temporary Trainee Permit training year) → Board-designated written and practical qualifying examination → license → annual renewal with continuing education |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Board of Hearing Aid Specialists |
Not the permit: the trainee year is training, not the credential
North Dakota’s route has a training document whose name is close enough to the license to cause real confusion. The Temporary Trainee Permit under §43-33-08 is issued while an applicant is in training to become a licensee. An applicant who meets the §43-33-07 requirements may obtain one on application — no previous experience or waiting period may be required. The permit allows one year of training in the fitting and sale of hearing instruments under the direct supervision of a licensee, in the supervisor’s own place of business. Its conditions are specific: at least thirty hours of book and visual aid training and at least ten hours of training with an audiometer; a minimum of one week with the supervisor before the trainee’s first public contact alone; one day per week in the office with the supervisor thereafter; no sale without first consulting the supervisor and obtaining approval; and no more than three trainees per supervisor. If the trainee has not passed the licensing examination within the year, the permit may be renewed or reissued once. The permit is the doorway into supervised training. The Hearing Aid Specialist license itself issues only to the applicant who passes the qualifying examination and pays the Board’s fee — the two documents are never interchangeable.
What the examination covers
North Dakota is unusual among licensing states in one respect that works entirely in the candidate’s favour: the legislature published the examination’s scope in the statute itself. Section 43-33-09 states what the qualifying examination consists of, and a complete preparation is built on that text, item by item.
The tests of knowledge — five areas. (a) Basic physics of sound. (b) The anatomy and physiology of the ear. (c) The function of hearing instruments. (d) Elementary audiology — the measurement discipline at the level the Code names it: elementary, practised, and tied to fitting. (e) Any other requirements established by the Board — the open clause that makes the Board’s current directions part of the scope, and obliges the candidate to take them seriously rather than treating the four named areas as a closed list.
The practical tests of proficiency — seven techniques. (a) Pure tone audiometry, including air conduction testing and bone conduction testing. (b) Live voice or recorded voice speech audiometry, including speech reception threshold testing and speech discrimination testing. (c) Masking when indicated — examined as a judgement, in the cases where it is indicated. (d) Recording and evaluation of audiograms and speech audiometry to determine proper selection and adaptation of a hearing instrument — the step where measurement becomes a fitting decision. (e) Taking earmold impressions. (f) Hearing instrument modification technique. (g) Any other requirements established by the Board. Read as a sequence, the practical list is one complete fitting, performed in order: test the hearing, test the speech, mask where the results require it, record and evaluate what was found, select and adapt the instrument, take the impression, and modify the instrument to the ear.
What the examination does not contain. Chapter 43-33 provides for no separate state law or rules examination, and this package does not invent one. The candidate is nonetheless examined inside a legal frame — Chapter 43-33 governs the license the examination leads to, from the receipt’s required medical disclaimer to the prohibited acts of §43-33-13 — and the working specialist is held to it daily: in North Dakota, law is the operating standard of the licensed practice, not a third test to sit.
What makes this examination demanding
The first demand is the calendar. The Board gives examinations once a year at a time and place it designates, and may give more frequent examinations only if it deems them necessary. A candidate who misses the annual sitting, or who reaches it underprepared, may wait a year for the next certain opportunity — and the trainee permit that structures the training year may be renewed or reissued only once. Preparation in North Dakota is therefore planned backwards from a single annual date, not forwards from whenever study happens to start.
The second demand is that half the examination is performed, not written. Seven practical techniques are tested as proficiency — the Code’s own word — including the two audiometries, masking judgement, audiogram evaluation carried through to a selection decision, the impression, and instrument modification. Knowing the physics of sound thoroughly does not by itself ready a candidate for a practical test that watches the hands and the sequence. The third demand is the open clause, twice repeated: “any other requirements established by the Board” closes both halves of §43-33-09. The published scope is a floor, not a ceiling.
The route, in order
Step one — meet the §43-33-07 qualifications: at least 18 years of age, of good moral character, an education equivalent to a four-year course in an accredited high school, and free of contagious or infectious disease. A conviction does not by itself bar licensure unless the Board determines the offense bears directly on the person’s ability to serve the public as a hearing aid specialist, or that the person is not sufficiently rehabilitated (§43-33-02.1). Step two — train, if you train, on the Temporary Trainee Permit: one year under a licensee’s direct supervision in the supervisor’s place of business, on the training terms stated above; the permit may be renewed or reissued once if the examination is not passed within the year. The permit is not a prerequisite stated in §43-33-07 — an applicant who already meets the qualifications may proceed to examination — but it is the chapter’s structured route to the proficiency the practical tests examine. Step three — sit the qualifying examination: appear at the time and place, and before the persons, the Board designates, for the written and practical tests, on the Board’s annual schedule; the examination fee is set by the Board. Step four — the license: the Board registers each applicant who passes and, on payment of the Board’s fee, issues the license signed by the secretary of the Board (§43-33-06). The parallel door — endorsement: where the Board determines another jurisdiction has requirements equivalent to or higher than North Dakota’s, with an equivalent or stricter qualification program, it may issue a certificate of endorsement to an applicant holding a current, unsuspended, unrevoked license by examination there — no qualifying examination is required, and a license obtained by experience elsewhere does not qualify.
Staying licensed: the working credential
The North Dakota license renews annually. Under §43-33-11, each licensee must, before the license expires, pay the proper fees together with a certificate showing attendance for a minimum of ten hours of continuing education per calendar year at schools or seminars approved by the Board, pertaining to the fitting and sales of hearing instruments. A thirty-day grace period follows expiration, during which the license may still be renewed on payment of the fees with the continuing education certificate; after the grace period the Board may still renew on the same showing, and a licensee who applies within two years of expiration, with continuing education for the twelve months immediately preceding the application, may not be required to submit to an examination as a condition of renewal. The licensee must also notify the Board in writing of the regular address of each place of business (§43-33-10), keep the license conspicuously posted, and practise inside Chapter 43-33’s conduct frame — the receipt and disclaimer requirements of §43-33-03, the prohibited acts of §43-33-13, and the grounds for suspension or revocation in §43-33-12, which include selling a hearing instrument without adequate and proper audiometric testing, or where the need for one has not been established after such testing.
One status point, stated because older discussion of restructuring still circulates: a 2025 bill (SB 2203) that would have consolidated this Board with another board failed to pass — the Board of Hearing Aid Specialists stands, and it designates and administers the qualifying examination described here.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
Built to §43-33-09, area by area and technique by technique. The program is organised on the scope the Century Code publishes: the four named knowledge areas prepared as written-test knowledge, and the seven named practical techniques prepared as performed skills, in the fitting sequence the statute lists them in — pure tone audiometry (air and bone), speech audiometry (reception threshold and discrimination), masking when indicated, audiogram recording and evaluation carried through to selection and adaptation, earmold impressions, and hearing instrument modification.
The annual sitting, planned for as part of the subject. With one guaranteed examination a year and a trainee permit renewable only once, North Dakota candidates lose more candidacies to the calendar than candidates in states with monthly sittings. The program teaches the qualifications → training → examination → license → annual renewal sequence as Chapter 43-33 publishes it, so training hours, permit year, and study peak are planned against the Board’s designated date as one timeline.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Board of Hearing Aid Specialists. 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.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The North Dakota Hearing Aid Specialist 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 North Dakota Hearing Aid Specialist license?
The Board of Hearing Aid Specialists, established by North Dakota Century Code §43-33-15. The Board prepares and administers the qualifying examinations, registers qualified applicants, and issues and renews licenses under Chapter 43-33.
What does the North Dakota qualifying examination consist of?
Written and practical tests, as §43-33-07 provides: the applicant appears at a time, place, and before such persons as the Board designates. Section 43-33-09 sets the scope — tests of knowledge in basic physics of sound, the anatomy and physiology of the ear, the function of hearing instruments, elementary audiology, and any other Board requirements, plus practical tests of proficiency in fitting techniques.
Is the North Dakota written test the ILE?
The Century Code does not say so. Chapter 43-33 names no outside examination and attributes the written test to no testing organization; it describes a qualifying examination the Board designates, prepares, and administers. This program therefore describes the written test exactly as the Code does — as part of the Board-designated qualifying examination — and candidates should take the Board’s own current directions as the authority on the sitting they will face.
Is there a separate North Dakota law or rules examination?
No separate law or rules examination appears in Chapter 43-33. The chapter’s law governs the licensed practice the examination leads to, but licensure by examination under §43-33-07 rests on the written and practical qualifying tests whose scope §43-33-09 publishes.
What techniques does the practical test cover?
The seven techniques §43-33-09 lists: pure tone audiometry including air and bone conduction testing; live voice or recorded voice speech audiometry including speech reception threshold and speech discrimination testing; masking when indicated; recording and evaluation of audiograms and speech audiometry to determine proper selection and adaptation of a hearing instrument; taking earmold impressions; hearing instrument modification technique; and any other requirements the Board establishes.
How often is the examination given?
The Board gives examinations once a year at a time and place it designates, and may give more frequent examinations if it deems them necessary (§43-33-07).
What qualifications must an examination applicant have?
At least 18 years of age, good moral character, an education equivalent to a four-year course in an accredited high school, and freedom from contagious or infectious disease. The examination may not be conducted in a manner that requires college training to pass.
What is the Temporary Trainee Permit, and is it the license?
No. It is a one-year training permit under §43-33-08, held under a licensee’s direct supervision in the supervisor’s place of business, with at least thirty hours of book and visual aid training, ten hours of audiometer training, and supervisor approval before any sale. It may be renewed or reissued once if the holder has not passed the licensing examination within the year. The license itself requires passing the qualifying examination.
How is the license renewed?
Annually, on payment of the Board’s fees with a certificate showing at least ten hours of Board-approved continuing education per calendar year pertaining to the fitting and sales of hearing instruments. A thirty-day grace period follows expiration.
I am licensed in another state. Is there a route that does not require the examination?
Yes, in the Board’s discretion: a certificate of endorsement, where the Board finds the other jurisdiction’s requirements equivalent to or higher than North Dakota’s and its qualification program equivalent or stricter, and the applicant’s out-of-state license was obtained by examination and is current, unsuspended, and unrevoked. A license obtained by experience elsewhere does not qualify.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with the Board of Hearing Aid Specialists?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. The Board alone licenses, and this program is not a Board course.
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.