A Doctor of Audiology (AuD) is an entry-level clinical doctoral degree in audiology — that is the language ASHA's 2025 CSD Education Survey uses for the degree.
The degree pairs doctoral coursework with supervised clinical practicum, and ASHA's certification standards require a doctoral degree in audiology from a CAA-accredited or candidacy program or equivalent.
It is a clinical professional doctorate: not a PhD, and not a medical degree.
What is an AuD?
The abbreviation AuD stands for Doctor of Audiology — “Au” for audiology, “D” for doctor.
It is the degree the field's own survey language treats as entry-level: ASHA's 2025 CSD Education Survey describes the audiology doctorate as the “entry-level clinical doctoral degree in audiology.”
ASHA's survey counts 81 institutions offering an entry-level clinical doctoral degree in audiology, and in the 2024–2025 academic year AuD programs enrolled 792 first-year students, had 3,065 students enrolled in total, and granted 777 entry-level clinical doctoral degrees in audiology.
Licensure is where the degree meets practice: BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook states that all states require audiologists to be licensed, with requirements varying by state and typically including an AuD from an accredited program — and each state's licensing agency writes its own rules.
ASHA's national certification — the CCC-A — is a separate credential: its 2020 standards require a doctoral degree in audiology from a program accredited by the CAA, a program in CAA candidacy status, or equivalent.
What the degree leads to day to day — the work, the settings, the employers — is the story the audiologist career guide tells in depth.
What does an AuD program include?
Coursework is the first pillar.
ASHA's AuD coursework outline — the outline ASHA uses to evaluate degrees earned outside CAA accreditation — names required areas including acoustics for speech and hearing sciences, counseling techniques in communication sciences and disorders, and a neuroscience overview.
Supervised clinical practicum is the second pillar.
Under ASHA's 2020 certification standards, at least 50% of the supervised clinical practicum must be on site and in person, with telepractice counting for no more than 40% and clinical simulation for no more than 10%.
The standards also govern who supervises that practicum: an ASHA-certified audiologist with at least 9 months of full-time clinical experience (or its part-time equivalent) and at least 2 hours of professional development in clinical instruction or supervision.
Programs also close with a culminating academic requirement: of the 68 AuD programs that responded to ASHA's 2025 survey, 44 — 64.7% — require a capstone project for the degree, and 3 (4.4%) require a thesis.
The standards also cover applicants who did not complete the full supervised clinical practicum within the degree: they have 24 months from the receipt of the certification application to start the remainder, and 48 months from that start to finish it.
Program curricula vary
Is an AuD a clinical or research doctorate?
Clinical.
The AuD is a professional doctorate, and the survey language the field uses for it is “entry-level clinical doctoral degree in audiology.”
The 777 degrees ASHA counted for 2024–2025 were entry-level clinical doctorates; the University of Utah, for one, calls its AuD a four-year post-baccalaureate professional degree.
Research doctorates — the PhD among them — are a separate track.
ASHA's 2025 survey counts 80 institutions offering research doctoral degrees in audiology, speech-language pathology and/or speech and hearing science, reports that 4–6 years is the time-to-degree for the majority of graduates, and records 139 research doctorates granted in 2024–2025.
Those two counts are not like-for-like: the 777 are audiology clinical doctorates alone, while the 139 research doctorates span audiology, SLP and speech and hearing science combined.
The paths also cross.
Purdue offers a combined clinical and research dual-track option in which AuD students can also pursue a research degree, and the University of Iowa lets students in its AuD apply to switch into its combined AuD/PhD after two years in the AuD.
How is an AuD different from a PhD or MD?
Versus a PhD: the AuD is the clinical track; the research doctorates — the PhD among them — are the separate track described above.
ASHA's certification standards are built around a doctoral degree in audiology from a CAA-accredited or candidacy program — or an equivalent ASHA evaluates, using its coursework outline for degrees earned outside CAA accreditation.
Versus an MD: the abbreviations name different professions — MD is Doctor of Medicine, AuD is Doctor of Audiology.
The AuD is not a medical degree and does not make its holder a physician; the two degrees belong to different schools and different careers.
And versus the older master's route: some post-professional AuD programs are built for audiologists who are already practicing.
Drexel's online AuD Bridge is for audiologists who hold a master's in audiology (or equivalent) and have at least 3 years of full-time audiology work experience; it requires a minimum of 45 credits.
It is not an entry-level route, because applicants need an audiology license or other documentation of eligibility to provide audiological services.
ATSU's fully online Post-Professional Doctor of Audiology is likewise for practicing audiologists.
What a state board accepts for licensure is that state's own rule, and it may not match ASHA's certification standard.
Confirm education requirements with the audiology licensing agency in the state where you plan to practice.
Is CCC-A a degree?
No — CCC-A is a certification, not a degree.
It is issued by ASHA (the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) under its 2020 audiology certification standards, which took effect January 1, 2020.
The requirements are separate from any transcript line.
They start with the degree: a doctoral degree in audiology from a program accredited by the CAA, a program in CAA candidacy status, or equivalent.
Then the exam: a passing score on the Praxis Examination in Audiology, earned no earlier than 5 years before the application and no later than 2 years after ASHA receives it.
Then maintenance, so the credential stays current.
On the exam: ASHA's required score on the current Praxis Audiology (5343) test is 162 on the 100–200 scale.
The older 5342 and 0342 test versions had a passing score of 170, which ASHA continues to accept where a state's licensing agency requires that version.
Each state sets its own passing score for licensure, and ASHA recommends AuD students take the exam during their final year.
Keeping the credential means earning at least 30 professional development hours (3.0 ASHA CEUs) per 3-year maintenance interval, including at least 1 PDH in ethics and 2 PDHs in cultural or community-responsive practice topics.
Standards change — check before you apply
What can you do with an AuD?
The AuD is the degree ASHA's survey language calls the entry-level clinical doctorate in audiology — the audiologist career guide covers what the job is and where audiologists work, from private practice and ENT groups to hospitals, schools, industrial hearing conservation and the VA.
Two settings run deep enough that this site treats them as their own career paths: the educational audiologist in school systems and the VA audiologist in federal practice.
The license is the next step.
BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook states that all states require audiologists to be licensed, with requirements varying by state — and each state's licensing agency writes its own rules, so confirm licensure requirements with the board where you plan to practice.
ASHA's CCC-A certification sits on top of the degree, with its own standards, exam score and maintenance hours.
Open roles are listed on the audiologist jobs page.
Career information, not licensing, legal, medical, clinical, billing or coding advice — confirm degree, certification and licensure requirements with ASHA and with your state's audiology board.