- What Is the CCC-A Certification?
- Who Awards It and Which Exam You Must Pass
- Exam Format and Registration Mechanics
- The Five Exam Domains
- Eligibility Requirements
- Certification Costs and Fees
- Maintaining the CCC-A
- Who Hires CCC-A Holders
- Building a Study Plan Around the Domains
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CCC-A requires passing Praxis Audiology (5343): 120 selected-response items in 2 hours, $146 fee.
- ASHA's passing score is 162 on the 100-200 scale, and this stays fixed through the 2027 PSI transition.
- Assessment is the heaviest domain at 35% - it deserves the most study hours.
- Initial certification runs $446 without membership or $490 with ASHA membership.
What Is the CCC-A Certification?
The Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology (CCC-A) is the credential audiologists earn to demonstrate they meet national standards for independent clinical practice. It signals to employers, licensing boards, and patients that the holder has completed doctoral-level training, supervised clinical hours, and a standardized national examination covering the full scope of audiologic practice. If you're asking what is CCC-A or trying to untangle the CCC-A meaning from similarly-named credentials in other fields, this article - and the deeper dives linked throughout - will walk you through exactly what the letters stand for and what it takes to earn them.
Because "CCC-A" is used loosely online, it's worth being precise: this article covers only the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology, the credential governed by ASHA's certification standards and verified through the Praxis Audiology exam. If you want the short version of what does CCC-A stand for, it's this exact credential - nothing else.
Who Awards It and Which Exam You Must Pass
The CCC-A is awarded by ASHA's Council for Clinical Certification in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. Candidates satisfy the certification's examination standard by passing Praxis Audiology (5343), a national exam currently owned and administered by ETS. That administration arrangement is not permanent: on January 11, 2027, test delivery transitions to PSI, though ASHA has confirmed the exam content and the passing point will remain unchanged through that switch. If your target test date falls near that transition, check CCC-A Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling before you register so you don't get caught between systems.
Exam Format and Registration Mechanics
Praxis Audiology (5343) is a computer-delivered test made up of 120 selected-response questions, and candidates are given 2 hours to complete it. Selected-response simply means multiple-choice-style items rather than essays or simulations - but don't assume that makes it easy; the questions are written to test applied clinical judgment, not simple recall. Be aware the test may include unscored items mixed in with scored ones, so every question should be treated as if it counts.
The exam fee is $146, paid directly as part of registration. That fee is separate from ASHA's certification application fees, so budget for both. For a complete breakdown of every dollar involved in earning and keeping the credential, see CCC-A Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
ASHA sets the passing score at 162 on a 100-200 scale. That number is fixed by ASHA, not by the testing vendor, which is exactly why it doesn't change during the 2027 ETS-to-PSI transition. Read the full breakdown in CCC-A Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
The Five Exam Domains
Praxis Audiology (5343) is organized around five content domains, and they are not weighted equally. Knowing the weighting is arguably the single most useful piece of exam intelligence a candidate can have, because it tells you where to put your limited study hours.
Domain 1: Foundations of Audiology (20%)
Covers the anatomical, physiological, and acoustic principles underlying hearing and balance function.
- Auditory and vestibular system anatomy and physiology
- Acoustics and psychoacoustic principles
- Genetics and pathologies affecting hearing
Domain 2: Prevention and Screening (10%)
Focuses on identifying risk and catching disorders early across the lifespan.
- Hearing conservation and noise-exposure prevention
- Newborn and school-age screening protocols
- Referral criteria and follow-up pathways
Domain 3: Assessment (35%)
The largest domain by far, covering the full diagnostic toolkit audiologists use.
- Pure-tone and speech audiometry interpretation
- Immittance, otoacoustic emissions, and electrophysiologic testing
- Vestibular and balance assessment
- Differential diagnosis across pediatric and adult populations
Domain 4: Intervention (25%)
Tests knowledge of treatment planning and rehabilitative management.
- Hearing aid selection, fitting, and verification
- Cochlear implant candidacy and management
- Aural rehabilitation and counseling approaches
Domain 5: Professional and Ethical Responsibilities (10%)
Covers the scope-of-practice and ethical framework audiologists must operate within.
- ASHA Code of Ethics application
- Scope of practice and interprofessional collaboration
- Documentation, billing, and legal/regulatory obligations
Because Assessment and Intervention together make up 60% of the exam, most candidates should structure their review to spend the majority of study time there. For a topic-by-topic breakdown of every domain, read CCC-A Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.
Eligibility Requirements
Before you can even sit for Praxis Audiology (5343), ASHA requires that CCC-A applicants meet four standards:
- Doctoral degree: completion of a doctoral-level audiology program (typically an AuD)
- Knowledge and skills: demonstrated coursework and competency across the audiology scope of practice
- Supervised clinical practicum: completion of required supervised clinical hours during training
- Examination standard: a passing score on Praxis Audiology (5343)
Each of these has specific documentation requirements tied to your graduate program and ASHA's application process. For the full eligibility checklist and how to verify you qualify before you register for the exam, see CCC-A Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Certification Costs and Fees
Two separate cost streams apply to earning the CCC-A: the exam fee and the certification application fee.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Praxis Audiology (5343) exam fee | $146 |
| Initial ASHA certification, with membership | $490 |
| Initial ASHA certification, without membership | $446 |
Notice that certification is actually cheaper without an ASHA membership add-on - worth weighing depending on whether you want membership benefits beyond certification itself. For the full lifetime cost picture, including renewal fees, see CCC-A Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Maintaining the CCC-A
Passing the exam and getting certified is not a one-time event. Holders must maintain the CCC-A through annual dues or certification fees, plus ongoing continuing education. Specifically, ASHA requires 30 professional-development hours every three years to keep the credential active. Within that total, at least 1 hour must be in ethics, and - effective in 2026 - 2 hours must be in designated person-centered, reflective, or collaborative practice topics.
Who Hires CCC-A Holders
Because the CCC-A verifies competency across the full scope of audiologic assessment and intervention, it's the credential employers look for when hiring clinical audiologists in hospitals, ENT practices, private audiology clinics, school districts, the Veterans Health Administration, and pediatric hearing centers. Many state licensure boards also lean on CCC-A eligibility standards when reviewing applications, which is part of why the credential functions as a practical prerequisite for practicing audiology in most clinical settings. If you're mapping out where the credential can take you, CCC-A Jobs covers the employer landscape in more depth, and CCC-A Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis breaks down compensation considerations. If you're still deciding whether the investment of time and fees is worth it for your career stage, Is the CCC-A Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 walks through that decision directly.
Building a Study Plan Around the Domains
Generic study advice rarely accounts for how lopsided the Praxis Audiology (5343) blueprint actually is. Because Assessment alone is worth 35% and Intervention is worth 25%, an efficient plan allocates study weeks proportionally rather than spreading time evenly across all five domains.
Foundations of Audiology + Prevention and Screening
- Review anatomy, acoustics, and psychoacoustic principles
- Cover screening protocols and referral criteria quickly - these are lower-weighted domains
Assessment (the 35% domain)
- Drill pure-tone, speech, and immittance interpretation
- Work through electrophysiologic and vestibular test scenarios
- Practice differential diagnosis across pediatric and adult case types
Intervention
- Hearing aid fitting and verification workflows
- Cochlear implant candidacy criteria
- Aural rehabilitation counseling scenarios
Professional and Ethical Responsibilities + full review
- ASHA Code of Ethics scenarios and scope-of-practice questions
- Full-length timed practice under the 120-question, 2-hour format
Spaced review across weeks, rather than cramming, matters most for Assessment, since it draws on multiple overlapping skill areas rather than isolated facts. For a week-by-week study system built specifically around this weighting, see CCC-A Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and pair it with timed practice questions on our practice test platform so you get used to the selected-response format and the 2-hour pacing before test day. Running a few full-length sessions on CCC-A Exam Prep's practice tests is also the fastest way to find out honestly which domains still need work.
If you're unsure how difficult the exam will actually feel relative to your training, How Hard Is the CCC-A Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and CCC-A Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows both offer useful context before you commit to a study timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
You must pass Praxis Audiology (5343), a 120-question, computer-delivered, selected-response exam administered in 2 hours. ETS administers it through 2026, with PSI taking over administration on January 11, 2027.
ASHA requires a scaled score of 162 out of a possible 100-200 range. This passing score stays the same through the transition to PSI administration.
The exam itself costs $146. Initial ASHA certification costs $446 without membership or $490 with membership. After that, holders pay annual dues or certification fees to maintain active status.
Assessment, which makes up 35% of the exam - the largest single domain - followed by Intervention at 25%. Together they account for 60% of exam content.
Holders need 30 professional-development hours every three years, including at least 1 ethics hour and, starting in 2026, 2 hours in designated person-centered, reflective, or collaborative topics.