Best degree programs for Hearing Aid Specialists, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 1 schools train Hearing Aid Specialists. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $65,160 median wage, 11,270 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 1 schools train hearing aid specialists, graduating 4 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Hearing Instrument Specialist. The job pays a median of $65,160 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About hearing aid specialists
Select and fit hearing aids for customers. Administer and interpret tests of hearing. Assess hearing instrument efficacy. Take ear impressions and prepare, design, and modify ear molds.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.0918 | 4 | 100.0% | 1 | $53,520 | $20,250 |
Top 1 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spokane Falls Community College Spokane, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Hearing Instrument Specialist | 32% | — | — |
What hearing aid specialists earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washingtonlimited | $77,510 | 280 | 1.07× | 1 | 4 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Train clients to use hearing aids or other augmentative communication devices.
- Counsel patients and families on communication strategies and the effects of hearing loss.
- Select and administer tests to evaluate hearing or related disabilities.
- Administer basic hearing tests including air conduction, bone conduction, or speech audiometry tests.
- Maintain or repair hearing aids or other communication devices.
- Perform basic screening procedures, such as pure tone screening, otoacoustic screening, immittance screening, and screening of ear canal status using otoscope.
- Create or modify impressions for earmolds and hearing aid shells.
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in audiology.
Skills
- Active Listening3.9
- Speaking3.4
- Reading Comprehension3.3
- Writing3.1
- Critical Thinking3.1
- Monitoring3.1
- Active Learning3.1
- Learning Strategies3.0
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.8
- Sales and Marketing4.2
- Therapy and Counseling4.2
- Medicine and Dentistry4.1
- Computers and Electronics4.0
- Administrative4.0
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Oral Expression4.0
- Speech Clarity3.9
- Problem Sensitivity3.8
- Speech Recognition3.6
- Near Vision3.5
Core activities
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.7
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public4.4
- Getting Information4.3
- Working with Computers4.3
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.3
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.2
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Hearing Aid Specialist
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Hearing Aid Specialists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0918Hearing Instrument Specialist
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Hearing Aid Specialist?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Hearing Instrument Specialist, which awarded 4 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Hearing Aid Specialist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health Diagnostic. Together they graduate about 4 people a year.
How much do hearing aid specialists earn?+
The median is $65,160 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $38,400 at the 10th percentile to $94,020 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for hearing aid specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +18.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 1,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
1 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do hearing aid specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Hearing Specialist, Hearing Aid Specialist, Hearing Instrument Dispenser, Hearing Instrument Specialist (HIS) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2092.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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