What Is PASC?

What PASC Is and Who Awards It

PASC stands for Pediatric Audiology Specialty Certification. It is a specialty credential offered by the American Board of Audiology (ABA), and audiologists who earn it may use the designation Board Certified in Pediatric Audiology (BC-PA). If you have seen the acronym elsewhere, note that several unrelated credentials share the same letters. This article covers only the audiology credential, and everything below applies to that program alone.

The certification exists to document advanced knowledge and clinical experience in caring for infants, children and adolescents with hearing and balance concerns. It is not an entry-level license and it does not replace state licensure. Instead, it signals that an audiologist has accumulated substantial pediatric clinical experience and passed a standardized examination built around pediatric practice.

Other pages on this site go deeper on specific questions, including what PASC stands for, the meaning of the term and what PASC certification involves. This guide is the orientation: what the credential is, who qualifies, how the exam is built and what it costs.

A Voluntary, Stand-Alone Credential

Earning PASC is voluntary, and it is independent of other certification. Under the current handbook and program page, you do not need general ABA certification, the CCC-A or professional membership before applying. That is a meaningful change from older materials. The January 2024 handbook introduction described other-certification prerequisites, but those are superseded. If you find an older document or forum post saying you must already hold another credential, defer to the current handbook and the live ABA program page.

Who Can Apply

PASC is aimed at working pediatric audiologists, and the eligibility requirements reflect that. A candidate needs a combination of education, licensure, documented experience and references. The full breakdown lives in our PASC requirements guide, but the essentials are:

• A graduate audiology degree from a regionally accredited institution, supported by an official transcript.
• An appropriate audiology license or work authorization. The current handbook requires a permanent U.S. audiology license, or a valid license or work authorization for international and U.S.-territory applicants.
• Paid, post-degree professional experience.
• 550 pediatric direct-patient hours and 50 pediatric case-management hours, accrued over two consecutive years within the preceding five years.
• Two professional references, one of whom must be a supervisor.
• Documented experience and an ethics agreement.

Externship hours do not qualify

This catches recent graduates off guard. Hours earned during an audiology externship cannot be counted toward the pediatric direct-patient or case-management totals. The experience has to be paid, post-degree work.

A wording discrepancy to be aware of

The live application specifies a minimum of 2,000 professional hours within two years, while the handbook phrases the requirement as two years of post-degree, full-time (2,000) hours. These are presented slightly differently, and this article preserves that difference rather than smoothing it over. Do not assume a larger figure such as 4,000 hours; no such threshold appears in the program materials. If your work history is part-time or unusual, ask ABA directly how your hours will be evaluated before applying.

How the Exam Works

The PASC exam consists of 120 questions delivered in 2 hours 30 minutes. Of those, 100 are scored and 20 are unscored beta items used to evaluate future questions. You will not be told which are which, so every item deserves a full effort.

Every question has four answer options. There are two item styles:

• Single-answer multiple choice: one correct answer out of four.
• Multiple-response: two or three of the four options are correct, and you must identify the right set.

Multiple-response items are the format most likely to trip up candidates who rely on elimination alone, because partial recognition is not enough. There is no guessing penalty, so leaving an item blank offers no scoring advantage. Always select an answer. For a candid look at how demanding the exam feels in practice, see how hard the PASC exam is.

The Six Exam Content Domains

The exam is organized into six formal content domains. These are the categories the exam is built from, not a suggested curriculum. The current handbook publishes scored-item allocations of 24, 21, 22, 16, 9 and 8 out of 100, and ABA's November 13, 2023 revised-blueprint announcement published the matching percentage weights. For a full walkthrough, read our complete guide to all six PASC content areas.

One practical observation: the two largest domains, Assessment and Diagnosis and Case Management and Counseling, together account for 46% of scored content. Habilitation/Rehabilitation adds another 21%, so three domains make up 67% of the scored items.

Scoring and Results

PASC uses criterion-referenced scoring. The passing standard is set through a modified Angoff standard-setting process and is applied to the overall raw score on the 100 scored items, with a difficulty adjustment. That means there is no fixed, universal passing percentage you can memorize. Our passing score explainer covers what this means for your preparation.

Results arrive approximately eight weeks after the administration.

What the published results show

ABA's August 6, 2026 results report gives a Spring 2026 first-time pass rate of 82.6%, and notes that 20 of 25 candidates passed overall. These two figures use different denominators, so they should not be confused: one counts first-time test takers only, the other counts all candidates in the cohort. The reported 2025 first-time rate of 86.9% describes a different cohort and is not a 2026 figure. Small cohorts mean year-to-year numbers can move noticeably. For more on interpreting the data, see our PASC pass rate analysis.

Fees, Windows and Deadlines

Costs are split between a separate application fee and an exam registration fee, and membership status changes the price. All figures below exclude membership dues. The full picture is in our PASC certification cost breakdown.

Applicants pursuing a second ABA certification receive a USD 50 reduction on the application fee.

The next testing window

• Exam window: May 3-17, 2027
• Application deadline: March 9, 2027
• Exam registration: January 12-April 13, 2027

Notice the sequence: your application must be approved before you register, so the March application deadline is the real gate. Waiting until registration opens to start paperwork can cost you a cycle. Our PASC exam dates guide tracks windows and scheduling in more detail.

How long your eligibility lasts

The current handbook permits testing and retakes for five years, beginning on the first day of the next testing window after application approval. An older FAQ counts the five years from the first test date instead. This article follows the current handbook and keeps the conflict visible so you are not surprised by an outdated page. Once that eligibility period expires, a new application, new documentation and new fees are required.

Remote Testing Rules

PASC is delivered through Prolydian with Proctor360 live remote proctoring. Older references to Examity delivery are outdated and should not override current Prolydian/Proctor360 instructions.

Equipment and environment

• A desktop or laptop computer with a webcam and microphone. Tablets, phones and Chromebooks do not meet the testing-device requirements.
• A private room, with identity and room checks before you begin.
• Current government-issued photo and signature ID that matches your registered name exactly.

What is not allowed

Standard testing is English-only and closed book. No calculators, notes, dual monitors or ordinary breaks are permitted. Approved accommodations are handled through a separate process, so if you need one, begin that request well before the application deadline.

Renewal Every Three Years

BC-PA is not a one-time achievement. The credential renews every three years and requires 60 continuing education hours, continued ethics and licensure compliance, and a USD 360 fee for either membership group.

Within the 60-hour total, certain categories are required:

• 30 pediatric hours
• 15 Tier 1 hours
• 3 professional-ethics hours

These categories are subsets of the same 60-hour total, not additional hours stacked on top. A single course can often satisfy more than one category at once. Excess hours do not carry forward into the next cycle, so plan your CE across the full three years rather than front-loading it.

Who Benefits and Where the Credential Fits

PASC is most relevant to audiologists whose caseloads are substantially pediatric. Typical settings include children's hospitals, pediatric ENT and audiology clinics, early-intervention programs, cochlear implant centers, university-affiliated programs and school-based or educational-audiology roles. For these audiologists, the credential offers a formal, third-party statement of specialty competence that can support credibility with employers, referral sources and families.

It is worth being realistic about what it does and does not do. Because the certification is voluntary, whether it changes your pay, title or hiring prospects depends heavily on your employer and market. We discuss this honestly in our PASC ROI analysis, and our salary guide and PASC jobs overview look at the earnings and career-opportunity side. Neither figure nor promise should be assumed; check how your own employer values board certification before you invest.

Planning Preparation Around the Blueprint

Because the exam is built from six weighted domains, the most efficient preparation mirrors those weights rather than treating all topics equally. Candidates are usually working full-time clinicians, so a staged plan tends to be more realistic than cramming. A sample framework, which you should adapt to your own strengths:

Since multiple-response items require identifying two or three correct options out of four, practice with that format specifically. A structured approach is laid out in our PASC study guide, and a quick fact refresher is available in the PASC cheat sheet. For timed, exam-style question practice, use the PASC Exam Prep practice tests, and see our PASC training overview for ways to organize your learning.

Frequently Asked Questions

PASC is a focused, experience-gated credential for audiologists who work with children. If your caseload and documentation line up with the requirements, the path is clear: confirm eligibility, mark the application deadline, build your preparation around the six weighted domains, and keep the renewal obligations in view from day one.