Occupational Therapy Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Occupational Therapy maps to BLS occupations averaging about $120,303, with roughly 50,000 workers nationwide in those roles. About 505 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 58%.
Key Statistics
Occupational Therapy: what the data shows
Common questions about occupational therapy degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a occupational therapy degree?
A Occupational Therapy program is classified under NCES CIP 51.2306 in the Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions field family (51.23).
A program that prepares individuals to assist patients limited by physical, cognitive, psychosocial, mental, developmental, and learning disabilities, as well as adverse environmental conditions, to maximize their independence and maintain optimum health through a planned mix of acquired skills, performance motivation, environmental adaptations, assistive technologies, and physical agents. Includes instruction in the basic medical sciences, psychology, sociology, patient assessment and evaluation, standardized and non-standardized tests and measurements, assistive and rehabilitative technologies, ergonomics, environmental health, special education, vocational counseling, health education and promotion, and professional standards and ethics.
IPEDS counted 505 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of occupational therapy degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 51.23 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Animal-Assisted Therapy (CIP 51.2313)
- Art Therapy/Therapist (CIP 51.2301)
- Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitation Engineering (CIP 51.2312)
- Dance Therapy/Therapist (CIP 51.2302)
- Drama Therapy/Therapist (CIP 51.2315)
- Horticulture Therapy/Therapist (CIP 51.2316)
- Kinesiotherapy/Kinesiotherapist (CIP 51.2311)
- Music Therapy/Therapist (CIP 51.2305)
- Orthotist/Prosthetist (CIP 51.2307)
- Physical Therapy (CIP 51.2308)
- Play Therapy/Therapist (CIP 51.2317)
- Rehabilitation Science (CIP 51.2314)
- Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy (CIP 51.2309)
- Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling/Counselor (CIP 51.2310)
How long does it take to get a occupational therapy degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.2306 in our file:
- 38 Associate (0.6% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 505 Bachelor's (8.0% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 5,737 Master's (91.3% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 5 Doctorate (0.1% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in occupational therapy?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Monitoring, Service Orientation, Active Listening, Writing, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Occupational Therapists (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a occupational therapy degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Occupational Therapy to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational Therapists | 152,280 | $98,340 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a occupational therapy degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions bachelor's program family: median debt $36,199, median earnings $55,792 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.05.
About 4.0% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $11,790 and median net price is $15,944.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Occupational Therapy and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$11,790 Median In-State Public
$40,370 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Occupational Therapy majors are, on average, $11,790 for in-state public colleges, and $40,370 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Occupational Therapy programs.
Institutions awarding the most Occupational Therapy degrees
| # | Institution | State | Completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences | CA | 730 |
| 2 | University of Southern California | CA | 258 |
| 3 | Thomas Jefferson University | PA | 147 |
| 4 | Texas Woman's University | TX | 126 |
| 5 | Eastern Kentucky University | KY | 125 |
| 6 | Creighton University | NE | 119 |
| 7 | Quinnipiac University | CT | 106 |
| 8 | West Coast University-Center for Graduate Studies | CA | 104 |
| 9 | University of New Hampshire-Main Campus | NH | 100 |
| 10 | Long Island University | NY | 98 |
IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
505 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Occupational Therapy from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Occupational Therapy.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 3 | University of Central Florida | FL | 59,146 |
| 4 | University of Central Florida | FL | 59,146 |
| 5 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | 45,638 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Occupational Therapy programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 2 | Grossmont College | CA | $1,332 |
| 3 | City College of San Francisco | CA | $1,696 |
| 4 | Isothermal Community College | NC | $2,030 |
| 5 | Isothermal Community College | NC | $2,030 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Occupational Therapy programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Petersburg College | FL | $1,471 |
| 2 | Middlesex College | NJ | $2,288 |
| 3 | Taft College | CA | $2,823 |
| 4 | Moraine Valley Community College | IL | $2,829 |
| 5 | CUNY Hunter College | NY | $2,984 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Occupational Therapy programs.
Graduation Rates
57.89% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
57.57% Average Graduation Rate
609 Institutions Reporting
47.76% - 69.32% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Occupational Therapy programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Occupational Therapy is in NY (164 completions). That state represents about 32.5% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is KY (0.12% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| NY | 164 | 32.5% | 0.06% |
| MA | 67 | 13.3% | 0.05% |
| KY | 61 | 12.1% | 0.12% |
| NH | 50 | 9.9% | 0.08% |
| PA | 42 | 8.3% | 0.03% |
| MO | 41 | 8.1% | 0.06% |
| MI | 28 | 5.5% | 0.02% |
| WI | 19 | 3.8% | 0.03% |
| OH | 13 | 2.6% | 0.01% |
| CA | 9 | 1.8% | 0.00% |
| IA | 7 | 1.4% | 0.01% |
| CT | 3 | 0.6% | 0.01% |
| IL | 1 | 0.2% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 51.23 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Animal-Assisted Therapy CIP 51.2313
- Art Therapy/Therapist CIP 51.2301
- Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitation Engineering CIP 51.2312
- Dance Therapy/Therapist CIP 51.2302
- Drama Therapy/Therapist CIP 51.2315
- Horticulture Therapy/Therapist CIP 51.2316
- Kinesiotherapy/Kinesiotherapist CIP 51.2311
- Music Therapy/Therapist CIP 51.2305
- Orthotist/Prosthetist CIP 51.2307
- Physical Therapy CIP 51.2308
- Play Therapy/Therapist CIP 51.2317
- Rehabilitation Science CIP 51.2314
- Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy CIP 51.2309
- Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling/Counselor CIP 51.2310
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.2306 in the survey year used in our extract (6,285 total across levels below).
- 38 Associate (0.6% of IPEDS total)
- 505 Bachelor's (8.0% of IPEDS total)
- 5,737 Master's (91.3% of IPEDS total)
- 5 Doctorate (0.1% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $120,303. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Occupational Therapy graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational Therapists | $120,303 | 152,280 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions CIP family (28 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Occupational Therapy graduate.
- $36,199 median federal loan debt among completers
- $55,792 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.05 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 4.0% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$120,303 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Occupational Therapy majors is $120,303.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Occupational Therapy majors.
Occupations by Share
50,000 2023 Workforce
The number of Occupational Therapy graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Occupational Therapy by share of the total number of graduates.
Return on Investment & Value
Debt and earnings fields below come from College Scorecard where present in our degree extract.
Financial value (extract)
$18,750 Median Student Debt
$50,000 Median Annual Earnings (10 years after enrollment)
37.50% Debt-to-Earnings Ratio
3.8 years Estimated Payback Period (assuming 10% of income)
683.99% Return on Investment (10-year earnings vs 4-year cost)
Ten-year earnings in this extract exceed four years of median net price.
$63,776 Estimated Total Cost (4 years at median net price)
Financial value comparison for Occupational Therapy degree.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Occupational Therapy in the United States.
Workforce Age
40.0 Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Occupational Therapy.
Age distribution for Occupational Therapy degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
505 Total Degrees Awarded
38 Male (7.52%)
467 Female (92.48%)
Gender distribution of Occupational Therapy degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
415 White (82.18%)
24 Hispanic or Latino (4.75%)
21 Asian (4.16%)
14 Two or More Races (2.77%)
11 Black or African American (2.18%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Occupational Therapy degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Occupational Therapy are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Occupational Therapy.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Occupational Therapy field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Occupational Therapy majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Occupational Therapy majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Occupational Therapy majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to assist patients limited by physical, cognitive, psychosocial, mental, developmental, and learning disabilities, as well as adverse environmental conditions, to maximize their independence and maintain optimum health through a planned mix of acquired skills, performance motivation, environmental adaptations, assistive technologies, and physical agents. Includes instruction in the basic medical sciences, psychology, sociology, patient assessment and evaluation, standardized and non-standardized tests and measurements, assistive and rehabilitative technologies, ergonomics, environmental health, special education, vocational counseling, health education and promotion, and professional standards and ethics.
In 2023, 505 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Occupational Therapy.
CIP Code
51.2306 - Occupational Therapy
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $36,199 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $55,792, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.05. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Occupational Therapy graduate.
Women earned 90.5% of 10,460 Occupational Therapy completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $120,303. The largest mapped role by headcount is Occupational Therapists (152,280 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $11,790 in-state at public colleges and $40,370 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.