Best Respiratory Therapist programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care modalities, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians.
35 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,336 people a year. The job pays a median of $104,820 in California across about 18,650 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.0908In California → | 1,336 | 100.0% | 35 | $53,520 | $20,250 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 25 of the 35 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Concorde Career College - Garden Grove Garden Grove, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 90 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $69,188 | 84% | $23,570 | 97% |
| 2 | San Joaquin Valley College - Rancho Cordova Rancho Cordova, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 87 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $69,391 | 76% | $27,678 | — |
| 3 | San Joaquin Valley College - Visalia Visalia, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 86 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $93,239 | 36% | $30,518 | — |
| 4 | American Career College - Anaheim Anaheim, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $55,379 | 70% | $28,590 | — |
| 5 | Concorde Career College - San Bernardino San Bernardino, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $60,028 | 76% | $24,160 | 98% |
| 6 | American Career College - Ontario Ontario, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 77 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $54,410 | 66% | $31,076 | — |
| 7 | San Joaquin Valley College - Ontario Ontario, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 64 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $69,391 | 64% | $26,900 | — |
| 8 | Concorde Career College - North Hollywood North Hollywood, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $55,067 | 78% | $25,019 | 100% |
| 9 | San Joaquin Valley College - Bakersfield Bakersfield, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 57 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $69,391 | 58% | $24,205 | — |
| 10 | Pima Medical Institute - San Marcos San Marcos, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 56 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $62,420 | 71% | $31,880 | — |
| 11 | Skyline College San Bruno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | — | 44% | — | — |
| 12 | Platt College - Los Angeles Alhambra, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $25,713 | 63% | $29,163 | — |
| 13 | Los Angeles Valley College Valley Glen, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 36 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $80,602 | 32% | — | — |
| 14 | San Joaquin Valley College - Temecula Temecula, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $69,391 | 82% | $27,730 | — |
| 15 | Grossmont College El Cajon, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | — | 37% | — | — |
| 16 | Orange Coast College Costa Mesa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $68,484 | 48% | — | — |
| 17 | Modesto Junior College Modesto, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $45,865 | 30% | — | — |
| 18 | Platt College - Ontario Ontario, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $25,713 | 58% | $28,453 | — |
| 19 | American Career College - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $55,379 | 75% | $28,906 | — |
| 20 | El Camino Community College District Torrance, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | — | 42% | — | — |
| 21 | Mt San Antonio College Walnut, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $88,132 | 45% | — | — |
| 22 | Foothill College Los Altos Hills, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $107,048 | 56% | — | — |
| 23 | Fresno City College Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | — | 24% | — | — |
| 24 | Crafton Hills College Yucaipa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $117,351 | 31% | — | — |
| 25 | American River College Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist | $100,258 | 37% | — | — |
All 35 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concorde Career College - Garden Grove | Garden Grove | Private for-profit | 90 | 1 |
| San Joaquin Valley College - Rancho Cordova | Rancho Cordova | Private for-profit | 87 | 1 |
| San Joaquin Valley College - Visalia | Visalia | Private for-profit | 86 | 1 |
| American Career College - Anaheim | Anaheim | Private for-profit | 82 | 1 |
| Concorde Career College - San Bernardino | San Bernardino | Private for-profit | 78 | 1 |
| American Career College - Ontario | Ontario | Private for-profit | 77 | 1 |
| San Joaquin Valley College - Ontario | Ontario | Private for-profit | 64 | 1 |
| Concorde Career College - North Hollywood | North Hollywood | Private for-profit | 61 | 1 |
| San Joaquin Valley College - Bakersfield | Bakersfield | Private for-profit | 57 | 1 |
| Pima Medical Institute - San Marcos | San Marcos | Private for-profit | 56 | 1 |
| Skyline College | San Bruno | Public | 40 | 1 |
| Platt College - Los Angeles | Alhambra | Private for-profit | 38 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Valley College | Valley Glen | Public | 36 | 1 |
| San Joaquin Valley College - Temecula | Temecula | Private for-profit | 35 | 1 |
| Grossmont College | El Cajon | Public | 34 | 1 |
What respiratory therapists earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $82,280. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Respiratory Therapists page.
How to become a Respiratory Therapist
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
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.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Respiratory Therapists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0908Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist
Common questions
Answers for people weighing respiratory therapists programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Respiratory Therapist?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist, which awarded 1,336 degrees in California in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Respiratory Therapist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health Diagnostic. Together they graduate about 1,336 people a year in California.
How much do respiratory therapists earn in California?+
The median is $104,820 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 27.4% above the U.S. median of $82,280. 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 respiratory therapists growing?+
BLS projects a +12.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 8,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
35 institutions in California 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 respiratory therapists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Respiratory Therapist (RT), Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP), Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT), Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1126.
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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