Best degree programs for Occupational Therapy Aides, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 10 schools train Occupational Therapy Aides. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $39,160 median wage, 4,310 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 10 schools train occupational therapy aides, graduating 167 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Rehabilitation Aide. The job pays a median of $39,160 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About occupational therapy aides
Under close supervision of an occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations. These duties include preparing patient and treatment room.
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 51.2604 | 167 | 100.0% | 10 | $23,917 | $7,750 |
Top 10 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 | Tulsa Technology Center Tulsa, OK Public · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Rehabilitation Aide | 81% | — | — |
| 2 | Moore Norman Technology Center Norman, OK Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Rehabilitation Aide | 91% | — | — |
| 3 | The College of Health Care Professions - Southwest Houston Houston, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Rehabilitation Aide | 69% | $29,145 | — |
| 4 | Canadian Valley Technology Center El Reno, OK Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Rehabilitation Aide | 71% | — | — |
| 5 | Carrington College - Tucson Tucson, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Rehabilitation Aide | 66% | $41,198 | — |
| 6 | Gordon Cooper Technology Center Shawnee, OK Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Rehabilitation Aide | 90% | — | — |
| 7 | Cowley County Community College Arkansas City, KS Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Rehabilitation Aide | 45% | — | — |
| 8 | Southwest Technology Center Altus, OK Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Rehabilitation Aide | 78% | — | — |
| 9 | Carrington College - Mesa Mesa, AZ Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Rehabilitation Aide | 54% | $48,051 | — |
| 10 | Northwest Technology Center - Alva Alva, OK Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Rehabilitation Aide | 77% | — | — |
What occupational therapy aides 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.
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
- Encourage patients and attend to their physical needs to facilitate the attainment of therapeutic goals.
- Report to supervisors or therapists, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, attendance, and accomplishments.
- Observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records.
- Prepare and maintain work area, materials, and equipment and maintain inventory of treatment and educational supplies.
- Transport patients to and from the occupational therapy work area.
- Instruct patients and families in work, social, and living skills, the care and use of adaptive equipment, and other skills to facilitate home and work adjustment to disability.
- Assist occupational therapists in planning, implementing, and administering therapy programs to restore, reinforce, and enhance performance, using selected activities and special equipment.
- Demonstrate therapy techniques, such as manual and creative arts and games.
Skills
- Speaking3.6
- Active Listening3.5
- Monitoring3.3
- Critical Thinking3.3
- Writing3.1
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Active Learning3.0
- Learning Strategies3.0
Knowledge areas
- Therapy and Counseling4.4
- English Language4.2
- Customer and Personal Service4.1
- Psychology3.8
- Computers and Electronics3.7
- Education and Training3.6
Abilities
- Problem Sensitivity3.8
- Oral Comprehension3.8
- Oral Expression3.5
- Deductive Reasoning3.3
- Speech Clarity3.3
- Speech Recognition3.3
Core activities
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.8
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public4.5
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.4
- Performing General Physical Activities4.3
- Getting Information4.2
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.1
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Occupational Therapy Aide
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-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 Occupational Therapy Aides1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.2604Rehabilitation Aide
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 an Occupational Therapy Aide?+
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 Rehabilitation Aide, which awarded 167 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Occupational Therapy Aide?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies. Together they graduate about 167 people a year.
How much do occupational therapy aides earn?+
The median is $39,160 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $29,430 at the 10th percentile to $70,200 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 occupational therapy aides growing?+
BLS projects a +2.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
10 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 occupational therapy aides work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Restorative Aide, Rehabilitation Services Aide, Rehabilitation Aide (Rehab Aide), Occupational Therapy Aide (OT Aide) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-2012.
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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