Best degree programs for Psychiatric Aides, ranked by enrollment
2 college programs and 91 schools train Psychiatric Aides. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $44,910 median wage, 35,520 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
2 college programs at 91 schools train psychiatric aides, graduating 3,144 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician. The job pays a median of $44,910 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About psychiatric aides
Assist mentally impaired or emotionally disturbed patients, working under direction of nursing and medical staff. May assist with daily living activities, lead patients in educational and recreational activities, or accompany patients to and from examinations and treatments. May restrain violent patients. Includes psychiatric orderlies.
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.
2 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 51.1502 | 2,776 | 88.3% | 77 | $37,335 | $22,861 |
| 2 | Health Aidemain feeder CIP 51.2601 | 368 | 11.7% | 15 | $23,917 | $7,750 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What psychiatric 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.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianalimited | $44,860 | 1,930 | 2.64× | 2 | 514 |
| California | $47,500 | 3,760 | 0.90× | 13 | 422 |
| Texas | $42,560 | 1,760 | 0.55× | 11 | 220 |
| Ohio | $38,480 | 980 | 0.77× | 7 | 189 |
| New Yorkmoderate | $50,220 | 5,120 | 2.31× | 3 | 162 |
| Louisiana | $30,030 | 280 | 0.64× | 5 | 151 |
| Alabamalimited | $27,150 | 790 | 1.63× | 1 | 137 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $45,300 | 950 | 1.15× | 3 | 75 |
| Maryland | $51,440 | 250 | 0.40× | 5 | 71 |
| Mainelimited | $46,720 | 110 | 0.74× | 2 | 59 |
| Nevadalimited | $51,400 | 220 | 0.62× | 1 | 36 |
| Illinoismoderate | $48,670 | 120 | 0.09× | 4 | 27 |
| West Virginialimited | $37,910 | 220 | 1.34× | 2 | 25 |
| Washingtonlimited | $52,570 | 330 | 0.40× | 2 | 22 |
| Floridalimited | $37,930 | 2,210 | 0.98× | 2 | 21 |
| Kansaslimited | $38,390 | 580 | 1.77× | 2 | 21 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $44,790 | 1,620 | 1.17× | 2 | 21 |
| Alaskalimited | $49,300 | 190 | 2.50× | 1 | 15 |
| Connecticutlimited | $44,660 | 520 | 1.34× | 1 | 13 |
| Minnesotalimited | $55,040 | 620 | 0.92× | 2 | 13 |
| Michiganlimited | $45,800 | 1,410 | 1.41× | 1 | 9 |
| Missourilimited | $39,840 | 110 | 0.16× | 1 | 7 |
| North Carolinalimited | $38,400 | — | — | 1 | 2 |
| Virginialimited | $37,280 | — | — | 1 | 2 |
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
- Listen and provide emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients.
- Provide patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities with routine physical, emotional, psychological, or rehabilitation care under the direction of nursing or medical staff.
- Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
- Restrain or aid patients as necessary to prevent injury.
- Work as part of a team that may include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, or social workers.
- Record and maintain patient information, such as vital signs, eating habits, behavior, progress notes, treatments, or discharge plans.
- Maintain patients' restrictions to assigned areas.
- Organize, supervise, or encourage patient participation in social, educational, or recreational activities.
Skills
- Speaking3.9
- Monitoring3.8
- Active Listening3.8
- Critical Thinking3.4
- Active Learning3.3
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Writing3.1
- Learning Strategies2.9
Knowledge areas
- Psychology4.0
- Customer and Personal Service3.6
- Therapy and Counseling3.1
- English Language3.1
- Administrative3.0
- Sociology and Anthropology3.0
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.0
- Oral Comprehension3.9
- Problem Sensitivity3.9
- Written Comprehension3.8
- Deductive Reasoning3.6
- Inductive Reasoning3.5
Core activities
- Getting Information4.8
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.7
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.5
- Documenting/Recording Information4.4
- Training and Teaching Others4.3
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.2
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Psychiatric Aide
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Psychiatric Aides2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.1502Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician
- 51.2601Health 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 a Psychiatric 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 Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician, which awarded 2,776 degrees in 2024-25, 88.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Psychiatric Aide?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions, Health Aides/Attendants/Orderlies. Together they graduate about 3,144 people a year.
How much do psychiatric aides earn?+
The median is $44,910 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $32,090 at the 10th percentile to $60,440 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 psychiatric aides growing?+
BLS projects a -0.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 5,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
91 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 psychiatric aides work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Psychiatric Aide, Mental Health Worker (MHW), Therapeutic Program Worker (TPW), Residential Care Tech (Residential Care Technician) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-1133.
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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