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Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions Degree

57 schools compared · Average earnings $35,098/yr

Students study physical therapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, and other rehabilitation methods that help people recover function and independence after injury, illness, or disability. Graduates typically pursue careers as physical therapists, occupational therapists, and rehabilitation counselors after completing required graduate degrees, working in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and private practices. Rehabilitation professionals enjoy strong salaries, excellent job growth, and the reward of helping patients regain their abilities.

What Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions Graduates Do

Your career will be built on human connection and tangible results. As a physical therapist, you’ll spend your days on your feet, guiding a patient through exercises to regain mobility after surgery or using manual techniques to help an athlete recover from an injury. Or, as an occupational therapist, you might help a stroke survivor relearn daily tasks like cooking, or adapt a workspace for an employee with a repetitive strain injury. These core therapy roles are experiencing strong, sustained growth.

As your career progresses, you can specialize in fields like pediatrics or sports medicine, move into management to run a clinic, or pursue an advanced degree to teach at the university level—a path with exceptionally high demand. While some graduates become rehabilitation counselors, that specific path faces slower growth. The heart of this profession remains direct, hands-on patient care that requires empathy and expert clinical judgment.

This focus on interpersonal, physical work makes your career highly resilient to automation. AI has a very limited impact on the core tasks of a therapist; it can't replicate the human touch and adaptive thinking required to guide a patient's recovery. While it may streamline administrative work, the essential, human-centered part of the job remains firmly in your hands.

Schools Offering

Avg Grad Earnings

$35,098/yr

Avg DegreeOutlook Score

38/100

AI Automation Risk

Moderate

35% task exposure

Common Career Paths

Where Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions graduates typically work, ranked by salary. Salary ranges show 25th–75th percentile spread. This field has roughly 80,000 combined openings per year.

Career Path	Salary Range	Openings/yr	Growth	AI Risk
Engineers, all other	$117,750 $86K$153K	9,300	+2.1%	46%
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary	$105,620 $74K$176K	27,400	+17.3%	48%
Physical therapists	$101,020 $83K$117K	13,200	+10.9%	19%
Occupational therapists	$98,340 $80K$110K	10,200	+13.8%	28%
Life scientists, all other	$87,800 $66K$124K	400	+3.7%	0%
Orthotists and prosthetists	$78,310 $60K$99K	900	+13.3%	28%
Therapists, all other	$65,010 $50K$85K	4,100	+11.5%	43%
Recreational therapists	$60,280 $48K$78K	1,300	+3.3%	32%
Exercise physiologists	$58,160 $49K–$65K	1,700	+9.5%	26%
Medical appliance technicians	$47,060 $40K–$59K	1,500	+3.7%	14%
Rehabilitation counselors	$46,110 $39K$59K	10,000	+1.4%	35%

Engineers, all other

$117,750

$86K $153K

9,300 openings/yr +2.1% growth 46% AI risk

Health specialties teachers, postsecondary

$105,620

$74K $176K

27,400 openings/yr +17.3% growth 48% AI risk

Physical therapists

$101,020

$83K $117K

13,200 openings/yr +10.9% growth 19% AI risk

Occupational therapists

$98,340

$80K $110K

10,200 openings/yr +13.8% growth 28% AI risk

Life scientists, all other

$87,800

$66K $124K

400 openings/yr +3.7% growth 0% AI risk

Orthotists and prosthetists

$78,310

$60K $99K

900 openings/yr +13.3% growth 28% AI risk

Therapists, all other

$65,010

$50K $85K

4,100 openings/yr +11.5% growth 43% AI risk

Recreational therapists

$60,280

$48K $78K

1,300 openings/yr +3.3% growth 32% AI risk

Exercise physiologists

$58,160

$49K–$65K

1,700 openings/yr +9.5% growth 26% AI risk

Medical appliance technicians

$47,060

$40K–$59K

1,500 openings/yr +3.7% growth 14% AI risk

Rehabilitation counselors

$46,110

$39K $59K

10,000 openings/yr +1.4% growth 35% AI risk

Source: BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics, May 2024. Salary range shows 25th–median–75th percentile (national).

Best Schools for Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions

Top 20 of 57 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. Click any row for full AI scenario analysis and earnings projections.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	CUNY York College Jamaica, NY	71 70–71	$57,806/yr	27.3x
2	Saginaw Valley State University University Center, MI	55 54–55	$59,937/yr	11.2x
3	University of Pittsburgh-Bradford Bradford, PA	53 57–53	$39,836/yr	11.9x
4	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA	52 53–52	$47,541/yr	13.2x
5	D'Youville University Buffalo, NY	51 51–51	$50,473/yr	4.1x
6	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI	51 54–51	$41,370/yr	13.2x
7	State University of New York at Cortland Cortland, NY	51 55–52	$40,853/yr	14.7x
8	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA	49 53–49	$39,836/yr	7.8x
9	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	47 49–48	$43,684/yr	10.7x
10	Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC	47 53–48	$37,608/yr	23.8x
11	Georgia Southern University Statesboro, GA	47 58–48	$28,360/yr	31.0x
12	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC	46 51–47	$39,366/yr	14.7x
13	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA	45 53–46	$35,605/yr	10.1x
14	Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA	44 47–44	$41,797/yr	9.8x
15	University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie, WI	42 49–43	$36,736/yr	11.6x
16	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	41 45–41	$40,085/yr	5.3x
17	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI	41 46–41	$39,008/yr	7.9x
18	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX	41 47–42	$38,339/yr	10.1x
19	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	41 52–43	$32,805/yr	17.6x
20	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	41 51–42	$32,049/yr	12.6x
21	Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI	40 42–40	$43,631/yr	6.0x
22	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY	40 47–41	$36,811/yr	11.4x
23	Aurora University Aurora, IL	39 42–39	$41,856/yr	2.7x
24	Longwood University Farmville, VA	39 42–39	$41,700/yr	6.1x
25	University of Toledo Toledo, OH	39 45–40	$37,554/yr	8.8x
26	East Carolina University Greenville, NC	39 49–40	$32,371/yr	15.3x
27	Utica University Utica, NY	37 41–37	$39,478/yr	3.1x
28	University of North Texas Denton, TX	37 45–38	$36,007/yr	9.7x
29	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	37 46–38	$33,580/yr	11.9x
30	University of Akron Main Campus Akron, OH	37 48–38	$31,765/yr	10.3x
31	University of Maryland Eastern Shore Princess Anne, MD	37 48–38	$30,423/yr	13.6x
32	Wright State University-Main Campus Dayton, OH	36 44–37	$35,966/yr	9.2x
33	Western New Mexico University Silver City, NM	36 45–37	$34,345/yr	9.9x
34	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH	35 34–35	$7,725/yr	8.4x
35	Nazareth University Rochester, NY	34 39–35	$39,739/yr	1.4x
36	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI	34 45–35	$30,561/yr	11.2x
37	Assumption University Worcester, MA	33 39–34	$38,094/yr	2.2x
38	Boston University Boston, MA	33 40–34	$36,705/yr	1.9x
39	Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem, NC	33 44–34	$31,421/yr	13.8x
40	Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI	32 41–33	$33,926/yr	6.7x
41	Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX	32 42–34	$33,767/yr	7.0x
42	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX	32 43–33	$28,872/yr	11.1x
43	Alverno College Milwaukee, WI	31 38–31	$36,361/yr	1.8x
44	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	31 40–32	$33,530/yr	4.8x
45	Berklee College of Music Boston, MA	29 37–30	$36,349/yr	0.8x
46	Southern University and A & M College Baton Rouge, LA	29 40–30	$30,636/yr	9.7x
47	Troy University Troy, AL	29 40–30	$30,184/yr	6.7x
48	University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Pine Bluff, AR	29 40–30	$30,057/yr	7.3x
49	Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion Marion, IN	28 37–29	$34,418/yr	1.8x
50	Southern University Law Center Baton Rouge, LA	28 39–29	$30,636/yr	—
51	The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX	27 38–28	$28,195/yr	6.2x
52	Arkansas Tech University Russellville, AR	26 36–27	$26,869/yr	9.7x
53	Alabama State University Montgomery, AL	26 32–26	$22,847/yr	8.3x
54	University of the Incarnate Word San Antonio, TX	24 30–24	$22,919/yr	3.0x
55	Ithaca College Ithaca, NY	21 19–21	$7,071/yr	2.0x
56	Carroll College Helena, MT	20 26–21	$22,319/yr	0.4x
57	Lesley University Cambridge, MA	18 29–19	$28,787/yr	1.9x

Highest Earning Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions Programs

Schools where Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions graduates earn the most in their first year after graduation.

School	1-Year Earnings	DW Score
Saginaw Valley State University	$59,937/yr	55
CUNY York College	$57,806/yr	71
D'Youville University	$50,473/yr	51
Eastern Washington University	$47,541/yr	52
University of Utah	$43,684/yr	47
Grand Valley State University	$43,631/yr	40
Aurora University	$41,856/yr	39
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania	$41,797/yr	44
Longwood University	$41,700/yr	39
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse	$41,370/yr	51

Best ROI for Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions

Schools with the highest earnings-to-tuition ratio for Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions.

School	ROI Multiple	Earnings	DW Score
Georgia Southern University	31.0x	$28,360/yr	47
CUNY York College	27.3x	$57,806/yr	71
Western Carolina University	23.8x	$37,608/yr	47
California State University-Los Angeles	17.6x	$32,805/yr	41
East Carolina University	15.3x	$32,371/yr	39
University of North Carolina Wilmington	14.7x	$39,366/yr	46
State University of New York at Cortland	14.7x	$40,853/yr	51
Winston-Salem State University	13.8x	$31,421/yr	33
University of Maryland Eastern Shore	13.6x	$30,423/yr	37
Eastern Washington University	13.2x	$47,541/yr	52

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Consider the Trade Route

Not sure a 4-year degree is the right path? Trade programs in Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions offer shorter timelines, lower debt, and strong AI resilience for hands-on careers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions graduates earn?

Across 57 schools, Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions graduates earn an average of $35,098 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $7,071 to $59,937 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions?

Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions is rated "Moderate" for AI automation risk, with an average of 35% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means some career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions program?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), CUNY York College ranks #1 for Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions with a score of 71/100 and graduate earnings of $57,806/yr.

What's the outlook for a Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions degree?

On average, Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions graduates earn 9.2x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a moderate return — school choice matters significantly.

Scores use College Scorecard earnings, BLS employment projections, and AI task-exposure research. See full methodology →