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Accreditation & National Examination Information
Occupational Therapy
About us
Top ranked OT program in Arizona
The admissions cycle for entrance to the program in fall of 2024 will open on July 21, 2023 and close April 30, 2024 (date subject to change).
Career opportunities in occupational therapy are steadily increasing. Develop the critical skills you’ll need to join this growing healthcare profession with the fully-accredited Occupational Therapy (OT) Program from Northern Arizona University (NAU). According to U.S. News and World Reports the NAU OT program is ranked #93 in the nation.
The accredited Northern Arizona University (NAU) Doctor of Occupational Therapy is the only public and non-profit graduate program in the Southwest United States. There are two paths to obtaining your OTD at NAU – the Traditional Path and the Hybrid Path.
This intensive program features six months of fieldwork rotations plus an individualized semester long capstone experience, designed to prepare for advanced roles in occupational therapy. Upon graduation, you’ll be prepared to work with clients across all stages of life in a wide range of settings. Our graduates are qualified to assume leadership and scholarly roles as occupational therapy professionals.
Mission
The Department of OT provides contemporary practice content and innovative instructional approaches to prepare graduates to be leading, inclusive, transformative OT practice scholars who advance the profession and improve community health and wellbeing.
The OT Program is based on the 30-acre Phoenix Bioscience Core, where students have access to cutting edge technology, facilities and labs. The urban environment presents numerous opportunities for interprofessional education with other programs on campus, including the NAU Doctor of Physical Therapy program, the Masters of Physician Assistant program, the NAU Master of Athletic Training and the University of Arizona Medical School program.
87% of recent graduates report that they are extremely satisfied with the education that they received from the Department of Occupational Therapy
88% of recent graduates report they would highly recommend the program to others
NAU’s program is known for its emphasis on service learning and community interaction. The program connects with community agencies to give the students experience with people in their natural context. Students see people in their lifelong journey adapting to disability, chronic illness or social conditions so that they can choose strategies that will be meaningful in the long term Examples of this emphasis is serving as one of the primary members of the award-winning and nationally-recognized Community Health Mentor Program (CHMP), where students from various programs learn from their community mentor and from each other.
The field of Occupational Therapy
As defined by the American Occupational Therapy Association, “The practice of occupational therapy means the therapeutic use of occupations, including everyday life activities with individuals, groups, populations, or organizations to support participation, performance, and function in roles and situations in home, school, workplace, community, and other settings. Occupational therapy services are provided for habilitation, rehabilitation, and the promotion of health and wellness to those who have or are at risk for developing an illness, injury, disease, disorder, condition, impairment, disability, activity limitation, or participation restriction. Occupational therapy addresses the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, sensory-perceptual, and other aspects of performance in a variety of contexts and environments to support engagement in occupations that affect physical and mental health, well-being, and quality of life.”
The job outlook for occupational therapists in the United States is high, with the employment of occupational therapists projected to grow 24 percent from 2016 to 2026. This growth may be attributed to the growing evidence that occupational therapists positively contributes to improved outcomes.
The field is catching the interest of many. In January 2018, U.S. News & World Report ranked occupational therapy is 11th of the 100 best jobs for 2018. Glassdoor ranked occupational therapy as 4th among the 50 best jobs in America in 2018. In January 2017, MSN Money listed occupational therapy as one of the 25 best jobs in America right now.
The NAU OTD program’s academic and service curriculum reinforces the holistic nature of the field of occupational therapy. Occupational therapists fill an important niche in health care by addressing the whole person, while looking for tools and adaptions of the environment in which that person lives.
Tuition and fees
Resident
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total Program Cost* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Cost | $29,758 | $31,046 | $22,545 | $83,349 |
| Tuition | $16,603 | $18,485 | $11,125 | $46,213 |
| Program Fees | $11,000 | $11,000 | $11,000 | $33,000 |
| Misc Mandatory Fees | $630 | $630 | $420 | $1,680 |
| Books | $1,525 | $931 | $2,456 |
Non-Arizona resident
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total Program Cost* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Cost | $44,422 | $46,443 | $38,711 | $129,576 |
| Tuition | $31,267 | $33,882 | $27,291 | $92,440 |
| Program Fees | $11,000 | $11,000 | $11,000 | $33,000 |
| Misc Mandatory Fees | $630 | $630 | $420 | $1,680 |
| Books | $1,525 | $931 | $2,456 |
*Tuition and fees, as well as the OTD Program fee, are subject to change at the discretion of the Arizona Board of Regents or the Arizona legislature annually. Tuition and fees increases years 2 and 3, are projected based on your prior years but should be considered estimates. Miscellaneous mandatory fees include FA trust fees and ITS fees. Book costs are estimates based off of current prices and are subject to change.
Licensure
Successful completion and graduation from the NAU Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program leads to licensure in the United State. For information on licensure for the NAU OTD degree by state, view the NAU Professional Licensure by State table.