Which state pays rehabilitation and therapy bachelor's graduates the most?

New York, where the median program pays its graduates $39,739 in their first year, the highest of 2 state rankings. Massachusetts is next, at $36,349.

Which rehabilitation and therapy bachelor's program pays the most?

Saginaw Valley State in Michigan reports the highest first-year pay of the 56 programs ranked here, $59,937. Its median federal debt is $18,500.

How much debt do rehabilitation and therapy bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $26,287 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 70% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Rehabilitation and Therapy (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

56 programs report first-year pay
2 state rankings
Bachelor's in Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median rehabilitation and therapy bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $35,786 in their first year and $51,552 five years after. New York has the highest state median ($39,739), and Massachusetts the lowest ($36,349). The median program leaves its graduates with $26,287 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$35,786Across 56 programs

Median pay after 5 years$51,552Across 58 programs

Median federal debt$26,287Across 74 programs

Debt-to-earnings70%Across 50 programs

All 56 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Saginaw Valley StateUniversity Center, MI · public	$59,937	$62,294	Not reported	$18,500	31%
2	CUNY York CollegeJamaica, NY · public	$57,806	$53,563	$83,222	Not reported	Not reported
3	D'Youville UniversityBuffalo, NY · private nonprofit	$50,473	$46,768	$67,829	$26,250	52%
4	Eastern Washington UniversityCheney, WA · public	$47,541	$44,425	Not reported	$25,326	53%
5	University of UtahSalt Lake City, UT · public	$43,684	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Grand Valley StateAllendale, MI · public	$43,631	Not adjusted	$40,878	$27,000	62%
7	Aurora UniversityAurora, IL · private nonprofit	$41,856	Not adjusted	Not reported	$23,750	57%
8	Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock, PA · public	$41,797	$42,837	$45,517	$27,000	65%
9	Longwood UniversityFarmville, VA · public	$41,700	$41,245	$43,047	$26,808	64%
10	UW-La CrosseLa Crosse, WI · public	$41,370	$43,966	$54,684	$21,374	52%
11	SUNY CortlandCortland, NY · public	$40,853	$37,855	$55,333	$27,000	66%
12	Temple UniversityPhiladelphia, PA · public	$40,085	$41,082	$55,622	$27,000	67%
13	University of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA · public	$39,836	$40,827	$75,370	$25,474	64%
14	Nazareth UniversityRochester, NY · private nonprofit	$39,739	Not adjusted	Not reported	$27,000	68%
15	Utica UniversityUtica, NY · private nonprofit	$39,478	$36,580	Not reported	$27,000	68%
16	UNC WilmingtonWilmington, NC · public	$39,366	$41,734	$45,975	$21,500	55%
17	Central Michigan UniversityMount Pleasant, MI · public	$39,008	$40,542	$50,735	$27,000	69%
18	Texas Woman's UniversityDenton, TX · public	$38,339	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
19	Assumption UniversityWorcester, MA · private nonprofit	$38,094	$36,020	$62,752	$27,000	71%
20	Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee, NC · public	$37,608	$39,870	$44,961	$24,000	64%
21	University of ToledoToledo, OH · public	$37,554	$40,479	$48,593	$24,875	66%
22	Lehman CollegeBronx, NY · public	$36,811	$34,109	Not reported	$7,404	20%
23	UW-StoutMenomonie, WI · public	$36,736	$39,041	$50,981	$25,000	68%
24	Boston UniversityBoston, MA · private nonprofit	$36,705	Not adjusted	$74,512	$27,000	74%
25	Alverno CollegeMilwaukee, WI · private nonprofit	$36,361	$38,643	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
26	Berklee College of MusicBoston, MA · private nonprofit	$36,349	Not adjusted	Not reported	$23,750	65%
27	UNTDenton, TX · public	$36,007	$37,099	$47,650	$25,370	70%
28	Wright StateDayton, OH · public	$35,966	$38,767	$45,623	$30,000	83%
29	UMass LowellLowell, MA · public	$35,605	$33,667	$73,414	$26,750	75%
30	Indiana Wesleyan University-MarionMarion, IN · private nonprofit	$34,418	Not adjusted	Not reported	$25,606	74%
31	Western New Mexico UniversitySilver City, NM · public	$34,345	Not adjusted	Not reported	$22,708	66%
32	Eastern Michigan UniversityYpsilanti, MI · public	$33,926	$35,260	$47,774	$27,425	81%
33	Stephen F. AustinNacogdoches, TX · public	$33,767	$34,791	Not reported	$21,500	64%
34	BYUProvo, UT · private nonprofit	$33,580	$33,966	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
35	UICChicago, IL · public	$33,530	$33,544	Not reported	$16,666	50%
36	Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	$33,153	$33,978	$50,801	$27,000	81%
37	Cal State LALos Angeles, CA · public	$32,805	$29,629	$50,690	$12,812	39%
38	East Carolina UniversityGreenville, NC · public	$32,371	$34,318	$48,081	$26,000	80%
39	UW-MadisonMadison, WI · public	$32,049	$34,060	$60,975	$23,982	75%
40	University of AkronAkron, OH · public	$31,765	$34,239	$57,930	$26,323	83%
41	Winston-Salem StateWinston-Salem, NC · public	$31,421	$33,311	$39,811	$28,000	89%
42	Southern UniversityBaton Rouge, LA · public	$30,636	$34,732	$42,345	$38,000	124%
43	UW-MilwaukeeMilwaukee, WI · public	$30,561	$32,479	$48,986	$26,500	87%
44	University of Maryland Eastern ShorePrincess Anne, MD · public	$30,423	$28,986	$52,123	$29,750	98%
45	Troy UniversityTroy, AL · public	$30,184	Not adjusted	Not reported	$29,500	98%
46	University of Arkansas at Pine BluffPine Bluff, AR · public	$30,057	Not adjusted	Not reported	$22,750	76%
47	UTRGVEdinburg, TX · public	$28,872	$29,747	$47,753	$16,014	55%
48	Lesley UniversityCambridge, MA · private nonprofit	$28,787	$27,220	$37,868	$23,000	80%
49	Georgia Southern UniversityStatesboro, GA · public	$28,360	Not adjusted	$75,615	$24,700	87%
50	UTEPEl Paso, TX · public	$28,195	$29,050	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
51	Arkansas Tech UniversityRussellville, AR · public	$26,869	$30,906	$36,310	$23,890	89%
52	University of the Incarnate WordSan Antonio, TX · private nonprofit	$22,919	$23,614	$56,806	$24,103	105%
53	Alabama StateMontgomery, AL · public	$22,847	$25,722	$41,952	$33,000	144%
54	Carroll CollegeHelena, MT · private nonprofit	$22,319	Not adjusted	Not reported	$24,250	109%
55	University of New HampshireDurham, NH · public	$7,725	Not adjusted	$71,901	$27,000	350%
56	Ithaca CollegeIthaca, NY · private nonprofit	$7,071	$6,552	$60,848	$25,959	367%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 42 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 14, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

6 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Rehabilitation and Therapy (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's rehabilitation and therapy bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
New York	7	$39,739	$27,000
Massachusetts	5	$36,349	$26,875

Programs in 20 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

Lehman College, NY$7,404
Lesley University, MA$23,000
Berklee College of Music, MA$23,750
Ithaca College, NY$25,959
D'Youville University, NY$26,250
UMass Lowell, MA$26,750
SUNY Cortland, NY$27,000
Nazareth University, NY$27,000
Utica University, NY$27,000
Assumption University, MA$27,000

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 11 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to rehabilitation and therapy, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

Physical Therapists

$102,760

Median pay in the US. 267,330 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $77,140Top 10%: $135,140

Occupational Therapists

$100,330

Median pay in the US. 162,450 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 15% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $71,690Top 10%: $131,950

Rehabilitation Counselors

$46,850

Median pay in the US. 94,740 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Bottom 10%: $35,060Top 10%: $77,170

Recreational Therapists

$61,960

Median pay in the US. 14,930 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $40,990Top 10%: $100,420

Common questions

The median rehabilitation and therapy bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $35,786 in their first year and $51,552 five years after.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024