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Get licensed as an occupational therapy assistant

Who decides, in the order you will meet them: the accreditor, the exam body and the state board. We point to each; they decide.

National certification + state license

At a glance

Occupational therapy assistant
How it is regulated
Certified nationally, then licensed by the state
Credential issued by
NBCOT certification, then a state license
Program accreditor
ACOTE
Exam
NBCOT
Interstate compact
Enacted, not yet issuing privileges

The route

The national steps first, then the state. Each step names the body that decides it.

  1. Step 1

    Graduate from a ACOTE-accredited program

    The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education accredits the programs that lead to this credential. Check a program's accreditation with the accreditor itself before you enroll, not only with the school.

    Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education acoteonline.org (official site)
  2. Step 2

    Earn NBCOT certification

    The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy certifies you nationally. National certification and the state license are separate credentials, and each has its own renewal.

    National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy nbcot.org (official site)
  3. Step 3

    Apply to the board of the state where you will practice

    The state board decides whether you are eligible and issues the license. Anything beyond the national steps, such as a jurisprudence exam or a background check, is set there.

  4. Step 4

    Practicing in more than one stateOptional

    The Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact lets a licensee in one member state practice in another under a privilege, without a second full license. A privilege rests on your home-state license.

    Where the compact stands

State boards

Board links for occupational therapy assistants are being compiled

We have not yet listed the state boards for this profession. Each link is added once it has a name and an address we can check.

Occupational Therapy Licensure Compact

Enacted, not yet issuing privileges

Widely enacted, only partly live. Around thirty states have passed it; a much smaller number have finished implementation and are issuing privileges.

Enacted-state counts and issuing-state lists are both in motion, and the two are frequently reported as one number. We have not verified either against the commission's register, so neither is published here.

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