FAQ

The University of Cincinnati and all regional campuses are accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. www.hlcommission.org

Occupational therapy programs in the United States are accredited through the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE). Gaining that accreditation is required for students to write the national certification exam (NBCOT) and ultimately practice as a State licensed occupational therapist.

The entry-level occupational therapy doctoral degree program has applied for accreditation and has been granted Candidacy Status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 501E Bethesda, MD 20814. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org. The program must have a preaccreditation review, complete an on-site evaluation, and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.

No, the curriculum is a blended instructional design involving a mix of on campus and online coursework.  Required in-person classes will be held 1.5-2 days per week along with level I fieldwork activities during the entire semester. This will be supplemented by online lectures, assignments, and discussions. The curriculum is full time but the online piece will allow some flexibility for those wishing to work while in the program. The working student will need considerable support from their employer to attend on campus sessions and meet course and fieldwork requirements.

With employer support to accommodate the on-campus requirements, students should be able to continue some level of employment. The OT program is full-time however and students need to be prepared to dedicate the time and effort to meet academic requirements. The extent to which students continue employment while enrolled in the OT program will depend on the student's ability to manage academic demands and the employer's ability to accommodate the needs of the student. The full-time level II fieldwork requirement in two semesters will obviously impact one's ability to continue outside employment. Students will not be able to complete level II fieldwork at a setting where they are actively employed as an occupational therapy practitioner.

Applicants must complete 40 hours of observation in two settings for a minimum of 20 hours per setting.  Observation hours are not required for OTA however OTAs will need to submit proof of passing NBCOT exam.
Sample Observation Hours Log Sheet

Students complete 3 Level I rotations (24 hours each), 2 Level II rotations (12 weeks full-time), and the Doctoral Capstone Experience (14 weeks full-time).  Sites are mainly located in the Tri-State area including northern Kentucky, Louisville, Lexington, southeast Indiana, southwest Ohio, Dayton, and Columbus.  We have contracts all over the US.

The following computer requirements may help you prepare for our program. 

Applications are accepted between July and October 1 annually.  Admitted students will begin classes in the summer term.

We will consider pass grades as we do AP credit.  We accept the grade as “prerequisite met”, but it will not be included in the GPA calculation.

• No more than 50% of prerequisite grades can be a grade of “P”.
• You still need to have a GPA of 3.0 for prerequisites.

Admission to the UC OT program requires completion of a bachelor's degree, specific prerequisite coursework, volunteer hours at two occupational therapy settings (minimum 40), letters of recommendation, and essay submission. Details of the admissions process can be accessed via the links on the UC OT webpage.

To look up how courses from other institutions transfer to UC use the transfer equivalency database.  Scroll to the bottom of the page to search for your institution.

While we don’t offer transcript reviews as a service, we are happy to answer questions about individual courses that are not in the above linked databases.  For questions, please email occupationaltherapy@uc.edu  and allow 72 hours for a response.  Please include university, course number, course name, description, # of credits, course objectives or syllabus.

Applicants may have no more than 4 prerequisite courses incomplete or in-progress.  All prerequisite courses must be completed before the program start date.

All applications are carefully reviewed.  You will be notified via the email address provided on your OTCAS application beginning in December through May. All applicants will be notified of their admissions status (offer, waitlist, deny) by the UC Graduate School.  Applicants on the waitlist will be emailed periodically with status updates.

Yes, students will be sent an automated email from the UC Graduate School asking them to set up a password and pay a $65 fee ($70 for international applicants).  This email will be sent after the OTCAS fee and application are submitted and verified by OTCAS.

Transcripts are sent directly to the Occupational Therapy Centralized Application Service (OTCAS).