Occupational Therapy Assistant (A.S.)

The OTA program at FSCJ meets all requirements for students to sit for the National Licensure Exam, accepted in all 50 states.

If you are considering employment in a state other than Florida, click here to ensure the program curriculum meets the requirements to sit for licensure or certification testing in that state.

The Occupational Therapy/Occupational Therapy Assistant program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 7501 Wisconsin avenue, suite 510e, Bethesda, MD 20814. ACOTE’s telephone number, c/o AOTA, is (301) 652-AOTA, and its web address is www.acoteonline.org.

For official program pass rates on the certification exam please visit  NBCOT. Upon successful completion of this exam, the individual will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). In addition, most states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT Certification Examination or attain state licensure.

At its April 2018 meeting, the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) granted the FSCJ Occupational Therapy Assistant Program a Status of Accreditation for a period of ten years. ACOTE is recognized as the accrediting agency for occupational therapy education by both the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). ACOTE is also an active member of the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA). ACOTE currently accredits over 407 occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant educational programs in the United States and its territories.
The program's next onsite evaluation will take place by 2027/28.

Graduation Rates

The total number of graduates from 2022-2024 was 36 with a three-year graduation rate of 77%. The graduation rates will be updated following the graduation of pending students from the Class of 2024. The graduation rate calculation was determined using the following formula provided by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education 2023 Standards as follows:

Graduation rate calculation: The number of students who graduate on time (G1) plus the number of students who graduate within 150% of the expected time (G2), divided by the number of students admitted in the original cohort (G3), minus the number of students who withdrew due to military, health, family issues, death and other reasons not related to academic and clinical performance (G4). Calculation per calendar year is (G1+G2)/(G3-G4).

To learn more about tuition and fees click here.

Transcripts

Transcripts must be received from both high school/GED and any postsecondary education. They must be official and sealed directly from the awarding institution. 

Transcripts may be delivered electronically by email or by mail to:
FSCJ Admissions Office
P.O. Box 40515
Jacksonville, FL 32203-0515

Prerequisites

Prerequisite and General Education courses are offered in an online, on-campus and hybrid format. In the OTA program, there are two courses that are offered in a fully online format which include OTH 1001 and OTH 1704. All other courses within the OTA program are offered in an on-campus or hybrid format, but all have components that require the use of technology.

FSCJ uses the learning management system (LMS) Canvas for all courses and for submission of all coursework. Therefore, the following are minimum requirements:

• A Florida State College at Jacksonville student email account
• A computer with the following:
• Internet access
• Web browser application such as Firefox or Chrome
• Office software (Microsoft Office 365 is free for FSCJ students)
• Web camera, microphone and speakers
• Software plug-ins such as:
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Flash Player (required for recording audio and video on Canvas)
• Java (required for screen sharing on Canvas)
• VLC Media Player

Many textbooks within the program are offered in an e-book format or provide supplemental resources for students online. Online subscription-based resources are utilized to supplement textbooks.Faculty hold office hours on-campus and virtually to meet the varying needs of student schedules through the use of Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, or Canvas Conferences.

Technology competencies include, but are not limited to, word processing skills, completing internet searches, downloading and uploading files, presentation development and recording, navigation of the learning management system, file management skills, videoconferencing skills and the ability to scan coursework for upload into the learning management system.

Application Information

Drug screen, background checks, uniforms, physical and textbooks.