Accreditation Status & Outcomes

Chatham University’s Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Degree 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. Graduates of the program 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.

Students must complete 24 weeks of Level II fieldwork as well as an individual 14-week capstone experience. The doctoral capstone experience must be started after completion of all coursework and Level II fieldwork as well as completion of preparatory activities defined in 2018 ACOTE OTD Standard D.1.3. Students enrolled must complete all degree requirements no later than six years after the date of first enrollment in the program, including fieldwork and Doctoral Capstone.

Licensure

Information regarding occupational therapy licensure in the U.S. can be found here.

Student Outcomes

Chatham University’s Entry-Level Occupational Therapy program admitted its first cohort of students in 2019. The following table reports the graduation rates by year:

Year of Entry	Graduation Year	# Of Students Started	# Of Students Graduated	Percent Graduated
2019	2022	40	34	85%
2020	2023	40	41	102.5%
2021	2024	40	35	85%
3-year Totals/Average		120	110	91%

Graduates of the Chatham University Occupational Therapy Program are eligible to take the certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc., One Bank Street, Suite 300, Gaithersburg, MD 20878. Phone: 301-990-7979; email; website.

Upon successful completion of this exam, the graduate will be an occupational therapist, registered (OTR). Additionally, most states require licensure to practice. 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 to attain state licensure.

Program results from the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) can be found online at https://www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance. To locate Chatham University program results, search for "Pennsylvania", "OT Doctoral-Level Programs".