How to Become an OT, PT, or Athletic Trainer in Ohio

Licenses covered

• Physical Therapist (DPT)
• Occupational Therapist (OT)
• Athletic Trainer (AT)
• PTA / OTA

OTPTAT Board by the numbers

These figures are ours, not the board's — we computed them from the full State of Ohio licence file so you can see this board in context rather than one record at a time. Data as of September 2026.

Only 54.4% of the 69,348 licences this board has on record are currently active — the other 45.6% belong to people who retired, moved, changed careers, or simply let a credential lapse. That gap is the single best reason to verify a licence rather than assume a name in a database means somebody may practise today.

Most common licence types

When a licence from this board is not active, the most common reason recorded is expired (29,871 records), followed by revocation (179). Our status dictionary explains what each label actually means.

1.46% of this board's licences carry a recorded board action (1,010 of 69,348), against about 1.6% across all Ohio professions. A board action covers everything from an administrative consent agreement to revocation, and it is cumulative over a licence's whole life — see how we measured that before reading much into it.

Computed by OhioLicenseCheck from the State of Ohio eLicense dataset (issued licences only; application records excluded). Refreshed daily.

Why choose this path

• PTA/OTA associate degrees deliver strong pay for two years of school
• Doctoral PT and master’s OT careers combine six-figure-adjacent pay with high job satisfaction
• Athletic trainers work everywhere sports happen — schools, colleges, pro teams, industry
• Compact privileges (PT and AT) make the Ohio license portable
• Aging demographics guarantee decades of rehab demand

Path to the license

1. 1

   Choose your level

   Assistant (PTA/OTA, associate degree), athletic trainer (now typically a master’s), OT (master’s or doctorate), or PT (doctorate). Shadowing hours are expected for all graduate programs.

2. 2

   Graduate from an accredited program

   CAPTE (PT/PTA), ACOTE (OT/OTA), or CAATE (AT) accreditation is mandatory for licensure eligibility.

3. 3

   Pass your national board

   NPTE for PT/PTA, NBCOT for OT/OTA, BOC for athletic trainers.

4. 4

   Apply to the Ohio OTPTAT Board

   One board licenses all three professions. Background check via eLicense; renewals are on two-year cycles with CE.

Pay and outlook

BLS medians run roughly: physical therapists high-$90,000s, occupational therapists mid-$90,000s, athletic trainers high-$50,000s, PTAs and OTAs in the $60,000s. Ohio figures typically sit near these national numbers with a friendlier cost of living.

All five occupations project above-average growth through the decade — rehab is one of healthcare’s most durable demand stories.

Where Ohioans train

Schools listed are well-known examples, not endorsements — always compare accreditation, cost, and outcomes.

Official links & resources

• Ohio OTPTAT Board
• FSBPT (NPTE)
• NBCOT
• BOC for Athletic Trainers
• BLS Outlook: Physical Therapists