Explore Degrees & Certificates

Give patients strength and help them recover

Onondaga’s Physical Therapist Assistant program teaches students how to help patients regain range of motion, strength, and mobility.   

Sign up today to attend a Physical Therapist Assistant Information Session!

What You'll Learn

Help patients regain confidence in their physical abilities, while working with a sense of ethics and compassion. 

Restore, maintain and promote healing and overall fitness, review patients' medical charts, and work within a developed care plan.

Where You'll Go

You can be an entry-level physical therapist assistant in hospitals, long-term care facilities, schools, and more.

Then you can take the national exam for nation-wide certification and practice in any state. 
 
 
Program Outcomes
  • Employment Rate (aggregate of 2020 & 2021): 100% 
  • Licensure Exam Pass Rate (aggregate of 2020 & 2021):
    • First Time Pass Rate: 82%
    • Ultimate Pass Rate: 95%
  • Graduation rate (aggregate of 2020 & 2021): 85.1%

Typical Salary

5 years after graduating

$45,000

Popular careers, growth potential, and regional demand for the past 12 months.
Career 10-year growth potential Regional Demand
Physical Therapist Assistant 38% Average

Real Data from Central New York

  • Data reflect previous twelve-month period in the Syracuse Metropolitan Area and surrounding five-county Central New York region.
  • Salary gathered from SUNY Graduate Wages (data source: NYS Unemployment Insurance) unless otherwise indicated. 
  • Demand is determined by the number of job postings in the region over the past twelve months. 
  • Occupational growth potential gathered from Burning Glass.   

New York State prides itself in the high quality of its licensed and certified professionals. For the protection of its citizens, each license and certificate have requirements that individuals must meet in order to be licensed or certified in New York State. OCC’s academic programs leading to licensure or certification are carefully designed to meet and exceed these New York State requirements. This is a role SUNY plays in protecting the public. However, other states frequently have their own requirements. Onondaga Community College cannot determine whether its educational program curriculum for Physical Therapist Assistant, A.A.S., that if successfully completed, is sufficient to meet the licensure and certification requirements for practicing in Physical Therapy in States and U.S. territories other than New York. Enrolled students and prospective students are strongly encouraged to contact their State’s licensure entity (if not practicing in New York) to review all licensure and certification requirements imposed by their state(s) of choice. We encourage you to talk to your program director if you plan to practice in a State other than New York after graduation. 

The Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Onondaga Community College is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; telephone: 703-706-3245; email accreditation@apta.org; website: http://www.capteonline.org. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please contact Kristen Lounsbery, PT, DPT, MS Ed, PTA Program Coordinator by phone at 315-498-2388 or email at lounsbek@sunyocc.edu.

Transfer Paths

4-year School Bachelor's Degree
Le Moyne College Psychology, B.A.
Le Moyne College English, B.A.
SUNY Oswego Psychology, B.A.
Lincoln University
Johnson C. Smith University