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Major · Health Professions

A catchall CIP for specialized therapy programs that need a master's to practice

Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions, Other (CIP 51.2399) is the catchall for therapy programs that don't fit a named CIP — Art Therapy, Dance/Movement Therapy, Drama Therapy, recreation-therapy variants, SLP-Assistant tracks, and other niche modalities. About 374 students complete it each year across 41 institutions, with five-year median earnings of $56,383 — and program content varies enormously by school.

Schools offering
41
Annual completions
374
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$56k

About this major

Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions, Other (CIP 51.2399) is the catchall for therapy programs that don't fit any named CIP in the 51.23 family. Programs filed here range across art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, recreation-therapy variants, speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) tracks, behavior-analysis variants, activities-director programs preparing for the ACC certification, and niche modalities like animal-assisted, equine-assisted, and wilderness therapy. The CIP definition is deliberately broad — any instructional program in rehabilitation and therapeutic professions not listed under a named sub-discipline — so the curriculum varies considerably by school. Read the syllabus, not the CIP.

The field is small at the bachelor's level. About 374 students complete the degree each year across 41 institutions, concentrated at Florida International (119), Penn State Main (53), Alabama State (28), Penn State Abington (28), and Rutgers New Brunswick (22). Five-year median earnings sit at $56,383, with a meaningful split between bachelor's grads ($57,783) and the much smaller associate's cohort ($46,466). The packet maps the field to BLS Therapists, all other at $65,010 median wage and 11.5% projected growth — a code that itself functions as a catchall for therapists not classified elsewhere.

The credential picture is the part that matters most, and it is consistent in one respect: for nearly every clinical therapy modality covered by this CIP, the bachelor's is a pre-master's ramp, not a license to practice. Art therapy requires a master's plus ATR / ATR-BC credentialing through the Art Therapy Credentialing Board, with AATA-accredited graduate programs at Pratt, NYU Steinhardt, George Washington, the School of the Art Institute, Naropa, Lesley, MICA, Drexel, Loyola Marymount, Mt. Mary, and others. Dance/movement therapy requires a master's leading to R-DMT and BC-DMT via the Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board, with ADTA-approved programs at NYU Steinhardt, Lesley, Drexel, Pratt, Naropa, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, and Antioch New England. Drama therapy requires a master's at an NADTA-approved program — NYU Tisch, CIIS, Lesley, Antioch — for the RDT credential. Recreation therapy and SLP-Assistant tracks are the exceptions where a bachelor's-level (or associate's-level for SLPA) credential exists.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary $106k +17.3% Doctoral or professional degree
Therapists, all other $65k +11.5% Bachelor's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$56k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$46k

Bachelor's

$58k

Who this major is for

You may thrive in a 51.2399 program if you have already identified a specific therapeutic modality you want to practice — art, dance/movement, drama, recreation, SLP-assistant, animal-assisted, behavior analysis — and a particular school's bachelor's is the right feeder for the master's program credentialing that modality. You should be comfortable doing the verification work: which AATA/ADTA/NADTA/NCTRC/ASHA body credentials your modality, which graduate programs are accredited, and what prerequisites your bachelor's needs to cover. Strong candidates also bring relational stamina, comfort with documentation and treatment-plan writing, and patience for a credential ladder where the bachelor's is rarely the terminal degree.

Think twice if you read 51.2399 as interchangeable with the named CIPs. It isn't. Music Therapy (51.2305) has AMTA accreditation and the MT-BC pathway, Occupational Therapy (51.2306) has CAAHEP and NBCOT, Therapeutic Recreation (51.2309) has NCTRC and the CTRS exam, Physical Therapy (51.2308) is doctoral, and Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling (51.2310) leads to CRC. Each is more standardized than the catchall. Reconsider also if you want to practice as a licensed therapist directly out of the bachelor's — for art, dance, and drama therapy, you cannot, full stop. Reconsider again if you want a high-signal degree brand for non-clinical roles; a catchall CIP is usually less legible to outside employers than a named one. If a psychology bachelor's plus a master's at Pratt, NYU Steinhardt, or Naropa fits your goal more cleanly, that route is often the better one.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions, Other

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Florida International University Miami, FL 0 119 119
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA 0 53 53
Alabama State University Montgomery, AL 0 28 28
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Abington Abington, PA 0 28 28
Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ 6 16 22
Salem State University Salem, MA 0 17 17
Southern Crescent Technical College Griffin, GA 14 0 14
University of Maryland Eastern Shore Princess Anne, MD 0 10 10
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks Reading, PA 0 9 9
Southern California Health Institute North Hollywood, CA 9 0 9
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Rehabilitation Science

843 completions/yr

Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy

628 completions/yr

Legal Professions and Studies, Other

505 completions/yr

Occupational Therapy/Therapist

501 completions/yr

Music Therapy/Therapist

451 completions/yr

Physical Therapy/Therapist

255 completions/yr

Art Therapy/Therapist

195 completions/yr

Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling/Counselor

155 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions, Other field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions, Other worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What does this catchall CIP actually cover?
The CIP definition is deliberately broad: any instructional program in rehabilitation and therapeutic professions not listed under a named sub-discipline. In practice, that means programs filed under 51.2399 range across art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, recreation-therapy variants, speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) tracks, behavior-analysis variants, activities-director programs, and animal- or wilderness-assisted therapy. One school's 51.2399 might prepare you for a master's-level art-therapy program; another's might be a recreation-therapy bachelor's pointing at the CTRS exam. Read the institution's actual course list, accreditation, and credential pipeline — the CIP code by itself tells you very little.
Will a bachelor's degree alone let me practice as a therapist?
For nearly every clinical therapy lane covered by this CIP, no. Art therapy requires a master's plus ATR / ATR-BC through the Art Therapy Credentialing Board (ATCB) and graduation from an AATA-accredited graduate program. Dance/movement therapy requires a master's leading to R-DMT and BC-DMT via the Dance/Movement Therapy Certification Board. Drama therapy requires a master's at an NADTA-approved program for the RDT credential. Recreation therapy bachelor's grads can sit for the NCTRC CTRS exam directly, and SLP-Assistant programs lead to state-licensed paraprofessional roles under a licensed SLP — but those are the exceptions. Treat the bachelor's as a clinical-readiness ramp, not a license-to-practice.
How does this compare to the named CIPs in the 51.23 family?
The named siblings are more standardized. Music Therapy (51.2305, 451 completions) leads to MT-BC through AMTA-approved programs and a 1,200-hour internship. Occupational Therapy (51.2306, 501 completions) now requires an MS-OT or OTD plus NBCOT board certification — the bachelor's no longer qualifies. Physical Therapy (51.2308, 255 completions reported at undergrad level) is functionally a DPT-doctoral path. Therapeutic Recreation (51.2309, 628 completions) leads to NCTRC CTRS at the bachelor's level. Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling (51.2310, 155 completions) typically requires a master's for CRC certification. Rehabilitation Science (51.2314, 843 completions) is the largest sibling and is structured as pre-OT, pre-PT, or pre-grad-school. The catchall (51.2399) is what's left over when a program doesn't fit any of those.
What jobs are realistic from this major?
The packet maps the catchall to BLS Therapists, all other (SOC 29-1129) at a $65,010 median wage and 11.5% projected growth. That code is itself a catchall for therapists not classified elsewhere — it captures art, dance, drama, and recreation therapists, but the underlying state-licensed wages vary considerably. ATR-BC art therapists typically earn $45K–$65K depending on state and setting; CTRS recreation therapists run around $53K; SLP-Assistants land in the high-$30Ks to low-$60Ks depending on state and school-vs-clinic placement. Postsecondary teaching at $105,620 appears in the packet but requires a doctorate. Off-list outcomes follow whatever specific modality the program emphasized.
How do I tell if a 51.2399 program is worth the tuition?
Three checks. First, identify the specific therapy modality the program prepares you for — art, dance/movement, drama, recreation, SLPA, behavior analysis, activities director — because each has its own credential and labor market. Second, verify the accreditation and credential pipeline: AATA for art therapy, ADTA for dance/movement, NADTA for drama, ASHA-recognized SLPA standards, NCTRC for CTRS. Third, ask the program directly which master's programs their graduates feed into and at what rate; for art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and drama therapy, the bachelor's is explicitly a feeder, so master's placement matters more than the bachelor's brand.
Why is Florida International University the top producer?
FIU reports 119 bachelor's completions, three to four times the next producer. That scale almost always reflects a single large generalist track at one school rather than the field nationally; the next producers — Penn State Main (53), Alabama State (28), Penn State Abington (28), Rutgers New Brunswick (22), Salem State (17) — are mostly mid-size public universities running their own niche therapeutic-services bachelor's. Concentration at one school is a signal to look closely at FIU's specific curriculum and credential pipeline before assuming it represents the field. The presence of small associate's producers like Southern Crescent Technical College and Southern California Health Institute reflects the SLPA and activities-director side of the catchall.
Is this a good pre-master's path for art, dance, or drama therapy?
It can be, if the bachelor's is intentionally structured as a feeder. Master's programs in art therapy (Pratt, NYU Steinhardt, GW, SAIC, Naropa, Lesley, MICA, Drexel, Loyola Marymount, Mt. Mary, Eastern Virginia Medical), dance/movement therapy (NYU Steinhardt, Lesley, Drexel, Pratt, Naropa, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Antioch New England), and drama therapy (NYU Tisch, CIIS, Lesley, Antioch) require specific prerequisites — typically psychology and developmental coursework, plus a portfolio or audition for art and dance/drama tracks. Verify those prerequisites with the destination master's programs, since a 51.2399 bachelor's has no standardized course coverage. A psychology bachelor's plus an arts minor sometimes routes to the same master's programs more cleanly.
How does AI affect this field?
Less than almost any other allied-health lane. Creative-arts and recreation therapies depend on the in-person therapeutic relationship — drawing alongside a client, leading a movement session, running a drama enactment, coaching leisure-skill development for community reintegration. AI offers no substitute for that work. Where AI is showing up is in administrative augmentation: documentation drafts, treatment-plan templates, progress-note suggestions, and outcome-tracking. Those tools speed paperwork without displacing clinicians. The relational, embodied core of these therapies is among the most durable lanes in healthcare against automation.