Find Trade Colleges
Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant
Types of Degrees Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant Majors Are Getting
The following table lists how many respiratory therapy technician/assistant graduations there were in 2021-2022 for each degree level.
Education Level | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Associate Degree | 292 |
Bachelor’s Degree | 50 |
Undergraduate Certificate | 33 |
What Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant Majors Need to Know
O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to respiratory therapy technician/assistant and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.
Knowledge Areas for Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant Majors
Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Skills for Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant Majors
The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to respiratory therapy technician/assistant:
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Abilities for Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant Majors
As a respiratory therapy technician/assistant major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant?
Racial-Ethnic Diversity
At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of respiratory therapy technician/assistant majors is as follows:
Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 45 |
Black or African American | 39 |
Hispanic or Latino | 46 |
White | 128 |
International Students | 2 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 32 |
Geographic Diversity
Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant appeals to people across the globe. About 0.7% of those with this major are international students.
How Much Do Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant Majors Make?
Salaries According to BLS
The median salary for someone in a career related to respiratory therapy technician/assistant is $51,380. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.
To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.
Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant
Some careers associated with respiratory therapy technician/assistant require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.
Find out what the typical degree level is for respiratory therapy technician/assistant careers below.
Education Level | Percentage of Workers |
---|---|
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) | 0.4% |
Some College Courses | 0.2% |
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 65.0% |
Bachelor’s Degree | 29.8% |
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. | 7.1% |
Online Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant Programs
The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.
Degree Level | Colleges Offering Programs | Colleges Offering Online Classes |
---|---|---|
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) | 0 | 0 |
Certificate (1-2 years) | 5 | 0 |
Certificate (2-4 Years) | 1 | 0 |
Associate’s Degree | 21 | 0 |
Bachelor’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
Post-Baccalaureate | 0 | 0 |
Master’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
Post-Master’s | 0 | 0 |
Doctor’s Degree (Research) | 0 | 0 |
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) | 0 | 0 |
Doctor’s Degree (Other) | 0 | 0 |
Is a Degree in Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant Worth It?
The median salary for a respiratory therapy technician/assistant grad is $51,380 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.
This is 29% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $229,600 after 20 years!
Explore Major by State
Alabama
California
District of Columbia
Idaho
Kansas
Maryland
Mississippi
Nevada
New York
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Utah
West Virginia
Alaska
Colorado
Florida
Illinois
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Missouri
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Oregon
South Dakota
Vermont
Wisconsin
Trades Related to Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant
You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to respiratory therapy technician/assistant.
Major | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Medical/Clinical Assistant | 54,553 |
Pharmacy Technician/Assistant | 7,327 |
Physical Therapy Assistant | 6,499 |
Occupational Therapist Assistant | 4,508 |
Other Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services | 4,145 |
Emergency Care Attendant (EMT Ambulance) | 3,373 |
Radiologist Assistant | 1,360 |
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant | 571 |
Anesthesiologist Assistant | 371 |
Speech-Language Pathology Assistant | 299 |
Pathology/Pathologist Assistant | 157 |
Lactation Consultant | 49 |
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- College Scorecard
- National Center for Education Statistics
- O*NET Online
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
More about our data sources and methodologies.