Find Trade Colleges

Study Area & Zipcode

Respiratory Therapy Technician Major

Find Schools Near

Respiratory Therapy Technician

275 Associates's Degrees Annually
38 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
#95 in Popularity (Associate's)
$51,380 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Respiratory Therapy Technician 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 Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to respiratory therapy technician/assistant were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

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:

undefined
  • 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

respiratory therapy technician/assistant majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

undefined
  • 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

Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

undefined
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • 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 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?

292 Associate's Degrees Annually
70% Percent Women
52% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This major is dominated by women with about 70% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of respiratory therapy technician/assistant majors is as follows:

undefined
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 Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant majors often go into careers with median salaries of $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.

Median Salary for a Respiratory Therapy Technician Major  51,380
0K
250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
0K
250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
0K
250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
0K
250K

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.

undefined
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 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 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!

undefined

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Trade Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited trade schools across the U.S.