Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions at Ithaca College

The $7,071 first-year earnings figure tells you everything: Ithaca College's rehabilitation therapy graduates are heading straight into graduate school. That explains why this program ranks in just the 10th percentile among New York programs initially, while four years out, earnings jump to $49,525—surpassing both the state median ($39,739) and placing graduates ahead of programs like SUNY Cortland and Nazareth. This isn't underperformance; it's a deliberately different path where the bachelor's degree functions as a stepping stone rather than a terminal credential.

The question is whether $25,959 in debt makes sense when immediate earnings won't service it. Most rehabilitation therapy careers—particularly physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology—require master's or doctoral degrees, meaning your child will accumulate additional debt during 2-3 more years of schooling before entering the workforce. That undergraduate debt compounds the problem. Compare this to CUNY York, where graduates earn $57,806 by year four with similar debt loads, or consider whether the bachelor's degree is necessary at all if graduate school is inevitable.

If your child is committed to graduate-level rehabilitation work and values Ithaca's campus experience, understand you're financing the first leg of an expensive educational marathon. The four-year earnings prove the career trajectory works, but only after clearing the graduate school hurdle—and paying for it.