Respiratory Therapy major
Respiratory Therapy: courses, careers, and where to study
Respiratory Therapy trains you to assess and treat patients with breathing and cardiopulmonary problems, suiting hands-on students drawn to bedside clinical care.
Respiratory Therapy prepares you to evaluate, treat, and monitor people who have trouble breathing, from premature newborns to adults with chronic lung disease or sudden respiratory failure. Working under physician direction, respiratory therapists help build and carry out care plans: they measure how well the lungs move air and oxygen, manage ventilators and oxygen delivery, administer inhaled medications and airway-clearance therapies, draw and interpret arterial blood gases, and respond when a patient stops breathing. Coursework grounds you in human anatomy and physiology with a heavy focus on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, the disease processes that disrupt them, pharmacology of inhaled and supportive drugs, and the operation and upkeep of the equipment used at the bedside. Unlike a broad nursing program that covers the whole body, this major concentrates squarely on the heart-lung system, and unlike a pulmonary or polysomnography technician role limited to running specific tests, respiratory therapists are trained to deliver a full range of therapeutic and life-support procedures.
The common entry path is an associate degree, though bachelor's options exist and some employers and advanced roles prefer them; programs typically blend classroom science with hands-on labs and supervised clinical rotations in hospital units so you practice on real patients before you graduate. Practice as a respiratory therapist is regulated in most states, which generally means a credential earned through a national exam plus a state license, and programmatic accreditation and state licensure requirements vary and should be verified for any specific program and the state where you intend to work. Graduates most often work in hospital settings such as emergency departments, intensive care units, and neonatal and pediatric wards, while others move into sleep-disorder centers, home health and patient-education roles, pulmonary diagnostic labs, long-term care, or transport and rehabilitation teams.
In federal data for the closely related occupation of respiratory therapists, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2024 median wage of $80,450 and projects employment to grow about 12.1% from 2024 to 2034; an associate's degree is the typical entry-level education for that occupation. National figures are occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages or graduate outcomes.
Academic classification (CIP)
In the federal Classification of Instructional Programs, Respiratory Therapy maps to CIP 51.0908, Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist, within the HEALTH PROFESSIONS AND RELATED PROGRAMS family. The official definition:
A program that prepares individuals, under the supervision of physicians, to assist in developing respiratory care plans, administer respiratory care procedures, supervise personnel and equipment operation, maintain records, and consult with other health care team members. Includes instruction in the applied basic biomedical sciences; anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the respiratory system; clinical medicine; therapeutic procedures; clinical expressions; data collection and record-keeping; patient communication; equipment operation and maintenance; personnel supervision; and procedures for special population groups.
Source: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 2020. View on nces.ed.gov
What credential Respiratory Therapy is awarded as
Of the 6,597 Respiratory Therapy credentials U.S. colleges reported conferring in 2023-24:
- Certificate2%147
- Associate74%4,884
- Bachelor's21%1,415
- Graduate2%151
This mix is fairly consistent nationally: across the 35 states reporting it, the certificate share moves by about 1 percentage points between the 10th and 90th percentile state, so the credential is more a property of the field than of where you study it. See the full study.
Credentials conferred in 2023-24, U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and this counts what was awarded rather than what a college currently offers.
What you'll study
- Anatomy and physiology of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems
- Cardiopulmonary pathology and disease processes
- Pharmacology of inhaled and supportive medications
- Mechanical ventilation setup, management, and weaning
- Arterial blood gas sampling and acid-base interpretation
- Airway management, oxygen therapy, and airway-clearance techniques
- Pulmonary function and diagnostic testing
- Neonatal, pediatric, and critical-care respiratory procedures
- Supervised clinical rotations in hospital and ICU settings
Typical careers
- Respiratory Therapist
- Pulmonary Function Technologist
- Neonatal / Pediatric Respiratory Therapist
- Critical Care Respiratory Therapist
- Sleep Disorders Specialist
- Cardiopulmonary Technician
Typical salary range: Early-career wages vary by employer, region, and experience (BLS, 2024 respiratory therapists median $80,450).Ranges are early-career estimates. Any BLS figure shown is the occupation-wide median across all experience levels, not a starting wage, and is informational only.
Related occupations
Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Respiratory Therapy, with what each one pays and how many openings it is projected to average each year. Ordered by projected annual openings, largest first. Linked titles open the full CampusPin career page.
| Occupation | Median pay | Openings / yr | Projected change | Most entrants hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary | $105,620 | 27,400 | +17.3% | Doctoral or professional degree |
| Health Technologists and Technicians, All Other | $48,790 | 13,600 | +5.2% | Postsecondary nondegree award |
| Respiratory Therapists | $80,450 | 8,800 | +12.1% | Associate's degree |
Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay, openings and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections). 3 of these 3 occupations report a median wage.
“Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already working in the occupation. It is not a legal requirement, not an admission rule, and not a guarantee of entry. Studying Respiratory Therapy does not guarantee any specific occupation, and many of these roles are entered from several different fields. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.
Before you commit to a Respiratory Therapy major
CampusPin does not rank programs. Use these prompts to pressure-test whether a specific Respiratory Therapy program fits your goals, they are decision questions, not claims about any school.
Ask the Respiratory Therapy department
- Which concentrations or specializations are offered, and which faculty lead them?
- What does the typical course sequence look like, and how much is required vs. elective?
- What labs, studios, clinical placements, or research opportunities are available to undergraduates?
- Is there a capstone, thesis, internship, or co-op requirement?
Ask current students & check the curriculum
- How heavy is the workload, and how accessible is the faculty?
- What internships or co-ops did you do, and where do recent graduates end up?
- Does the required curriculum actually match the careers listed above?
- How easy is it to add a minor, double major, or switch tracks later?
Find a Respiratory Therapy program
CampusPin lists U.S. universities and community colleges by state, tuition, school size, acceptance rate, and campus setting, no account required.
Colleges that awarded the most Respiratory Therapy credentials
Largest by credentials conferred in 2023-24. This measures the size of the graduating class, not quality, and it is not a ranking.
- Boise State UniversityID · 191
- San Joaquin Valley College-VisaliaCA · 163
- Ivy Tech Community CollegeIN · 113
- San Joaquin Valley College-Rancho CordovaCA · 87
- American Career College-AnaheimCA · 85
- Pima Medical Institute-TucsonAZ · 81
- American Career College-OntarioCA · 71
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at San AntonioTX · 67
- Weber State UniversityUT · 67
- San Joaquin Valley College-OntarioCA · 66
- Midwestern State UniversityTX · 62
- Pima Medical Institute-MesaAZ · 62
Based on credentials this institution reported conferring in the federal IPEDS completions collection for 2023-24. It confirms the field was awarded that year, not that the program currently accepts students, and it covers only the fields CampusPin tracks. Confirm current offerings with the institution.
Where Respiratory Therapy credentials were awarded
26 states have a distinct enough set of Respiratory Therapy colleges to be worth its own page.
Search Respiratory Therapy schools by state
- Respiratory Therapy in California
- Respiratory Therapy in Florida
- Respiratory Therapy in Georgia
- Respiratory Therapy in Illinois
- Respiratory Therapy in Maryland
- Respiratory Therapy in Massachusetts
- Respiratory Therapy in New York
- Respiratory Therapy in North Carolina
- Respiratory Therapy in Pennsylvania
- Respiratory Therapy in Texas
Related majors
Nursing
Nursing prepares graduates for the NCLEX-RN licensure exam and careers as Registered Nurses, combining biomedical sciences with clinical rotations across hospital units.
Radiologic Technology
Radiologic Technology trains you to operate X-ray and imaging equipment and position patients to capture the diagnostic pictures physicians use to find disease and injury.
Health Sciences
Health Sciences is a broad pre-professional major for students preparing for medical, dental, PA, PT, or pharmacy school, combining biology, chemistry, and patient-care exposure.
Health Informatics
Health informatics is the study of capturing, storing, and analyzing clinical data so care teams can make better-informed decisions at the point of care.
Athletic Training
Athletic Training prepares students to prevent, evaluate, and rehabilitate injuries in physically active people, suiting those who want a hands-on clinical role in sports and orthopedic care.
Put this major in context
The salary above is an occupation-wide median from federal data, not a starting wage or a guarantee. These CampusPin guides and reports help you read it well, see where a Respiratory Therapy degree can lead, and weigh it against cost and program quality.
Explore Healthcare careers
Median pay, job outlook, and the occupations this field covers.
Explore Education & Library careers
Median pay, job outlook, and the occupations this field covers.
How one major leads to many careers
Why a single Respiratory Therapy degree can open more than one path, and how to read the occupations above.
Why a median wage is not a starting salary
How to read a BLS median, and why early-career pay usually sits below it.
When accreditation and licensure matter
How program accreditation and state licensure can shape a Respiratory Therapy path before you enroll.
Does a pricier college pay off?
How college cost lines up with graduation and earnings, an association, not a ranking.
Does picking a major narrow your college list?
Across the federal completions data, most fields barely change which colleges are on the table. Which ones genuinely do.
Certificate or degree?
What credential a field is usually awarded as is mostly set by the field itself, not by the state, with a short list of exceptions.
How this guide is sourced
This is an editorial guide from the CampusPin Editorial Team. Career and wage figures are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages, and link to each career page. Program availability comes from CampusPin's free institution search; CampusPin does not assert that any specific school offers this exact major until that program data is verified. Last reviewed 2026-06-15. How CampusPin sources data · Report a correction.