Colorado State University’s department of occupational therapy ranked third in the nation on U.S. News’ list of top health schools for 2025.

The program rose from No. 7 on the 2024 list to No. 3, beaten only by Boston University and the University of Southern California.

“We were very excited to hear that news,” said Anita Bundy, head of the department. “We’ve been ranked in the top 10 when this ranking began, but we were always ranked at around No. 6 or 7.”

The occupational therapy program is community-oriented, in contrast to the typical hospital setting of many other colleges’ OT programs, which are usually attached to medical centers. Such a distinction affects how the program is taught.

“Here at CSU, the big medical center in Colorado is down in Denver, so that distance means that our curriculum is different,” said Andy Persch, an occupational therapy instructor. “What (students) do here in Fort Collins is they’re in hospitals and clinics when they go do their field work, and (they do) capstones out in community settings. But that means that in terms of our teaching and in our research programs, we look for community settings — the places where we can interact and engage with our clients that are not necessarily focused on the medical setting.”

The community-based program allows for a varied and rounded curriculum, involving working with older adults and working in pediatrics and doing fieldwork.

“I just really want to reiterate that the faculty and staff here, from the open-door policy, almost all of them are conducting research. Almost all of them are still currently practicing OT, and that all means a lot. That’s the reason why we jumped up in rankings, but they’re still very grounded and down-to-earth. With all of them conducting research, practicing and teaching, they still find ways to make everybody here feel welcome.” –Malachi Haynes, occupational therapy doctoral candidate

The curriculum emphasizes fieldwork, where students get hands-on therapy experience in a variety of settings. It is designed to introduce students to fieldwork as early as possible.

“Fieldwork is an opportunity to gain experience and demonstrate these skills and knowledge that you’ve picked up in a hands-on and very interactive environment,” said Malachi Haynes, an occupational therapy doctoral candidate. “Some of the other programs within the region will save all your fieldwork for the very last year. At CSU, we have fieldwork as early as your second semester. That will be in your first fall semester, since we start in the summer, and we get fieldwork opportunities in an abundance of settings.”

Education in occupational therapy has evolved over the years to ensure an adequate education for students. OT programs accredited by the American Occupational Therapy Foundation were required to transition to the entry-level master’s level in 2007, although CSU started to offer master’s degrees in OT decades prior. A similar trend is happening with OT programs that are shifting from the master’s to the doctoral level. CSU switched from entry-level master’s degrees to occupational therapy doctorate degrees in 2022.

Occupational therapy programs still face nationwide enrollment challenges due to health care education strains from the COVID-19 pandemic. CSU’s occupational therapy program continues to see strong applicants, especially from around the Mountain West and Great Plains regions.

“There aren’t a huge number of OT programs in the Mountain West region,” Persch said. “There are certainly many, but they’re quite spread out. There are a couple in Colorado, and then you’re talking about Nebraska, Kansas, Utah and so on. Students are interested in coming to Colorado. They’re interested in the mountains and the outdoors.”

The program’s ranking is upheld by its research in addition to quality education. The program, as well as four of its assistant professors, has received grants from the AOTF. The faculty involved in research receives some of the highest praise from the program’s students and alumni.

“I just really want to reiterate that the faculty and staff here, from the open-door policy, almost all of them are conducting research,” Haynes said. “Almost all of them are still currently practicing OT, and that all means a lot. That’s the reason why we jumped up in rankings, but they’re still very grounded and down-to-earth. With all of them conducting research, practicing and teaching, they still find ways to make everybody here feel welcome.”

Reach Robert Sides at science@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.