Human beings take around eight million breaths each year.
But what happens when this basic function begins to stutter or even stop? Bronchitis or COPD can affect a person's ability to breathe normally, and treatment of these issues can be the difference between life and death. This is where respiratory therapists come into play!
What Is Respiratory Therapy?
Respiratory therapy is the assessment and treatment of patients who have either acute or chronic issues with dysfunction of the cardiopulmonary system. Respiratory therapists have a deep understanding of the techniques required to diagnose and treat patients with respiratory/cardiopulmonary issues.
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How Much Money Can I Earn Working in Respiratory Therapy?
Respiratory therapists have a strong and stable job market. RTs earn above the median income in the United States, with a median salary of just under $60,000 a year. In addition to this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 23 percent growth in the RT job market over the next decade, which is much faster than average.
This growth in an already populous industry translates to more than 30,000 new job openings coming into the market over the next few years.
Why Choose A Degree in Respiratory Therapy?
Respiratory therapy is a specific and directed discipline, with a streamlined career path with good prospects and a great salary range. Medical professions tend to have excruciating hours or endless years of training that can quickly rack up physical and financial debt for students (cancelling out the financial benefits of their new jobs).
With just the bachelor's degree, graduates will be able to step directly into the respiratory therapy profession. No debt, but plenty of earning potential.
What Are the 5 Best Respiratory Therapy Degrees?
College Choice considers several factors including institutional merit, student fulfillment, and return on investment to develop rankings.
Institutional merit combines metrics such as student-to-faculty ratios, graduation rates and endowment to measure each school's ability to provide excellent and cost-effective education for each student.
Student fulfillment measures how fulfilled current and former students felt with the services and programs offered at each school.
And finally return on investment looks at the fiscal benefits students are likely to receive from each school's education, weighted against the costs of attendance, namely tuition and student loans. In the end, we believe these are the 5 best respiratory therapy degrees.
Rankings
See our rankings methodology page.
