Final Project Math 1030 Jackie Buchanan April 30, 2013

I am currently at a crossroads in my life, where the decision I make now will affect the entire shape of my future. I have to decide right now if I want to pursue a graduate degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Utah, or enter the Occupational Therapy Assistant program here at SLCC. There are many reasons for and against either choice, and so to try to figure out what path will best serve me and my family, I have decided to analyze both career options. My goal after completing this project is to be able to finally decide what path to take, and to feel good about my decision. I will do this by making several different kinds of comparisons, and by using tables to visually describe the data involved. As I am not simply interested in the quantitative values, but the qualitative as well, I will also list the personal costs and benefits that both programs will require/afford. The timeframe for this analysis will begin January after graduation, and end when my youngest son turns 18 years old. Quantitative areas that I would like to explore include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Cost/financial aid Time commitment/both hours of day and how many semesters long Pre-requisites required Date of program entry and completion Average salary upon graduation/predicted salary Job market outlook

Qualitative areas to be considered include: 1. 2. 3. 4. Actual Job Duties Ages of my boys upon graduation Time away from family Job status

Quantitative Comparison Table

(U of U) Masters of Occupational Therapy Estimated Cost Financial Aid $60,000 No Pell Grant available, only a few small scholarships $60,000 Student Loan 8 Semesters/year round September, 2016 May 2019 EDU 1020 CHEM 1010 BIOL 1610/15* COMM 1010* (classes needed to graduate from SLCC with AS) (SLCC) Occupational Therapy Assistant (AAS) $6,250 Pell Grant as well as fulltuition scholarships None 4 semesters/summers off September, 2014 May 2016 EDU 1020 CHEM 1010 BIOL 1610/15* COMM 1010* (classes needed to graduate from SLCC with AS) BIOL 2320/25 PSYC 1100 OTA 1020* MA 1100 (Prerequisites needed to enter OTA program at SLCC)

Expected Financial Contribution Length of Program Date of Entry into Program Date of Completion of Program Courses Still Needed

BIOL 2320/25 BIOL 2420/25 PHYS 2010/15 HLTH 2200 PSYC 1100 PSYC 2300 ENGL 2100 MA 1100 OTA 1020* (Prerequisites taken at SLCC to enter masters program) PSY 3000 ENGL 3500 (need to take at the U before beginning program)
(* registered for Fall 2013)

(* registered for Fall 2013)

Median Annual Salary Job Market Outlook

$72,000 33% increase by 2020

$51,000 43% increase by 2020

Financial Aid and Expected Contribution: My entire tuition at SLCC is covered by grants and scholarships, and so it would cost me nothing to get my OTA certification. In contrast, you cant get federal grants for graduate programs, and I was told by the head of the OT Department at the U of U that there are very few scholarships available. Consequently, I expect that I will have to pay for the entire cost of my graduate degree, and because I dont have the funds to pay for it, I would be forced to take out student loans.

Median Annual Salary: I found the median annual salary statistics from the U.S. Dept. of Labors webpage. The salaries I quoted here were the median salaries nationwide. As well as the median salary, I think it is important to mention the distribution for both OT and OTA.

Distribution of Occupational Therapist Wages in US

Distribution of Occupational Therapist Assistant Wages in US

I would have liked to present these distributions in a bell curve format, but I couldnt find the standard deviation, nor did I have access to each data point in order to calculate the standard deviation myself, so we have to make do with the tables instead.

Job Market Outlook: According to the US Dept. of Labor Employment of occupational

therapy assistants is expected to increase 43 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations.Demand for occupational therapy is expected to rise significantly over the coming decade in response to the health needs of the aging baby-boom generation and a growing elderly population (Dept. Labor)

I wasnt able to locate the percent of graduates that are hired within a year from SLCC or the U of U, but if I had found those statistics, I would have used them to calculate the

expected value of each degree. In order to describe what I intended to do, I will use some pretend figures to illustrate my point. In order to determine the percent difference from each occupation, I will go back to the statistics posted by the Dept. of Labor that gave us the percent change in job outlook. Job outlook for OT is 33%, and the job outlook for OTA is 43%. The actual difference between the two is -10, and if we divide -10 by 43 (the reference value) we get a relative difference of 23%. Therefore, in my imaginary scenario, I will say that if the probability that 60% of Occupational Therapists are hired within one year, than it is probable that 83% of Occupational Therapist Assistants will be hired within one year. Using those numbers, I can calculate the expected value of each occupation. (OT Salary $72K) x (60%) = $43,200 (OTA Salary $51K) x (83%) = $42,330 This means that in my imaginary scenario, the expected value of the OTA is only 2% less than the expected value of the OT.

Now, lets assume that I start working the January after graduation, and that I only work until my youngest son turns 18 years old. That means that I will have 5 working years as an OT, or 8 working years as an OTA.

(5 yrs) OT Masters

Salary ($72K)

Cost of Loan

Net Salary

2020 to 2025

$360,000

$41,000

$319,000

(8 yrs) OTA 2017 to 2025

Salary ($51K) $408,000

Using those numbers to compare my net incomes, I discovered that the actual difference between the OTA and the OT program is $89K, and the relative difference is 28%. This means that I would earn 28% more as an OTA, than I would as an OT. It doesnt make sense for me to compare these two careers longer than I have, because if I decide to take the OTA route, I plan to continue my education after my youngest leaves home, and work towards a graduate degree at that time.

Qualitative Comparison Table

(U of U) Masters of Occupational Therapy Major Job Description Ages of Boys upon Graduation Assess and Diagnose Create Treatment Plans Ashy 12 Keian 14 Braeden 19 Dallin 21 3 years in program, including summers I'll be gone all day, every day, for over 3 years. What little time I have left will be taken up by school work I won't be free to take any vacations with my family, or spend time with my kids I won't have any time to work in my vegetable garden (SLCC) Occupational Therapy Assistant (AAS) Implement Treatment Plans Ashton 9 Keian 11 Braeden 16 Dallin 18 2 years in program, summers off I will only be in class when my kids are at school Studying will be less rigorous I will have my summers free to take vacations with my family, and to play with my kids I will have all summer to work in my vegetable garden

Program Time Commitment Toll on my Family

Toll on my Family: The last area that I feel needs explaining is the toll on my family that each career path would take. It is obvious by looking at this chart, that the toll on my family would be far greater if I chose to pursue a Master's degree, than if I just went through the OTA program instead. My kids are the ones who would sacrifice the most in order for me to get a masters degree, and only my two youngest would still be at home to reap any of the rewards. Conclusion: The data presented and analyzed in this report have made it abundantly clear to me that I would be a fool to attempt to get my masters degree at this time. Not only does it not make any sense financially, but the cost to my children is too high. I chose to be a stay at home mom for that reason..to stay at home. My children need me home with them, and the OTA path will allow me to be home when they are. Therefore, I have decided to postpone my graduate studies until my youngest son turns 18 and leaves the nest. As a bonus to this decision, I wont have to worry about empty nest syndrome, because I will be too busy working towards my degree!

References:

http://www.health.utah.edu/ot/prospective/prospectivestudentdocs/tuitionresident.pdf Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Occupational Therapists, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-therapists.htm (visited April 22, 2013). Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Occupational Therapy Assistants and Aides, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-therapy-assistants-andaides.htm (visited April 22, 2013). http://therapistcareerguide.com/occupational-therapy-assistant-job-description/ http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/print/occupational-therapists.htm http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/occupational-therapists.htm http://www.health.utah.edu/ot/

http://www.slcc.edu/ota/