The primary driver for degree escalation in occupational therapy is to solve poor curriculum design of master's level programs
Perhaps the greatest point of misinformation that is routinely spread when academicians discuss the 'need' for escalating the entry level degree to the doctoral level is that master's level OT programs can vary between 80 and 100 credit hours, depending on the school. This is not a factual statement. There are some OT schools that are configured in a 4+1 or 3+2 model and the number of graduate credits is only around 30-40. In these schools, the bulk of the occupational therapy curriculum is delivered at the undergraduate level. Throughout the conversation, I have heard educators and practitioners both attempt to get AOTA and ACOTE to acknowledge that not all educational programs are experiencing the same kind of 'credit pressure.' People use different terms to describe this concern; most explain it in terms that some programs are requiring more credits than are necessary or perhaps even typical for granting a masters degree. It is true that some pr...