The Program
The curriculum aims to equip graduates with comprehensive entry-level skills for diverse practice environments, including schools, hospitals, community settings, and long-term care facilities. It emphasizes exposure to emerging and non-traditional areas within the community. Students are prepared to serve various populations- infants, children, adolescents, adults, senior- in physical, mental, and health wellness domains, fostering adaptability and broad competency across multiple practice areas.
The Occupational Therapy Assistant program is a daytime, two-year associate degree program which begins each spring semester. Program curriculum is developed under the guidelines of the American Occupational Therapy Association and includes academic and technical courses. In the final semester, students are placed in local healthcare facilities for a minimum of 16 weeks (full-time) to complete fieldwork requirements.
Students earn an Associate of Applied Science Degree upon successful completion of the program. Students then become eligible to take the national certification examination through the National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapy, Inc. (NBCOT). Graduates of the program who pass the certification examination may apply for state licensure to practice as an Occupational Therapy Assistant and thereby use the designation of COTA.
Students in the OTA program at Lone Star College-Kingwood are eligible for (and encouraged to obtain) student membership in the Texas Occupational Therapy Association and the American Occupational Therapy Association allowing students across to the benefits of membership.
The educational experience will include classroom instruction, laboratory activities, pre-clinical and clinical work. Many clinical facilities will require students to successfully pass a background check. Students will be trained to work with all age groups in a variety of health care settings.
You must be first accepted to Lone Star College before applying to the OTA program. If you are not a current student with LSCK or have not applied and been accepted to Lone Star College-Kingwood you must apply here.
- Applicants must be 18 years old to apply.
- Applicants must be a student or show acceptance to Lone Star College.
- Complete pre-requisite courses with a 2.5 GPA and no grade below a C. See curriculum for details.
- Be able to perform the Essential Job Functions.
- Complete the HSRT
- Complete the OTA application
- Deadline: Please note that the application for the LSC-Kingwood Occupational Therapy Assistant program is always the first business day in June to the last business day in August.
- Submit all official transcripts from all colleges attended other than Lone Star College with the OTA program application.
Incomplete applications will not receive a department review. Each applicant is responsible for contacting the OTA department to confirm that their application is complete. Applicants to the program will be ranked according to their level of achievement of the program admission criteria and will be accepted into the program on a competitive basis.
Initial student ranking is based on the following criteria: Application Score Chart
- Ten hours of completed coursework
- Number of general education courses completed from degree plan
- GPA is based on all hours taken within the degree plan
- Previous degree earned
- Score on HSRT exam
- Experience as an aide to an occupational therapy practitioner (school aide, psychiatric technician, rehabilitation aide, etc.) Work experience Form
- Number of times course(s) in degree plan taken.
- 10 observation hours, Observation Form. (5 hours in two different settings):
- Must be non-paid time observing (job-shadow) with an occupational therapy practitioner. Observation hours from an employer will not count.
- An example of approved observation hours could be 5 hours observation of a COTA in a skilled nursing facility and 5 hours with an OTR in an acute care hospital.
- Any setting that an occupational therapy practitioner works will be accepted as long as it is two different settings and not your place of employment.
- 5 hours at 2 skilled nursing facilities would NOT count.
- 5 hours at 2 different acute care hospital would NOT count.
- It is highly recommended to schedule one observation with adults and the other with children.
The top-ranking applicants, based on this initial information, will be invited for an interview. Interviewees will be notified by the email provided on the application of time, date, and location of the interview. You must reply to the email indicating your acceptance or declination of the interview. Upon completion of the interview, admissions examination, and writing samples, applicants will be re-ranked with the top applicants chosen to join the program.
What is the HSRT exam? The Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT) is an evaluation tool that must be taken in order to be considered for entry into the Occupational Therapy program. The HSRT is a 33 question exam that requires you to read medically related information and respond to questions based on the reading. All information needed to answer the questions is in the reading, so there is no need for Occupational Therapy background information.
- HSRT exam may be taken only once per program entry.
- If test is taken multiple times during the application period (including another campus) your application will become invalid.
- The HSRT exam contains 33 multiple choice questions.
- Specifically designed to measure the skills dimension of critical thinking
- Critical thinking questions in health sciences and clinical practice contexts, and presumes no specialized technical knowledge.
- 50 minute test
Application Testing Deadlines: The HSRT entrance exam must be completed by the deadlines.
Testing- All HSRT testing for the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is conducted at the following LSC testing centers (by appointment only- applicants must contact the testing center).
- Kingwood
- Tomball
- Houston-North
- Cy-Fair
- Montgomery
- North Harris
Bring on exam day: Picture identification and receipt of payment for HSRT.
- For questions on the application process or if ADA accommodations are needed, please contact kc-occupationaltherapy@lonestar.edu or 281.312.1708
Testing Fess- $15.00, this fee must be paid before taking the test
The top-ranking applicants are conditionally accepted into the program pending a clear criminal background check to complete the fieldwork rotations (clinical). Students are responsible for paying all fees and working with the background check company to clear up any reporting discrepancies. Student may also be asked to complete a drug screening at their own expense based on clinical site requirement.
- All successful applicants accepted to the OTA program will be required to attend orientation session.
- The following document items must be completed, received, and uploaded into the tracking system by program orientation date:
- Background Check
- Physical Exam- completed by a licensed physician or healthcare provider
- Bacterial Meningitis Immunization
- TB Test
- Hepatitis B- persons interested in applying to the program are recommended to begin as soon as possible the HEP B series of immunizations takes several months to complete. Hep B is required by state law in the State of Texas for all students involved in healthcare programs.
- Varicella-Zoster
- MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
- Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis)
If you are unable to meet any of these immunizations' requirements for medical reasons, please follow the process below:
- Applicants must request and sign the World Health Occupations Immunization Waiver and obtain documentation from a healthcare provider explaining that the applicant is not an acceptable candidate for the immunization(s)/titer
- Applicant must submit the documentation to the program director
- Applicant must upload documentation into immunization tracking system used by the program.
- Students must accept and assume the risk of being denied acceptance by a clinical partner for not meeting the clinical partner's immunization requirements. Additionally, students must accept and assume the risk that if they are unable to complete required clinical rotations for any reason, they may not be able to continue in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program.
The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) located at 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 652-AOTA. Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this examination, the graduate will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA).
Most states, including Texas, require licensure to practice. Texas licensure is based on successful completion of the NBCOT examination. A felony conviction may affect a graduate's ability to sit for the NBCOT examination or attain state licensure. Any form of charges or conviction results on a criminal background check may be cause for exclusion from admission to the program. To ensure your ability to sit for the exam it is recommended you contact NBCOT at (301) 652-AOTA and ECPTOT the occupational therapy licensing board at (512) 305-6900 and discuss your situation.
Legal Information
Lone Star College Policy is consistent with Texas law as to requirements and admission of any resident or non-resident student. For admission and tuition purposes, residency is defined within Texas Education Code §54.052. In addition, LSC will notify students prior to, but not as a condition or requirement of admission, that health care facilities will require students to have a Social Security number or a Visa as a condition of being assigned to a clinical facility. Students who are unable to complete the LSC health program clinical skills requirement will not be able to complete the program due to a lack of clinical placement.