How to get an OT or OTA license in District of Columbia

The District of Columbia licenses occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants through the DC Board of Occupational Therapy at DC Health. Everything on the exam checklist is submitted online. Everything below comes from the board's own pages and rules, checked October 18, 2026. Fees and rules change, so confirm on the linked pages before you pay.

Check with your board. OT Ticket is a study aid, not clinical or legal guidance. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT), AOTA, ACOTE, the OT Compact Commission or any state board; NBCOT, OTR and COTA are their marks, used here only to name the exam.

District of Columbia at a glance

Occupational therapist (OT)OT assistant (OTA)
ExamNBCOT OTR exam (180 questions, 4 hours), $540 to NBCOTNBCOT COTA exam (190 questions, 4 hours), $540 to NBCOT
Board fees$264 application and license feeCheck the OTA checklist
Background checkCriminal background check, $50 paid online with the applicationSame
OT CompactNot a member. You need a full District of Columbia license. (OT Compact, checked October 18, 2026)

District of Columbia, step by step

DC Board of Occupational Therapy (DC Health)

  1. Apply online with the $264 application and license fee and your transcript.
  2. Criminal background check: $50, paid online with the application; DC Health sends a link for the fingerprinting step.
  3. NBCOT: request the score transfer to DC through your MyNBCOT account.
  4. Temporary licenses: DC Health posts important notices on temporary licensure requirements on the board's page; read them before planning to work early.
  5. Compact: DC is not in the OT Compact.

Sources: DC Health: occupational therapy licensing, DC Health: occupational therapy examination checklist, DC Health: criminal background check. Checked October 18, 2026.

Practice for the NBCOT OTR exam freeOTR questions on the 2022 outline, scenario sets built like the real ones, a score report by task. Practice for the COTA exam freeFor OT assistants: six-option multi-select items like the real ones, every answer cited.

The national steps, briefly

Every state licenses occupational therapists and OT assistants on NBCOT certification: an ACOTE-accredited degree with its Level II fieldwork, then NBCOT's exam (the OTR exam for OTs, 180 questions in 4 hours; the COTA exam for OT assistants, 190 questions in 4 hours; 450 on a 300-600 scale passes; $540 to apply online). NBCOT certification is not a license: you apply to your state board separately, and NBCOT sends the board your score (the Score Transfer is free if you add it when you apply for the exam, $35 later). The full walk-through: How to get your OT license.

Official pages