USF’s ABA Program Turns 20 With an Award-Winning Path From RBT to Doctorate

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of South Florida’s applied behavior analysis program marked its 20th anniversary this fall. Its online Master of Arts admitted approximately 10% of applicants for fall 2026, the university said in an Oct. 13 announcement.

Interest in the online degree has climbed. Completed applications reviewed by the program rose every year from 2022 to 2026, from 106 to 350, according to USF’s published program data, which combine spring and fall admission cycles.

The wider market for certified behavior analysts grew too. Online job postings requiring or preferring BCBA or BCBA-D certification rose 18% in Florida, from 4,709 in 2024 to 5,537 in 2025, and 28% nationally, according to a Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) analysis of data from the labor-market firm Lightcast.

Anthony Concepcion, PhD, BCBA-D, who chairs the online program, said in USF’s announcement that the program wants its graduates to be “ethical, thoughtful and highly prepared practitioners.”

The program opened in 2006 as an in-person master’s degree under director Raymond Miltenberger, PhD, BCBA-D, who still leads it. It added a doctorate in 2013, an undergraduate minor in 2014, and, in 2016, the online master’s and an online 40-hour course that prepares students for the Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) exam. RBTs are paraprofessionals who deliver ABA services under close supervision; finishing the course alone does not confer the credential.

USF reported in 2024 that the course had the second-highest first-time RBT exam pass rate in the country for 2023, at 91.3%, citing BACB data. In the BACB’s most recent report, covering 2025, 90.2% of USF’s first-time candidates passed.

USF’s two master’s degrees are built differently. The online MA runs five consecutive semesters, pairs live classes on Wednesday and Thursday evenings with asynchronous work, and ends in a two-course capstone. The in-person Master of Science requires a thesis.

The Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis named USF its 2026 recipient of the Enduring Programmatic Contributions in Behavior Analysis award, and Miltenberger accepted it in May at the Association for Behavior Analysis International convention in San Francisco. At the Florida Association for Behavior Analysis conference in Orlando in September, USF said its faculty and students took part in 21 of the 90 sessions, about 23%. Miltenberger sat on a panel about reducing drowning deaths among young children with autism.

Miltenberger said in the announcement that he wants to maintain the program’s quality and keep serving students at every level. “I hope to see our national reputation as a quality behavior analysis program continue to grow,” he said.

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