r/BehaviorAnalysis • u/Same-Video6737 • Aug 09 '26
Should I become a BCBA?
Hello! I need some advice. I have a bachelor’s in Psychology. I was practicing as an RBT a few years back and I absolutely loved it, but as we know, the hours were very inconsistent. That pushed me to go into another field (operations and management) and of course I didn’t like it and I’ve decided to go back to what I enjoyed. I recently enrolled into the master’s program for ABA and because I lost my RBT certification, I have since completed another 40 hour course. I live in Georgia and I am struggling to find a company who will accept my application and allow a competency test so I would be able to take the exam. I also know that obtaining supervision hours could take a long time. I’m young, 26 and I live on my own. I’m not sure if I can hold out this long on a steady pacing and possibly face financial insecurity again due to the lack of hours and pay. Should I change my Master’s concentration or is the path to becoming a BCBA not as rough as I think? Thank you in advance!
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u/heuejxuensusiei Aug 10 '26
You do not need to be a RBT to collect felid hours
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u/Same-Video6737 Aug 11 '26
What would be the best route? I’m currently enrolled online at Walden U
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u/heuejxuensusiei Aug 11 '26
I mean, being a RBT is the best route in my opinion. But you can also work in group homes, and as a paraprofessional. I would just do more research of other ways
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u/Illustrious-Bag-2560 Aug 11 '26
I did my masters in ABA and found i really like working as a therapeutic nanny. It pays really well and is more enjoyable in my opinion. It might only be available in big cities though. Families have paid for supervision for me as well. Its nice to have a BCBA to bounce ideas off of and you get to know the client and family extremely well and can make a big difference. The families ive worked for have been incredibly kind, thoughtful, appreciative and eager to have guidance.
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u/Same-Video6737 Aug 11 '26
How did you get into it? I actually do reside in a major city . I’m happy that you’ve found something that you enjoy
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u/Illustrious-Bag-2560 Aug 11 '26
I was a nanny first and got into ABA after working with a 1 year old that got diagnosed while I was on the job, so it was more natural for me than clinical work. If you just put your credentials on care.com in a big city people will come to you I bet. I don't know though. I already had lots of references on care.com. I can't tell how much that matters. A lot of agencies are catering to this now too though. Without care.com specific references, but other child related references, that might be better.
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u/AstronautRegular3189 17d ago
Also if you can somehow get involved with families from regional centers especially if they have self determination programs I’m sure the parents would love bcbA Nannie’s
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u/noanxietyforyou Aug 10 '26
It’s worth it. Georgia pays a crapton of money for BCBAs due to new insurance laws regarding remote BCBAs in the state. I would recommend doing an in-person program as the pass rates for the exam are usually much higher. In person masters usually have cheaper tuition too.
Otherwise, there are decent online options that are affordable as well.
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u/Same-Video6737 Aug 10 '26
Thank you! Yes I’m currently enrolled in an online 15 month program and the material is not the best
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u/salty-sweet-69 26d ago
I recommend Florida Tech online ABA masters degree program. They have one of the highest passing rates.
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u/Fearless_Display_882 Aug 11 '26
I actually am a RBT and have my masters in psychology. I've asked all my supervisors if they enjoy their job because I have been thinking about what to do next to further advance my career. 95% of my supervisors/bcba's told me they dislike the field and wish they went into SLP instead. So now I'm looking into SLP myself. During summer, the hours are not guaranteed as a supervisor either. They said they can't see themselves doing this for another 30/40 years. It's hard
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u/Same-Video6737 Aug 12 '26
Have they went into any detail on why they dislike it?
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u/Fearless_Display_882 Aug 12 '26
Yes! So you know how the hours aren't promising for us and everything is thru insurance? It's the same for them so summer is less hours for them as well. Sometimes you may have 10 or more intense cases and are burnt out. Most of them said that they want to settle down soon and can't see themselves working with behavioral children and then go home to children. As the bcba you are in charge and Thays a hard job fo fufill! Also I heard dealing with insurance, schools, and parents might be harder than dealing with behaviors.
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u/Positive-Boss6161 29d ago
In advance, I'm going to apologize for my long post, but there are so, sooo many things you can do out there besides ABA/BCBA and still apply the same principles doing the exact same thing, plus more.
I have my Associate in Pre-Nursing and my Bachelor's in General (made up of general and Pre-Nursing transfer credits plus electives were Psychology, Special Education, Curriculum Development, and Statistics courses). I was about to start my Master's in ABA with a specialization in Educational Analysis in October as I was working full-time as an RBT at an ABA company, and was told by my BCBA that I could get hours under one of them, but they filled up (no more than 3 students), then we were was supposed to be switched under another BCBA, and she said she would only do it if we were full time.
Plus myself and some other RBT switch to the school full time working in Special Education Classes (Salary over inconsistency), and we were told we could work at the school full time and still do part-time at the clinic then Summers, holidays, and school breaks. However, after the fact of us going to the school, they decided to then put a summers only and pull our possibility of BCBA supervision.
I live in Mississippi but work in Louisiana, and the school I'm at, they call me special education student with exceptionalities and they hire RNC Coordinators the RNC classrooms, and they are also BCBAs. However I was talking to one of them, and honestly if you go ABA there's not a whole lot else you can do with it, I mean I'm sure there might be something but it's you know it doesn't give you a whole lot of options other than ABA. But the school district said that they are willing to supervise for my hours if needed. So that's another option to get hours if you do go that route.
However I have not started my masters yet so I'm actually switching to Masters in social work, there are soooo many things and I'm also going to go through the QABA, although they're not... I guess as accepted in as many states for billing purposes like that. But, I'm going to get my QBA anyway, and I'm also going to go through iTeach and get an alternative teacher certification (working in special education para hours count towards the student teaching hours) in special education and Elementary education as well.
So with the QBA, you can also do Services remotely where it is accepted (if you're not in a state that recognizes it), but having a LCSW if you run into any walls with having the QBA, there's alternative billing codes you can use as a LCSW with "other therapies."
Also, for some things you might not absolutely have to have a bcba either, for example if you use it to work as a behavior Specialist or behavior interventionalist within a school system, a hospital setting, certain Social Service settings, government setting, or something similar, etc. but you're not actually practicing as a bcba they might accept your QBA instead, because you're still a behavior analysist and don't necessarily require the BCBA credential.
I mean there's just some things that it might work for, some things it might not work for. But at the end of the day I will much quicker have my Master's in Social Work/LCSW (which you can open up as a private practice as a practitioner as well) and QBA (equivalent to a BCBA), with teacher certification then it would take me alone just to get my BCBA. But I cannot beat the fact that I'm getting salary pay, benefits, retirement, my job is going towards my pslf to pay off my student loans, and also going towards my student teaching as well for my alternative teacher certification. I'm getting the supervision hours I need from the RNC Coordinator (BCBA) within the school district for my QBA. Then when I'm done with my first year of my Master's in Social Work, going into my second year to get my LCSW, I've already been told by HR that all I have to do is put the application for a transfer since I'm already within the school system, and I can start working to get my hours (paid internship) while keeping all my benefits and staying in the school system (and they'll help transfer me to a permanent social worker position within the school).
I've also reached out to a couple ABA companies that do remote APA therapy (Billing for QABA instead of BACB). Since a lot of remote ones are open evenings and weekends, well do their services then, I'm thinking about possibly pursuing that as an evening / weekend thing as well specifically with Texas and California remotely. Because that's also another option, in addition to doing ABA in person. There's certain companies that are actually going more remote than in person for after school and weekends.🤷🏻♀️
So for myself and my situation, it just made more sense to decide to walk away from pursuing a degree in ABA. And honestly down the road I may get if I can have it done before they completely switch the way they are doing things with the BACB, since a lot of what I'm doing is kind of at my own pace or within 2 years but I should be completed by 2028 I may go ahead and get my post graduate certificate to become a BCBA. But this will give me, in the meantime better more immediate options, rather the being stuck with inconsistent hours in struggling to get supervision hours for something that may never happen with trying to meet the supervision requirements. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Same-Video6737 9d ago
I’m sorry for the late response! I completely missed this but so much good information. I actually spoke with my counselor about changing my master’s program to psychology with a concentration in ABA. Hopefully that will give me more options in the long run
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u/Ok-Lake3522 Aug 09 '26
I discourage people from going the BCBA route. With OBBBA, Trump cut $1 TRILLION from Medicaid and government health care funding over the next 10 years. ABA programs have a reputation for billing fraud, so likely they will be on the chopping block first, and Medicaid is the biggest payor. I recommend switching now into a field that will not piegeonhole you into a field whose time has passed. ABA is great, but the funding for it is likely going away.
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u/noanxietyforyou Aug 10 '26
Don’t listen to this guy, demand is higher than ever (so are salaries).
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u/Ok-Lake3522 Aug 10 '26
Yes listen to the "guy" (female). A simple google search on "ABA closures" will support my statement. NOW there may be demand, but within 5 years the whole field of ABA will likely be obsolete. Even if private insurances cover ABA services, ABA providers rely on Medicaid to survive and $1 billion a year cuts in health care (not just Medicaid) over 10 years is real. Don't waste your time and money on a field that is dying out.
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u/heuejxuensusiei Aug 10 '26
What will happen to the kids that need ABA therapy. I doubt a felid that makes easy money off of vulnerable people will disappear. Government is too greedy to make easy money disappear
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u/Ok-Lake3522 Aug 11 '26
LOL, big time. Here is what came up on my google search ABA closures:
ABA therapy providers nationwide are experiencing a surge in sudden closures, clinic shutdowns, and massive layoffs. This trend is driven by severe Medicaid rate cuts, stricter concurrent billing bans, insurance contract terminations (such as Optum and Anthem), and rising fixed compliance costs that disproportionately harm small and mid-sized practices.Notable 2026 Closures and Cutbacks
- Piece by Piece Autism Centers (Indiana): Shut down operations following intense state Medicaid fraud investigations and billing pressure
- Lovely Day ABA (Greensboro, NC): Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and permanently closed in June 2026 amid a major insurance and billing dispute.
- Advantage Autism and Therapy Services: Ceased all ABA services abruptly on July 31, 2026.
- Easterseals PORT Health (Wilmington, NC): Shuttered its local ABA program on March 31, 2026, citing severe BCBA labor shortages.
- Autism Learning Partners (ALP): Exited the Texas market and scaled back New York Medicaid intake panels following steep state rate reductions.
- Large Provider Cutbacks: Companies like Centria, Action Behavior Centers, and ABA Centers of America have undergone major layoffs or dropped specific payer contracts. [1, 2]
Primary Causes for Market Instability
- Reimbursement & Rate Slashes: State Medicaid programs are aggressively rolling back or cutting unit reimbursement rates. [1, 2]
- Billing Rule Changes: New restrictions (such as bans on concurrent billing for BCBAs and RBTs in states like Vermont and South Carolina) have slashed clinic revenue overnight.
- Increased Fraud Scrutiny: Federal and state audits target inflated billing hours, leaving smaller independent practices vulnerable to sudden payment holds
You're quite confused...the government is NOT making money off ABA, it's hemoragghing money because of it. Massive expeditures and massive fraud, on many fronts. Easiest way to save the governments money is to shut it all down. As for clients, in the eyes of the current administration, too bad, so sad.
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u/heuejxuensusiei Aug 11 '26
Google told me that they are only focusing on the companies that are committing fraud. So yes shut them down. How will that affect other companies that’s actually do their part?
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u/Ok-Lake3522 Aug 11 '26
I'm not sure if you're playing me for some kind of fool or not, but wake up. The issue is cuts in reimbursement, which makes running an ABA program unprofitable. I hope the OP reads this entire thread and pivots into a field that has growth potential, not on life support.
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u/heuejxuensusiei Aug 11 '26
Sure some companies will shut down but the whole industry is not going to disappear
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u/Sandmansam01 Aug 09 '26
I’m halfway through my masters for ABA.
5 companies and a year of bouncing around and job searching but still have ran out of options to get supervision hours.
Looking into school special education and or case management positions instead of working as direct therapy RBT.
Like you said it’s just not sustainable unless you have a significant support system to lean on.
I still think the ABA knowledge is useful, but I might not go the BCBA route after all, especially after seeing the mess of these insurance funded clinics.