Is Physical Therapy School worth it in 2021? [PT Tuition vs Salary]

Physical Therapy as a profession dates back to the early to mid 1800s [1], when the term physiotherapy was first used to describe working with injured athletes, specifically gymnasts. Over time the profession evolved from humble beginnings, and with that came increasing education demands. In the 1950’s, physical therapists went from being considered “technicians” to “professional practitioners”. In the United States, Education requirements went from a Bachelor's degree, to a Masters degree, and now to a Doctorate. As of 2015, all accredited and developing physical therapist programs in the US are Doctoral programs, with the earliest offering of a Doctoral program by Creighton University in 1993.
And of course with the increased education, comes increased cost. As of the most recent numbers, the average cost of a public school DPT degree was: $66,074. And the average total cost of private school DPT was: $113,497.
I’ve run the numbers of every PT school in the US, and compared that to average salary data for physical therapists.
So the real question is: In 2021, is it worth it to become a Physical Therapist?
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Some Important Notes:
I couldn’t verify the tuition of the University of Puerto Rico - it doesn’t have it listed on the University website - it may be the lowest
I’m sure that somewhere I made math errors. I promise, it’s unintentional and 260 lines of spreadsheet don’t help.
The recommendations are my opinion - and are not financial advice - but we like the profession…
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Sources / links below
[1] www.amhsjournal.org/text.asp?...
[2] Murphy W. "Progress Is a Relay Race," 1946-1959. In: Healing the Generations: A History of Physical Therapy and the American Physical Therapy Association. Lyme: Greenwich Publishing Group Inc; 1995. p. 136-77.
[3]www.capteonline.org/uploadedFi...
[4]www.capteonline.org/uploadedFi...
[5]collegelearners.com/average-c...
[6]www.baylor.edu/graduate/pt/in...
[7]www.updocmedia.com/jobmarketp...
[8] educationdata.org/average-cos...
[9] www.sciencedirect.com/science...

[@colinkleffman6415]

Awesome video. Appreciate the hard work you put in so others can easily check out the list of schools and their accreditation.

[@jazzy5252521]

Awesome video, thanks for putting in all the time and effort to make that excel sheet for us. I was fortunate enough to get into a public school and will be starting in a couple months

[@jaimecorral6304]

Great, informative video! Looking to apply to DPT schools this year so this video really helps, thanks👍🏼

[@goo6341]

Great video. Thanks for sharing!!!

[@physiotherapymotivation4945]

Informative video 💎👍

[@annalovicz6654]

This is amazing! I cant imagine how much work the spreadhsheet was, but im so grateful you made one. Applying to PT schools this summer so this was very informative and helpful!

[@DigitalKurisu]

Are you in pt school now

[@kylemclaren2114]

High quality video Nick! It is admirable that you took the time you did to go through the tedious process of finding the data for all of the CAPTE accredited programs. I wish I would have had this when I applied to PT school!

[@DrNickDPT]

Thank you Kyle, much appreciated.

[@BellaFront9]

Great video!!

[@5_C_G]

This was informative. Many PTs on KZbin talk about the career but sometimes leave out the financial impact from start undergraduate to end doctorate program cost.

[@physiotherapyinsider6468]

Very expensive indeed! Great content by the way!

[@DrNickDPT]

Thank you!

[@StefanieAnna]

when you look at total cost of tuition reported by the schools, interest is never accounted for. Interest rates are high for graduate school loans and it starts accruing immediately. I think my interest was an extra $15,000 by the time I actually graduated. Also, looking at average salary for PT is not really the best value to look at for a new grad. New grad salaries are sadly typically a lot lower than the average. New grads have the highest debt and usually lowest salary. Personally I am working on paying off $113k student loans, I am down to $28k after 2 years now. Good breakdown at the end of the video on if its worth it or not. I agree with your points!

[@DrNickDPT]

I agree on interest. But there's such a wide variability (0% currently) hard to account for. I also agree fundamentally on new grad salary, but I'd also say that there are options (travel, home health) that afford much more opportunity. I'll be making a follow up based on comments, so I appreciate your opinion.

[@DrNickDPT]

Also well done on the debt paydown!

[@kennygarcia102]

D:

[@DrNickDPT]

Forgot to add, here's the download link for the excel sheet: gum.co/OIXoQe

[@mightyzane5586]

Greetings from South Florida

[@danny302]

This was a great video. As a parent of a kid that wants to attend Physical Therapy school this is definately an eye opener. I couldn't find the link for the spreadsheet though. Do you think it would be worth it if my son attended a $65K a year school Undergrad (3 year accelerated program) which I have saved for and would pay. Then my son would pay his own way in the DPT program at roughly $40k a year. I am starting to think he may be financially in over his head with the particular school he is considering. Thoughts? And once again great video!

[@nrivera0717]

Unfortunately I don’t have many or cheaper in state schools and now I’m starting dpt school in 5 months and I’m considering dropping it because of the debt, I feel like I’ll enjoy pt but an accelerated bsn program 20 min from me is only 10k and a nurse practitioner seems like a better financial decision, not in it for the money but I also don’t want to dig myself into a 20 year repayment plan

[@traplabspr5413]

I enjoyed the vid man, with the info you had in the Excel I saw that UPR (PuertoRico) Medical campus ends up amounting 50k debt am I right with my calculations? Also I’m from PuertoRico do you believe I should (and this is somewhat my plan) study here at UPR potentially end up with 50k debt move to the US work really hard Pay it off keep working a few more years maybe then get specialized in neurology and my end goal is opening my practice on my home land or there in the US but first get to experience all the different PT jobs. *Or* study at ECU for example which is the lowest cost, do you beilieve I will get the same opportunities in the US with my UPR DPT

[@giovannimaldonado2275]

I have the same question/plan

[@TweetsIsBoss]

would you recommend getting a bachelors degree for the PTA path? im a senior in highschool and have already gotten accepted to state schools for Kinesiology, but after doing a little research found that PTA school is only 2 years. But, since Im only 17 I would be done with PTA by 19 if all goes well, and im not sure people will hire me honestly! will PTA programs look at my bachelor’s as overqualified or a stand out applicant? thank you!

[@DrNickDPT]

My question would be why are you looking to get a bachelor's? You can work as a PTA with just an associates degree.

[@JohnDoe-mt6gb]

Get a PTA associate then your Bachelor… decide if you want to get a doctorate after that

[@nancymiller4383]

Get your PTA degree, then bachelors in healthcare management and then MHA.

[@frostedfelony]

I'm really scared, I want to become a physical therapist but I don't want to be swallowed in debt with a low salary job

[@seanmcniff6746]

Sameee

[@DigitalKurisu]

What you doing now

[@dr.smith_dpt]

The move the DPT has had terrible practical and financial implications for PTs especially when still viewed as technicians in many settings

[@DrNickDPT]

Financially it can be. But the reality is it isn't always. I'd argue that's more a consequence universities price gouging and increasing tuition by 3-5% per year. Practical I'm not so sure. Can you elaborate?

[@dr.smith_dpt]

@@DrNickDPT insurance reimbursement has only gone down requiring more volume to make more money and that makes the DPT not as practical in settings outside cash pay

[@DrNickDPT]

@@dr.smith_dpt Sure, reimbursement has gone down. Or at least outpatient ortho (what I'm familiar has). But we're still only capturing small % of musculoskeletal market. It seems like your arguments are against traditional insurance based models, not the DPT

[@NW-pt8zz]

I hate when people say apply to instate as if that’s an option for some people who are bad at test taking and such. It’s not that easy to get into instate programs giving that they only take about 30 people.

[@DrNickDPT]

All good PT programs are hard to get into.

[@ravnitdeshpande1942]

Is DPT degree is easy or hard is America ?

[@DrNickDPT]

It's a doctoral degree. There are no easy doctoral degrees.

[@kashantinatalie]

I can’t help but feel like the newer aspiring PTs have it bad. Older PTs have just a bachelors or masters, and the younger crowd is stuck with potential debt

[@DrNickDPT]

Older PTs that "just have a bachelor's or masters".. you think they don't have debt? There's literally 75+ schools that have lower debt than what I had coming out of school in 2012.

[@kashantinatalie]

@@DrNickDPT some of the PTs I work under who graduated around the 90s - mid 2000s don’t mention as much debt as the newer PTs I work with. I’m sure they all have debt, Maybe just not as much due to the recent requirements. Then again, the debt/salary ratio may even out considering their salaries then vs now

[@mightyzane5400]

Is it worth becoming a PTA in 2022?

[@DrNickDPT]

The reimbursement reduction does pose some long term questions. But the large benefit of the PTA route is the time - 2 years - and the cost savings.