Is a Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree Worth It? If you’re dreaming about helping patients restore their mobility and quality of life, and you’re exploring what it would take to become a physical therapist, you may be wondering, “Is a degree in physical therapy worth it?” The answer to this question depends, of course, on your personal career goals. Some people choose to become physical therapist assistants because only a two-year associate degree is required. It’s true that pursuing a doctorate takes time and effort; however, there are countless advantages to earning a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. To that end, let’s look at some of the factors that make a Doctor in Physical Therapy (DPT) degree the best first step on an exceptional career Read more
Graduation Rate
The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) tracks graduation rate by degree cohorts. These rates are based on USAHS institutional definitions and calculations which may differ to some degree from calculations required by programmatic accreditation, state licensure, and other graduation rate calculation definitions. The programmatic accreditations, state agencies, and/or Department of Education may utilize varying timeframes and/or student status when measuring retention and/or graduation. For example, programmatic accreditation examines data between January 1 to December 31.
Graduation rate is the percentage of students in a cohort that graduated within 150% of the expected completion time. Completion time is based on the credits required for completion as outlined in the USAHS catalog. The cohorts captured are based on the program length by reported calendar year.
CAPTE and ACOTE accreditation requirements on graduation and licensure pass rates are located on the respective program’s web pages.
The data is as of March 2022.
Graduation Rate at 150% by Degree
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Degree | Cohort Size b | % | Cohort Size b | % | Cohort Size b | % |
| Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | 510 | 97% | 432 | 96% | 710 | 98% |
| Flex Doctor of Physical Therapy (Flex DPT) | 82 | 79% | 106 | 84% | 102 | 82% |
| Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) | 246 | 96% | 305 | 99% | 286 | 98% |
| Flex Master of Occupational Therapy (Flex MOT) | 27 | 85% | 21 | 86% | 33 | 85% |
| Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) | a | a | 13 | 92% | 87 | 95% |
| Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (MS-SLP) | a | a | 20 | 100% | 39 | 95% |
| Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (PPOTD) | 21 | 71% | 21 | 62% | 14 | 93% |
| Transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy (tDPT) | 37 | 57% | 24 | 58% | 25 | 60% |
| Doctor of Education (EdD) | <10 | 75% | 14 | 29% | 10 | 80% |
| Master of Health Administration (MHA) | 16 | 56% | 40 | 60% | 40 | 65% |
| Master of Heath Sciences (MHS) | 39 | 62% | 33 | 52% | 48 | 56% |
| Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) | 16 | 56% | 28 | 32% | 56 | 48% |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) | a | a | a | a | 42 | 40% |
b To protect student anonymity, cohort size of less than 10 is notated with <10.
c 150% graduation rate for the initial OTD cohorts will be available in 2021.
Graduation Rate at 150% by Degree and Gender
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Degree | Gender | Cohort Size b | % | Cohort Size b | % | Cohort Size b | % |
| Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | Male Female | 235 276 | 96% 97% | 215 217 | 94% 97% | 322 388 | 98% 98% |
| Flex Doctor of Physical Therapy (Flex DPT) | Male Female | 32 50 | 81% 78% | 54 52 | 85% 83% | 50 52 | 82% 83% |
| Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) | Male Female | 30 216 | 83% 97% | 37 268 | 97% 99% | 39 247 | 95% 98% |
| Flex Master of Occupational Therapy (Flex MOT) | Male Female | <10 24 | 67% 88% | <10 19 | 100% 84% | <10 27 | 100% 81% |
| Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) | Male Female | c c | c c | <10 <10 | 100% 89% | <10 80 | 100% 95% |
| Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (MS-SLP) | Male Female | a a | a a | <10 18 | 100% 100% | <10 34 | 80% 97% |
| Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (PPOTD) | Male Female | <10 14 | 71% 71% | <10 16 | 40% 69% | <10 13 | 0% 100% |
| Transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy (tDPT) | Male Female | 19 18 | 47% 67% | 12 12 | 42% 75% | 11 14 | 45% 71% |
| Doctor of Health Sciences (DHSc) | Male Female | <10 0 | 75% na | <10 <10 | 43% 331% | - - | - - |
| Doctor of Education (EdD) | Male Female | <10 <10 | 80% 67% | <10 <10 | 36% 44% | <10 <10 | 100% 78% |
| Master of Health Administration (MHA) | Male Female | <10 14 | 50% 57% | 11 29 | 64% 59% | <10 31 | 78% 61% |
| Master of Heath Sciences (MHS) | Male Female | 10 29 | 40% 69% | <10 28 | 40% 54% | <10 39 | 44% 59% |
| Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) | Male Female | <10 13 | 67% 54% | <10 25 | 33% 32% | <10 50 | 50% 48% |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) | Male Female | a a | a a | a a | a a | 10 32 | 30% 44% |
b To protect student anonymity, cohort size of less than 10 is notated with <10.
c 150% graduation rate for the initial OTD cohorts will be available in 2021.
Graduation Rate at 150% by Degree and Race/Ethnicity
As student numbers for race/ethnicity groups cannot be grouped with specificity, two categories, “Minority” and “Other,” were created to capture the information to display data. The minority category includes Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, African American/Black, and Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian. “Other” includes two or more races, international students, and not specified/unknown.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Degree | Race/Ethnicity | Cohort Size d | % | Cohort Size d | % | Cohort Size d | % |
| Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) | White Minority b Other c | 306 162 43 | 97% 95% 98% | 242 146 44 | 97% 95% 95% | 388 271 51 | 98% 98% 96% |
| Flex Doctor of Physical Therapy (Flex DPT) | White Minority b Other c | 36 39 <10 | 92% 77% 29% | 71 33 <10 | 87% 79% 50% | 49 43 10 | 90% 74% 80% |
| Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) | White Minority b Other c | 155 60 31 | 95% 95% 97% | 148 79 78 | 99% 99% 99% | 110 67 109 | 98% 96% 99% |
| Flex Master of Occupational Therapy (Flex MOT) | White Minority b Other c | 16 <10 <10 | 94% 75% 67% | 13 <10 <10 | 85% 83% 100% | 20 10 <10 | 80% 90% 100% |
| Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) | White Minority b Other c | a a a | a a a | <10 <10 <10 | 100% 100% 75% | 44 23 10 | 95% 100% 90% |
| Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (MS-SLP) | White Minority b Other c | a a a | a a a | <10 <10 11 | 100% 100% 100% | <10 10 21 | 88% 90% 100% |
| Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (PPOTD) | White Minority b Other c | 12 <10 <10 | 67% 86% 50% | 15 <10 <10 | 60% 100% 33% | 10 <10 <10 | 100% 67% 100% |
| Transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy (tDPT) | White Minority b Other c | 23 <10 <10 | 48% 78% 60% | 12 <10 <10 | 67% 71% 20% | 10 <10 <10 | 50% 67% 67% |
| Doctor of Health Sciences (DHSc) | White Minority b Other c | <10 <10 <10 | 0% 100% 100% | <10 <10 <10 | 57% 0% 0% | - - - | - - - |
| Doctor of Education (EdD) | White Minority b Other c | <10 0 0 | 75% na na | 13 0 <10 | 31% na 0% | <10 <10 <10 | 88% 0% 100% |
| Master of Health Administration (MHA) | White Minority b Other c | <10 <10 <10 | 67% 63% 0% | 19 19 <10 | 74% 42% 100% | 17 18 <10 | 76% 44% 100% |
| Master of Heath Sciences (MHS) | White Minority b Other c | 24 14 <10 | 75% 36% 100% | 20 13 0 | 45% 62% na | 27 20 <10 | 59% 50% 100% |
| Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) | White Minority b Other c | <10 <10 <10 | 57% 67% 33% | 20 <10 <10 | 40% 14% 0% | 34 18 <10 | 56% 44% 0% |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) | White Minority b Other c | a a a | a a a | a a a | a a a | 22 17 <10 | 23% 59% 67% |
b Minority category includes Hispanic, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian, African American/Black, and Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian.
c Other includes two or more races, international students, and not specify/unknown.
d To protect student anonymity, cohort size of less than 10 is notated with <10.
