Physical Therapist Schools

By Jennifer Williams, an allied health world contributing writer
Published:  February 12th, 2010

Physical therapy is a profession that does, in many cases, require a state license. In order to get your state license, you will have to graduate from an accredited physical therapy school with your master’s or doctorate degree. Read on to learn about online physical therapy graduate programs that will allow you to pursue your dreams of becoming a physical therapist.

Online Physical Therapy Schools

Yes, you do have the option of taking a physical therapy course online. Wow, who knew our little technological world had come that far? Well, it certainly has, and you can now stand to reap the benefits of it.

Physical therapy is a hands-on profession, and it used to be that you couldn’t graduate from a program of this nature unless you were consistently seated in a classroom, which presented a problem for many people, but times have changed. Physical therapy schools are now available online, allowing you to learn everything you need to know about this profession from the privacy and safety of your own home. The only portion of the program that will take you out of your home is the internship, which we will discuss in more depth later.

Online physical therapy schools theoretically have lower overhead costs than most traditional schools. What that means is that it will cost you less money to attend an online school, which is just another great benefit of attending online physical therapy schools.

Degrees Offered by Physical Therapy Schools

You will need the minimum of a master’s degree in physical therapy to work as a physical therapist. There are doctoral degrees available as well; however, many schools are making the switch to a DPT (doctoral of physical therapy) program. The DPT program is designed to help you build on what you have learned from the master’s program and turn it into a doctoral degree. Because many schools are gravitating towards this, it will probably not be very long before states start requiring it as well.

The master’s degree is designed to last about 2 to 3 years, and the cost of tuition and fees should be between $5,000 and $10,000. Keep in mind that you will pay much more if you attend a bricks-and-mortar conventional school as opposed to an online physical therapy school.

Also, because physical therapy uses resistance and weight training to tone and strengthen the muscles of the body, there may be some supplemental exercise and therapeutic equipment purchases that you have to make, in addition to the school tuition.

If you are ready to enter the exciting world of physical therapy, simply click on the link below, and you will be directed to complete a short form. An admissions counselor will then be able to contact you and answer any questions that you may have about the program. After you have done this, you will be on your way to one of the most rewarding of all professions: physical therapy. .