ACAPT overview 

Organizational membership 

The American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) is the only organization representing Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) education programs & their clinical affiliates across the United States. 

Over 95% of all U.S. accredited PT programs are ACAPT institution members.

A focus on DPT program excellence

ACAPT's core purpose is to lead physical therapy in the pursuit of academic excellence.  ACAPT promotes excellence across PT academic programs as a whole by:

• Providing the Center for Excellence in academic physical therapy.
• Delivering leadership development tools & training.
• Offering many resources for PT program chairs, faculty & clinical educators.
• Helping expand educational research.
• Advancing innovative clinical education models.
• Collaborating with organizations representing health professional education.  

While the Commission on Academic Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) has minimum standards for DPT programs, ACAPT supports the academic physical therapy enterprise in pursuit of continuous improvement, innovation, inquiry and inclusion so a program can be successful over the long term.

Learn more about ACAPT's planned restructuring, which is designed to integrate the Criteria for Excellence and Excellence Framework across our day-to-day operations, governance, mission & vision.  New ACAPT Institutes will cover:

• Academic advancement
• Scholarly inquiry
• Teaching & learning
• Community engagement

How ACAPT is different from the APTA Academy of Education

How are we similar?

• Both ACAPT & and the APTA Academy of Education (AoE) target physical therapist academic programs in the U.S. – and both advance the enterprise of physical therapy in higher education.
  
  
• ACAPT and AoE frequently work collaboratively on initiatives  - including co-hosting the Annual Physical Therapy Education Leadership Conference (ELC), the ONLY conference dedicated exclusively to the physical therapy education community.

How do we differ?

• ACAPT’s members are the institutions rather than the individuals.  DPT programs join by paying annual dues.  As a result, their faculty & clinical partners receive the benefits of membership.  ACAPT’s benefits are designed primarily for positive impact on the entire academic program and clinical settings.
  
  
• AoE’s members are the individual physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, and students, each of whom pay separate dues.  AoE’s initiatives are aimed at supporting the individual.