A new report from the Student Debt Task Force of the Educational Leadership Partnership (ELP) examines issues influencing physical therapy student debt, including:
- ratio of debt to income,
- financial aid,
- cost of education,
- reimbursement for clinical services,
- curricular issues, and
- the impact of student debt on physical therapy programs.
The Partnership - which comprises representatives from APTA, the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) and the Academy of PT Education (APTE) -- recently released the Student Debt Task Force Final Recommendations Report, which includes five recommendations:
- ACAPT, APTA, and APTE will promote the use of fact sheets that provide financial information on DPT and PTA programs in a consistent manner so that student and prospective students can more easily compare costs between schools. See the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program Financial Fact Sheet 2020-2021 here.
- All academic programs will provide access to current and prospective students to the financial literacy information available at the APTA Financial Solutions Center.
- ACAPT, APTA, and APTE will provide the report's financial FAQs -- which addresses loans, financial aid, cost comparison, managing debt and financial aspects of a program's clinical experience -- to prospective and current students and encourage their members to do so.
- The ELP partners’ liaisons to CAPTE will discuss potential inclusion of the financial disclosure information in the Annual Accreditation Report (AAR).
- The ELP partners’ liaisons ask will ask CAPTE to require information the PTA and DPT Program Financial Fact Sheet be posted on an academic program’s web page.
APTA is developing a report on the state of physical therapy student debt, scheduled for release in June, in support of the association’s 2019-2021 Strategic Plan goal to foster long-term sustainability of the physical therapy profession in part by championing student and early-career issues including debt burden and career-earning potential. It’s expected that findings from the ELP partners Student Debt Task Force Final Recommendations Report will inform APTA’s upcoming report.