PTCAS applicant overview

Sep 27, 2022

As of September 27, 2022, the physical therapist centralized application system (PTCAS) reports for 293 participating programs:

Final numbers from PTCAS for the full application cycle saw a decline in applications in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022, but an increase in 2021.

PTCAS saw declines in unique applicants in 2018 and 2019, but has remained relatively flat with minimal fluctuation from 2020-2022.
While the number of applicants has remained flat, the average number of programs to which each unique applicant is applying has fallen from 6.2 in 2017 to 5.3 in 2022.

Admissions Cycle	# of PTCAS Applications	% Change in Applications from Previous Cycle	# of PTCAS Applicants	% Change in Applicants from Previous Cycle	Applications Per Applicant Ratio	# of Accepted Applicants	Acceptance Rate
2016-17	118,620	4.0%	19,025	3.0%	6.2	9,707	51.02%
2017-18	112,373	-5.3%	18,359	-3.5%	6.1	10,393	56.61%
2018-19	98,773	-12.1%	17,834	-2.9%	5.5	10,578	59.31%
2019-20	92,225	-6.6%	17,843	0.1%	5.2	11,566	64.82%
2020-21	97,786	6.0%	17,806	-0.2%	5.5	11,815	66.35%
2021-22	94,977	-2.9%	17,862	0.3%	5.3	12,617	70.64%

See additional PTCAS resources including:

Be sure to review ACAPT admissions guidelines on observation hours, prerequisites and more. And check out the Institutional Profile Survey summary and full report for more DPT program stats.

Sep 27, 2022

As of September 27, 2022, the physical therapist centralized application system (PTCAS) reports for 293 participating programs:

Final numbers from PTCAS for the full application cycle saw a decline in applications in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022, but an increase in 2021.

PTCAS saw declines in unique applicants in 2018 and 2019, but has remained relatively flat with minimal fluctuation from 2020-2022.
While the number of applicants has remained flat, the average number of programs to which each unique applicant is applying has fallen from 6.2 in 2017 to 5.3 in 2022.

Admissions Cycle	# of PTCAS Applications	% Change in Applications from Previous Cycle	# of PTCAS Applicants	% Change in Applicants from Previous Cycle	Applications Per Applicant Ratio	# of Accepted Applicants	Acceptance Rate
2016-17	118,620	4.0%	19,025	3.0%	6.2	9,707	51.02%
2017-18	112,373	-5.3%	18,359	-3.5%	6.1	10,393	56.61%
2018-19	98,773	-12.1%	17,834	-2.9%	5.5	10,578	59.31%
2019-20	92,225	-6.6%	17,843	0.1%	5.2	11,566	64.82%
2020-21	97,786	6.0%	17,806	-0.2%	5.5	11,815	66.35%
2021-22	94,977	-2.9%	17,862	0.3%	5.3	12,617	70.64%

See additional PTCAS resources including:

Be sure to review ACAPT admissions guidelines on observation hours, prerequisites and more. And check out the Institutional Profile Survey summary and full report for more DPT program stats.

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