General Program Description
The Doctor of Physical Therapy program is an entry-level professional program. Students start in the fall semester and continue for 33 consecutive months. The students are enrolled in classes during fall, spring, and summer semesters. The program is offered at the Flagstaff campus as well as the new Phoenix Biomedical campus.
Clinical Experiences
Students first participate in clerkship experiences that occur during the first 2 years of the program. Following clerkships, the students participate in internship experiences. These consist of longer full-time clinical experiences at different types of facilities.
Faculty
There are 15 full-time faculty members. All are licensed as physical therapists. Eight of the full-time faculty holds post-professional doctoral degrees (PhD), and three who are certified clinical specialists. All faculty members are engaged in clinical practice at some level. The faculty has collectively published in numerous professional and scientific journals and has authored numerous texts and book chapters. The faculty to student ratio is 1:15.
Enrollment
Northern Arizona University has a total student enrollment of 19,900, with a diverse culture, gender, and age. The physical therapy program has a total student enrollment of 78 per class. Both in-state and out-of-state students are eligible to apply to the program.
Admission
Students must have a baccalaureate degree. The prerequisite course work includes 3 semester hours each of statistics, abnormal or developmental psychology, and general psychology; and 1-year lecture with lab each of anatomy and physiology, general chemistry, and physics. In addition, the GRE is required for further consideration. Applications are only accepted from the Physical Therapy Central Application System (PTCAS). The deadline for applications is November 1 of each year. The final stage of the application process is an on-campus interview in early March. Successful candidates are then selected from those who were interviewed and notified of their acceptance by mid-March. The academic profile of the current class is 3.55 (GPA), 152 (Quantitative), 155 (Verbal), and 4.2 (Analytic Writing).
Outcomes
The graduation rate (3-year average) for those students admitted to the program is 91.7%. The percentage of graduates who find employment within 6 months of passing the licensure examination is 100%. The percentage of graduates who pass the licensure examination for the past 3 years is 98%.
Tuition, fees and financial aid
Tuition for the 2012-2013 academic year is estimated at $8,054 per year for in-state students and $18,828 per year for out-of-state students. Additional fees are estimated to be $3,194 per year (includes books). Financial aid information is available through the Office of Financial Aid at Northern Arizona University. The Office of Financial Aid publishes an informational booklet describing various financial aid opportunities each year. Private sources through the Department of Physical Therapy are identified to the students as the sources become available.
Student life
The Flagstaff program admits 48 students each year and is located in Flagstaff, Arizona. This mountain campus is located at 7,000 feet adjacent to the San Francisco Peaks and enjoys a four-season climate and is known for its quality of life, superb beauty and wide variety of outdoor and cultural activities. Dormitories as well as off-campus housing are available on the Flagstaff campus. Intercollegiate athletic programs include a wide variety of men’s and women’s sports such as track and cross-country, basketball, volleyball, swimming, and football. The Phoenix program admits 30 students each year and is located in the heart of a large metropolitan city. This urban campus does not have dormitories, but off-campus housing is plentiful within commuting distance. The Phoenix campus enjoys a desert climate and is in close proximity to a wide variety of sporting, entertainment and cultural activities.