General Program Description

The technical preparation phase of the program is conducted during the day and on evenings, and consists of four academic quarters of lecture and laboratory courses. An additional two quarters are spent in full-time clinical experiences. The academic program is taught by a faculty of four full-time members and three adjunct faculty members. All adjunct faculty are practicing clinicians who teach in their specialty area.

Clinical Experiences
Terminal clinical experiences are conducted full-time during the last two quarters of the Technical Phase. They consist of a 7-week experience and a 9-week experience. Each clinical externship is followed by return to campus for integration of clinical experiences with didactic materials and opportunity to correct any deficiencies identified in the assessment of the student’s performance in the clinics. Externships are chosen from 135 hospitals, nursing homes, sub-acute facilities, and outpatient centers with whom the program has entered into clinical agreements.

Faculty
There are four full-time and three part-time faculty members. Of the full-time faculty three hold the post-professional doctoral degree; one has a post-professional masters degree. The faculty to student ratio is 1:16.

Enrollment
South University is a private 4-year institution with its main campus in Savannah, Georgia. The physical therapist assisting program at the West Palm Beach, Florida, campus is accredited by the Commission on Accrediatation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone: 703-706-3245; email: [email protected]; website: http://www.capteonline.org. The program is designed to enroll a maximum of 42 students in each of two classes of professional preparation started during each academic year.

Admission
To be admitted to any of the programs at South University, the prospective student must be a high school graduate or the equivalent (e.g. GED) and submit a minimum combined SAT I score of 830, a combined ACT score of 17, or a satisfactory score on the university-administered admissions examination or meet the criteria established for acceptance as a transfer student. South University. South University accepts the International Baccalaureate Program diploma as meeting the requirements for high school graduation. Applicants not meeting the testing standards for general admission can be accepted under academic support admission by submitting a minimum combined SAT I score of 660, a combined ACT score of 14, or a satisfactory score on the university-administered admission examination. Admission to the technical education phase requires a minimum GPA of 2.85 in all general education courses, including a minimum final grade of B in the Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology courses. Please refer to the catalog for details.

Outcomes
82% of West Palm Beach campus’ admitted students graduate from the program and 92% of graduates who take the licensing examination achieve passing scores. Of these, 84% are currently employed in physical therapy (3-year average).

Tuition, fees and financial aid
For the 2013-14 school year, tuition is $5,395.00 per quarter. Books, registration fees, and other expenses are approximately $2,162 per year. The majority of students in the PTA program receive financial assistance coordinated through the university’s Financial Aid Office. Each year the university awards one full-tuition and one half-tuition scholarship to high school students who have demonstrated outstanding achievement. Applications are available from the South University Admissions Office.

Student life
Contact the university for information regarding activities and facilities available to students.