General Program Description

The PTA program is composed of 27 credit hours of general education and 47 credit hours of core PTA courses. There are two program options for students. One program includes all general education courses and PTA coursework throughout the 80 weeks of the program. The other program option is for the those students who have met general education and additional admission requirements and take more PTA courses per semester to finish in 4 semesters. Students in each program option begin during the fall semester of each academic year. Two full-time and three part-time faculty members teach major courses in the program. In addition, many local clinicians are recruited to teach in his or her respective area of expertise. Students graduate after their last clinical rotation either in August or December, depending on which program option the student is in.

Clinical Experiences
Prior to participating in formal clinical experiences, students are exposed to clinical settings in the first and second semester. Students participate in four separate full time clinical experiences in a variety of settings including acute care, outpatient, orthopedic, geriatric, pediatric, sports medicine, and sub-acute facilities. The first clinical rotation is 1 week and runs concurrently with didactic course work. The second clinical experience is 3 weeks and the third and fourth clinical rotations run 5 and 6 weeks respectively. The location of clinical sites is predominantly in the Midwest; however, approximately 15% are located in other states throughout the country.

Faculty
There are four full-time and 2 part-time faculty members. Three of the faculty members are Physical Therapists and three of the faculty members are Physical Therapist Assistants. The faculty to student ratio is 1:24 for theory courses and 1:12 for lab courses.

Enrollment
The total enrollment at the college is approximately 1200 students. The physical therapist assistant program accepts up to 24 students annually for each program.

Admission
Individuals applying to the PTA program must have graduated from an accredited high school with at minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 and have obtained a composite score of 20 or above on the ACT or an 850 or above on the SAT. Students are also required to have completed 3 years of high school English, 2 years each of high school algebra, science, and social science. College transfer students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 for all college courses completed. Additional admissions criteria apply to students seeking entrance into the PTA program depending on program option. These criteria may be obtained by directly contacting the Admissions Office or through the institution’s Internet web site (www.clarksoncollege.edu) . Applicants are accepted on February 1 and April 1 of every year, and prospective students are notified of acceptance within 6-8 weeks following the completion and review of the application. 80% of qualified applicants are admitted to the program (3-year average).

Outcomes
Please review our program outcomes at: http://www.clarksoncollege.edu/default/assets/File/PTAProgramOutcomes.pdf

Tuition, fees and financial aid
Estimated tuition for the 2013-214 academic year is $447 per credit hour. A separate lab fee of $30 per lab course is also assessed. Average book costs range from $100-120 per semester. Students residing on-campus pay an average of $2,200 per semester for a suite with private bedroom, and shared kitchen and two baths. Approximately 95% of the students at Clarkson College receive financial assistance consisting of scholarships, grants, loans, and part-time employment through federal work-study. Merit-based scholarships are also awarded based solely on academic achievement.

Student life
Clarkson College opened a state of the art Student Village with apartment style accommodations and a student life center in 2005. Students have opportunities to enjoy many cultural, athletic and social events on the college campus as well as in the Omaha community. An on-campus Success center offers resources for student success such as time management, test anxiety and stress reduction, writing labs, and job postings. A weekly newsletter called “Clarkson College Connection” is continually updated to include information regarding student activities.