2025 Best Physical Therapy Assistant Associate Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

Physical Therapy Assistant is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #17 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 28 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to determine which ones were the best for physical therapy assistant students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 580 associate degrees in physical therapy assistant during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Physical Therapy Assistant School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of physical therapy assistant for getting your associate degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on physical therapy assistant students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of physical therapy assistant students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized physical therapy assistant related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for physical therapy assistant students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Physical Therapy Assistant Associate Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Physical Therapy Assistant in the Middle Atlantic Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in physical therapy assistant.

10 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for an Associate in Physical Therapy Assistant

1

Delaware Technical Community College - Terry
Dover, DE

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

13 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in an associate degree in physical therapy assistant needs to take a look at Delaware Technical Community College - Terry. Delaware Tech is a large public college located in the city of Dover.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Delaware Technical Community College - Terry

2

Harcum College
Bryn Mawr, PA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

23 Annual Graduates

Harcum College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in physical therapy assistant. Located in the large suburb of Bryn Mawr, Harcum College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Harcum College

3

Central Penn College
Summerdale, PA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

35 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Central Penn College if you want to pursue an associate degree in physical therapy assistant. Central Penn is a small private for-profit college located in the large suburb of Summerdale.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Central Penn College

4

Essex County College
Newark, NJ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

23 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in an associate degree in physical therapy assistant has to look into Essex County College. Located in the large city of Newark, Essex is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Essex County College

5

Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, MD

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Arnold, AACC is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Anne Arundel Community College

6

Nassau Community College
Garden City, NY

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

24 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Garden City, Nassau Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Nassau Community College

7

Union County College
Cranford, NJ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

19 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Cranford, Union County College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Union County College

8

Pennsylvania Institute of Technology
Media, PA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Media, Pennsylvania Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Pennsylvania Institute of Technology

9

LaGuardia Community College
Long Island City, NY

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

35 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Long Island City, LaGuardia is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from LaGuardia Community College

10

Community College of Allegheny County
Pittsburgh, PA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

15 Annual Graduates

CCAC is a large public college located in the large city of Pittsburgh.More information about a associate in physical therapy assistant from Community College of Allegheny County

Best Physical Therapy Assistant Colleges by State

Explore the best physical therapy assistant colleges for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	429	303
Pennsylvania	379	343
New Jersey	249	84
Maryland	221	150
Delaware	96	25

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Physical Therapy Assistant

One of 14 majors within the Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services area of study, Physical Therapy Assistant has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Majors Related to Physical Therapy Assistant

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Medical/Clinical Assistant	880
Occupational Therapist Assistant	440
Other Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services	90
Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant	74
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant	11
Anesthesiologist Assistant	10

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.