2025 Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Ranked #4 in popularity, physical therapy/therapist is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 33 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,669 doctor's degrees in physical therapy/therapist during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Physical Therapy/Therapist School for Your Doctor's Degree

Your choice of physical therapy/therapist for getting your doctor's 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 doctor's 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 for a Doctor's Degree 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 many resources a school devotes to physical therapy/therapist students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of physical therapy/therapist students who choose to seek a doctor's 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/therapist related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for physical therapy/therapist students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Physical Therapy/Therapist Schools

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/Therapist Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Physical Therapy/Therapist in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Doctorate in Physical Therapy

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

94 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Northwestern University

2

University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

40 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist has to look into University of Wisconsin - Madison. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from University of Wisconsin - Madison

3

Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

65 Annual Graduates

Marquette University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Marquette University

4

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

43 Annual Graduates

Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis is a great decision for individuals interested in a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Located in the large city of Indianapolis, IUPUI is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis

5

Ohio State University - Main Campus
Columbus, OH

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

49 Annual Graduates

Ohio State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Columbus.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Ohio State University - Main Campus

6

Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

30 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Western Michigan University

7

Concordia University, Wisconsin
Mequon, WI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

24 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Mequon, Concordia University, Wisconsin is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Concordia University, Wisconsin

8

University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

62 Annual Graduates

UIC is a very large public university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from University of Illinois at Chicago

9

University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
La Crosse, WI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

42 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of La Crosse, UW - La Crosse is a public university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from University of Wisconsin - La Crosse

10

University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

45 Annual Graduates

UIndy is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Indianapolis.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from University of Indianapolis

Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Colleges by State

Explore the best physical therapy/therapist colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Illinois	273	305
Michigan	257	314
Ohio	253	413
Indiana	202	194
Wisconsin	163	274

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Physical Therapy

Physical Therapy/Therapist is one of 16 different types of Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Physical Therapy

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Occupational Therapy	541
Rehabilitation Science	7
Other Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	4
Art Therapy	3
Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling	3

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Barbara E. Carver. More about our data sources and methodologies.