2025 Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Doctor's Degree Schools in Michigan

If you pursue a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #4 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Doctor's Degree Schools in Michigan ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 332 doctor's degrees in physical therapy/therapist during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

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

The physical therapy doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality physical therapy program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on physical therapy/therapist students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other physical therapy/therapist students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Doctor's Degree Schools in Michigan ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Physical Therapy/Therapist in Michigan

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist.

Top Michigan Schools for a Doctorate in Physical Therapy

1

Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

30 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist needs to check out Western Michigan University. WMU is a large public university located in the city of Kalamazoo.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Western Michigan University

2

Andrews University
Berrien Springs, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

46 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist needs to take a look at Andrews University. Andrews is a small private not-for-profit university located in the fringe town of Berrien Springs.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Andrews University

3

Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

60 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist has to look into Grand Valley State University. GVSU is a fairly large public university located in the town of Allendale.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Grand Valley State University

4

Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

58 Annual Graduates

Central Michigan University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Located in the town of Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Central Michigan University

5

Wayne State University
Detroit, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

41 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Detroit, Wayne State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Wayne State University

6

Oakland University
Rochester Hills, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

35 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Rochester Hills, Oakland is a public university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Oakland University

7

University of Michigan - Flint
Flint, MI

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

62 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Flint, UM Flint is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from University of Michigan - Flint

Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

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

View All Rankings >

Physical Therapy/Therapist Related Rankings by Major

One of 16 majors within the Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions area of study, Physical Therapy/Therapist has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Occupational Therapy	83
Other Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	1

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.