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

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.

College Factual reviewed 18 schools in Pennsylvania to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of physical therapy/therapist. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,054 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 take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different 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 full 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania

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

10 Top Pennsylvania Schools for a Doctorate in Physical Therapy

1

Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

48 Annual Graduates

Thomas Jefferson University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Thomas Jefferson University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Thomas Jefferson University

2

Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

38 Annual Graduates

Duquesne University is a great option for students pursuing a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Duquesne is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Duquesne University

3

Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

62 Annual Graduates

Drexel University is a great choice for students interested in a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Drexel is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Drexel University

4

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus
Pittsburgh, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

57 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Pitt is a very large public university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

5

Temple University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

57 Annual Graduates

Temple is a very large public university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Temple University

6

University of Scranton
Scranton, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

40 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Scranton, University of Scranton is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from University of Scranton

7

Saint Joseph's University
Philadelphia, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

71 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Philadelphia, St. Joe's is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Saint Joseph’s University

8

Arcadia University
Glenside, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

213 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Glenside, Arcadia is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Arcadia University

9

Gannon University
Erie, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

70 Annual Graduates

Gannon is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Erie.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Gannon University

10

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock, PA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

50 Annual Graduates

Located in the distant town of Slippery Rock, SRU is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
New York	366	1,275
Maryland	190	91
New Jersey	165	176
District of Columbia	143	72
Delaware	63	57

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	341
Rehabilitation Science	18
Other Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	3
Music Therapy	2

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.