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

Physical Therapy/Therapist is of the hottest doctor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #4 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 6 schools in Missouri to determine which ones were the best for physical therapy/therapist students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 551 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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 colleges for physical therapy/therapist students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Physical Therapy/Therapist Schools

The physical therapy school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Doctor's Degree Schools in Missouri.

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

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for physical therapy/therapist students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Missouri Schools for a Doctorate in Physical Therapy

1

Saint Louis University
Saint Louis, MO

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

84 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Saint Louis University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. SLU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Saint Louis.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Saint Louis University

2

Rockhurst University
Kansas City, MO

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

48 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Rockhurst University if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Rockhurst is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Kansas City.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Rockhurst University

3

University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

61 Annual Graduates

University of Missouri - Columbia is a wonderful option for students interested in a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Mizzou is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from University of Missouri - Columbia

4

Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

37 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Maryville University of Saint Louis if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in physical therapy/therapist. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, Maryville U is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Maryville University of Saint Louis

5

Missouri State University - Springfield
Springfield, MO

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

36 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Missouri State University - Springfield

6

Southwest Baptist University
Bolivar, MO

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

71 Annual Graduates

Southwest Baptist University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Bolivar.More information about a doctorate in physical therapy/therapist from Southwest Baptist University

Best Physical Therapy/Therapist Colleges in the Plains States Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Minnesota	199	307
Iowa	177	190
Kansas	134	144
Nebraska	99	140
North Dakota	88	129
South Dakota	57	30

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.

Most Popular Majors Related to Physical Therapy

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Occupational Therapy	18
Rehabilitation Science	4

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.