Physical Therapy Assistant Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Physical Therapy Assistant maps to BLS occupations averaging about $98,162, with roughly 488,460 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $4,718; common paths include Physical Therapist Assistants and Physical Therapist Aides.
Key Statistics
Physical Therapy Assistant: what the data shows
Common questions about physical therapy assistant degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a physical therapy assistant degree?
A Physical Therapy Assistant program is classified under NCES CIP 51.0806 in the Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services field family (51.08).
A program that prepares individuals, under the supervision of a physical therapist, to implement physical therapy treatment care plans, train patients, conduct treatment interventions, use equipment, and observe and record patient progress. Includes instruction in applied anatomy and physiology, behavioral sciences, biomechanics, clinical documentation, clinical pathology, communication, exercise physiology, kinesiology, neuroscience, and professional standards and ethics
IPEDS counted 77 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of physical therapy assistant degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 51.08 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Anesthesiologist Assistant (CIP 51.0809)
- Chiropractic Technician/Assistant (CIP 51.0813)
- Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant (CIP 51.0802)
- Emergency Care Attendant (EMT Ambulance) (CIP 51.0810)
- Lactation Consultant (CIP 51.0815)
- Medical/Clinical Assistant (CIP 51.0801)
- Occupational Therapist Assistant (CIP 51.0803)
- Pathology/Pathologist Assistant (CIP 51.0811)
- Pharmacy Technician/Assistant (CIP 51.0805)
- Radiologist Assistant (CIP 51.0814)
- Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant (CIP 51.0812)
- Speech-Language Pathology Assistant (CIP 51.0816)
How long does it take to get a physical therapy assistant degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.0806 in our file:
- 5,247 Associate (98.6% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 77 Bachelor's (1.4% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Physical Therapist Assistants (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a physical therapy assistant degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Physical Therapy Assistant to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Therapist Assistants | 108,010 | $65,510 |
| Physical Therapist Aides | 44,010 | $34,520 |
| Physical Therapists | 248,630 | $101,020 |
| Occupational Therapy Assistants | 47,910 | $68,340 |
| Occupational Therapy Aides | 5,000 | $37,370 |
| Psychiatric Aides | 34,900 | $41,590 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a physical therapy assistant degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services bachelor's program family: median debt $32,031, median earnings $68,559 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.97.
About 4.5% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $4,718 and median net price is $11,972.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Physical Therapy Assistant and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$4,718 Median In-State Public
$16,346 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Physical Therapy Assistant majors are, on average, $4,718 for in-state public colleges, and $16,346 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Physical Therapy Assistant programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Physical Therapy Assistant from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Physical Therapy Assistant.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 3 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 4 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 5 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Physical Therapy Assistant programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
| 2 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 3 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 4 | Lake Tahoe Community College | CA | $1,131 |
| 5 | Lake Tahoe Community College | CA | $1,131 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Physical Therapy Assistant programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 3 | Infinity College | LA | $230 |
| 4 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 5 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Physical Therapy Assistant programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Physical Therapy Assistant programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Physical Therapy Assistant is in AZ (45 completions). That state represents about 58.4% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is AZ (0.03% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| AZ | 45 | 58.4% | 0.03% |
| MN | 8 | 10.4% | 0.01% |
| NE | 8 | 10.4% | 0.03% |
| TN | 8 | 10.4% | 0.01% |
| MI | 4 | 5.2% | 0.00% |
| FL | 3 | 3.9% | 0.00% |
| PA | 1 | 1.3% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 51.08 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Anesthesiologist Assistant CIP 51.0809
- Chiropractic Technician/Assistant CIP 51.0813
- Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant CIP 51.0802
- Emergency Care Attendant (EMT Ambulance) CIP 51.0810
- Lactation Consultant CIP 51.0815
- Medical/Clinical Assistant CIP 51.0801
- Occupational Therapist Assistant CIP 51.0803
- Pathology/Pathologist Assistant CIP 51.0811
- Pharmacy Technician/Assistant CIP 51.0805
- Radiologist Assistant CIP 51.0814
- Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant CIP 51.0812
- Speech-Language Pathology Assistant CIP 51.0816
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 51.0806 in the survey year used in our extract (5,324 total across levels below).
- 5,247 Associate (98.6% of IPEDS total)
- 77 Bachelor's (1.4% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $98,162. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Physical Therapy Assistant graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Therapist Assistants | $85,555 | 108,010 |
| Physical Therapist Aides | $40,345 | 44,010 |
| Physical Therapists | $124,258 | 248,630 |
| Occupational Therapy Assistants | $83,755 | 47,910 |
| Occupational Therapy Aides | $44,140 | 5,000 |
| Psychiatric Aides | $51,699 | 34,900 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services CIP family (6 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Physical Therapy Assistant graduate.
- $32,031 median federal loan debt among completers
- $68,559 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.97 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 4.5% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$98,162 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Physical Therapy Assistant majors is $98,162.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Physical Therapy Assistant majors.
Occupations by Share
488,460 2023 Workforce
The number of Physical Therapy Assistant graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Physical Therapy Assistant by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Physical Therapy Assistant in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Physical Therapy Assistant.
Age distribution for Physical Therapy Assistant degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
77 Total Degrees Awarded
29 Male (37.66%)
48 Female (62.34%)
Gender distribution of Physical Therapy Assistant degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
45 White (58.44%)
11 Hispanic or Latino (14.29%)
6 Black or African American (7.79%)
4 Asian (5.19%)
3 Two or More Races (3.90%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Physical Therapy Assistant degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Physical Therapy Assistant are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Physical Therapy Assistant.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Physical Therapy Assistant field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Physical Therapy Assistant majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Physical Therapy Assistant majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Physical Therapy Assistant majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals, under the supervision of a physical therapist, to implement physical therapy treatment care plans, train patients, conduct treatment interventions, use equipment, and observe and record patient progress. Includes instruction in applied anatomy and physiology, behavioral sciences, biomechanics, clinical documentation, clinical pathology, communication, exercise physiology, kinesiology, neuroscience, and professional standards and ethics
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Physical Therapy Assistant.
CIP Code
51.0806 - Physical Therapy Assistant
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $32,031 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $68,559, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.97. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Physical Therapy Assistant graduate.
Women earned 62.6% of 5,633 Physical Therapy Assistant completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $98,162. The largest mapped role by headcount is Physical Therapist Assistants (108,010 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,718 in-state at public colleges and $16,346 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.