Setting a Realistic Tuition for Physical Therapist Education Programs Based on Expected Income: A Survey of Physical Therapy Directors

Journal of Physical Therapy Education, Fall 2004 by Redman-Bentley, Donna

Salary and Benefit Information

The survey findings show very little difference in starting salaries between physical therapists with a master's degree and those with a doctoral degree. Additional comments (n=22) made by survey respondents confirm that some clinical facilities (n=10) currently do not, nor plan to, differentiate between DPTs and MPTs with regard to compensation. Two respondents indicated they would not hire DPT graduates and one was not impressed with the DPT graduates he or she interviewed. One respondent stated there was no benefit to hiring a DPT graduate over a BSPT or MPT because reimbursement was the same for all. Several others reported that they would hire the graduate who could perform the best regardless of degree level. The impact of the DPT on the physical therapy profession is yet unknown. Some of the comments reflect the current state of ambiguity with regard to acknowledgement of the DPT degree with the profession.

Other comments were related to salaries and tuition. One respondent stated, "When interviewing recent grads for positions at our sites we have found thai they feel we can't pay enough for them to repay student loans and meet the rest of their bills/living expenses. . . . It's disappointing that new grads need to choose jobs based on salary vs the area they would like to work in due to financial constraints." Another respondent revealed that they had no clue as to the cost of a professional DPT program.

The annual starting salary for new graduates is shown in Table 3. Differences are indicated between graduates of professional master's and doctoral level programs as well as for urban and rural settings. Overall, the mean annual salary for graduates of doctoral professional programs is less than $500 more than graduates of master's programs. The difference in median salaries is generally less than $100. Graduates of both types of programs tend to earn higher salaries in rural settings.

The survey asked what types of employment benefits were offered and provided a list of options with which to respond, as well as an "other, describe" option to allow respondents to list something not included among the options. The findings show that nearly all (>90%) of the respondents offer medical benefits, paid vacation and sick leave, and some form of retirement plan. Over 80% of the respondents offer dental and paid continuing education. Ten to thirteen percent of the facilities provide sign-on bonuses of various amounts. Table 4 reveals the benefits provided by all facilities as well as the differences between urban and rural settings. Tables S and 6 provide an idea of average annual and maximum salaries for physical therapists by primary clinical facility function. As mentioned previously, most responses were from outpatient and acute care facilities. The average and maximum annual salary per facility is based on all physical therapists whose primary role is patient care, ie, does not include administrators.

The maximum salary for physical therapists with primarily patient care responsibilities by geographic setting is presented in Table 7. A few respondents (n=3) expressed confusion over this survey question, specifically they indicated it was redundant to the survey question that asked for the salary cap amount. If using this survey in the future, "maximum salary" should be defined to avoid confusion.