I'm not the only one that thinks PT school is too damn expensive!

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It really is outrageous when you think about it! The monetary incentive, at this point in time, just does not make sense AT ALL!! That is, unless you could find a cheap school where your total tuition is 50K or less and the cost of living is dirt cheap! Half way through my first year, and I still have a myriad of questions about where the profession is headed.

The didactic biomedical science coursework has been amazing and very interesting from a clinical standpoint. Many PT clinical tests, measures, and interventions leave much to be desired from an evidence standpoint! I hear a clinic professor or CI say oh we probably won't even be using X intervention in a few years, and I am like 😕! I also hear, we hardly ever get reimbursed for Y intervention and I'm like 😱 Oh, so that's why we spent countless hours learning it? So we don't have to use it or get paid for it by the time I graduate. SMH!
 
Does the DPT warrant the debt? Meaning prior to DPT, most programs were two years long. One year less of debt would mean a lot financially. Yes, it is wonderful to say that we will graduate with a doctorate, but we are also taking on a lot of debt. I always consider the debt to income ratio and does this make any sense???
 
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I think it's crazy too, but on the brighter side, the schools here in Texas are not only very good schools, but they are also very cheap. I don't think one school in Texas costs more than 50 grand. The one I'm going to costs 30 grand total! This does not take into account cost of living of course, but it's still much better than some of the schools I've seen.
 
maxblink said:
Ha. I agree with all of you.

It is insane, the school's are all laughing straight to the bank.

Will it ever be fixed? Probably not... Many of the pre-PT students in my area that have good stats are strangely well-off financially. Meaning, they will probably be getting a lot of help from their parents and not have to worry.

Thus, there will always be a market for PT school and someone willing to pay, so I have no idea what we can all do to change it. 🙁

Perhaps we could form an Army of new grads and have them ALL demand higher salary simultaneously, so the PT clinic owners will get involved and get angry at the APTA and raise reimbursements. This would have to be be a concerted effort though, and everyone would have to boycott salaries below $68k for it to work.
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Reimbirsement does impact the salary a PT can demand, but the APTA has no direct control over what a particular PT intervention is reimbursed. So, angst toward the APTA may not help much. And, I think it is a bit unrealistic to boycott a job that pays $68,000. You've got a whole lot of PT students coming out of school with considerable debt, and will need a job, and can't always be that picky waiting for the one in the right setting with the right salary.

I'm sure you were being a bit tounge in cheek with your idea, but it's far better to be a wise consumer of your PT school on the front end than to try to negotiate for a salary that is out of the ordinary for a new grad on the back end.
 
maxblink said:
Ha. I agree with all of you.


Will it ever be fixed? Probably not... Many of the pre-PT students in my area that have good stats are strangely well-off financially. Meaning, they will probably be getting a lot of help from their parents and not have to worry.
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My family is well-off and is providing significant financial help. I also suspect that many other applicants are receiving help too. If I weren't receiving help, I'd apply to the public schools in my state (VA), and if I were rejected, I'd become a PTA. I don't want to ignite another PT vs. PTA argument, but being a PTA isn't a bad job and it's far more affordable to go to PTA school than PT school.

Kevin
 
maxblink said:
Many of the pre-PT students in my area that have good stats are strangely well-off financially. Meaning, they will probably be getting a lot of help from their parents and not have to worry.
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Not me. They took care of college. I'm on my own now.
 
Scholarships for undergrad.....thank God. Grad school.....folks are comfortable, Mom retired, Dad soon to be...expect I'll get some grad school help from parents for rent. Hopefully they stay healthy..But will still be way in debt to Uncle Sam in 3 years-w/ the private school acceptance. Still hoping to get accepted to State school.
 
The money is hard to deal with. Last semester I paid $1000 down on my loan and then struggled for 3 months with month-to-month costs. Haha. Trying to decide if I should save my unemployment for when it runs out (I don't think I'll be able to get enough extensions to get me the whole way through school) or pay on my loan now, when there's no interest and I"m paying directly on principle.

Any thoughts?
 
Why are you paying on your loans while in school when you don't have enough money to get through day-to-day expenses? You should pay loans when you finish the program.
 
the reason school costs keep sky rocketing is quite simple: the government. the government continues to loan out easy money to students who have no idea what they are doing. students can take out as much money as they want to, to fund these educational costs and costs of living. as a result, schools can basically charge whatever they want. if people were forced to take loans out through private banks or have to pay up front, students would likely think twice before going this route.
 
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MuscleHead said:
the reason school costs keep sky rocketing is quite simple: the government. the government continues to loan out easy money to students who have no idea what they are doing. students can take out as much money as they want to, to fund these educational costs and costs of living. as a result, schools can basically charge whatever they want. if people were forced to take loans out through private banks or have to pay up front, students would likely think twice before going this route.
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Ah, the evil government trope. Well, I think that you're half-right for pointing a finger at the monolithic "the government." It has more to do with slashing state education appropriations, which forces schools to raise tuition and fees.

Suggesting that the existence of federal government loans for higher education is solely at fault for rising tuition costs is wrong.

MuscleHead said:
students can take out as much money as they want to, to fund these educational costs and costs of living.
Click to expand...

No, there are annual and aggregate limits to the amount of loans students can take out. Keep in mind that the Dept. of Ed. factors student income and assets into the eligible loan amount. So the "average" student likely isn't hitting those loan ceilings.

http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp

MuscleHead said:
if people were forced to take loans out through private banks or have to pay up front, students would likely think twice before going this route.
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This is an unnecessary, bad idea. Unless you're speaking specifically about the PT route, why would you want to limit educational access for those willing to put the work in? Those with a bachelor's degree in this country are in the minority, and those with an advanced degree represent an even smaller piece of that pie.

Additionally, private lending institutions have less friendly terms (interest rates are higher, less deferment, etc.). Yes, it would probably discourage those interested in externally funding their education. But, again, why would you want to do that? Correct me if I'm wrong but there isn't a national pandemic of grad. students defaulting on their federal education loans.

It's important for us to be aware of macro-level education initiatives. And if you are compelled, speak with your state and federal representatives about the decreased funding of education.

Blaming "the government" for the availability of students loans for its citizens is needlessly inflammatory and spreads misinformation.
 
ptdpt said:
Why are you paying on your loans while in school when you don't have enough money to get through day-to-day expenses? You should pay loans when you finish the program.
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I really only struggled because it was the holidays; and I never didn't have enough money to pay for groceries/gas in my car/etc... It was more as in struggling with not having enough spending cash. The reason why I wanted to pay on it, was because now that is $1000 less that I have to pay on it when I'm done and with zero interest.

I'm more or less worried about the amount I'm going to pay on interest when I'm done with school and would like to leave with the least amount of debt as possible, as most people do.
 
I am wondering how you are able to claim unemployment when you are a full-time student. I had heard you could not be on it as a student. Can you clarify this for me?
 
I agree that cost of education seems outrageous for many (most?) PT programs. I made cost of attendance a major factor in my decision for which school to attend, and I doubt I'll regret that decision. My second choice school would have easily cost me $40-50k more! Insane!!

How are such wild cost differences justified when the end results/products are physical therapists with more or less equal skills/knowledge?
 
thekman said:
Ah, the evil government trope. Well, I think that you're half-right for pointing a finger at the monolithic "the government." It has more to do with slashing state education appropriations, which forces schools to raise tuition and fees.

Suggesting that the existence of federal government loans for higher education is solely at fault for rising tuition costs is wrong.



No, there are annual and aggregate limits to the amount of loans students can take out. Keep in mind that the Dept. of Ed. factors student income and assets into the eligible loan amount. So the "average" student likely isn't hitting those loan ceilings.

http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp



This is an unnecessary, bad idea. Unless you're speaking specifically about the PT route, why would you want to limit educational access for those willing to put the work in? Those with a bachelor's degree in this country are in the minority, and those with an advanced degree represent an even smaller piece of that pie.

Additionally, private lending institutions have less friendly terms (interest rates are higher, less deferment, etc.). Yes, it would probably discourage those interested in externally funding their education. But, again, why would you want to do that? Correct me if I'm wrong but there isn't a national pandemic of grad. students defaulting on their federal education loans.

It's important for us to be aware of macro-level education initiatives. And if you are compelled, speak with your state and federal representatives about the decreased funding of education.

Blaming "the government" for the availability of students loans for its citizens is needlessly inflammatory and spreads misinformation.
Click to expand...
this boils down to difference in philosophy. but i definitely expect a new wave in grad student loans defaults. the cost of PT school is absurd. and we barely make more than nurses, who can get their degree at a community college in 2 years. everyone keeps saying PT students are coming out with an average of $70k, which is absurd. most of these programs cost $30k a year plus living expenses, plus undergrad. we're moving into a new era where it makes more sense to become a plumber than to pursue a professional degree.

the availability of student loans is just too great. it directly inflates the cost of education. if people were forced to pay cash, none of these schools would get away with these outrageous tuition costs. im not saying we'd be better off with less availability, but the costs will continue to skyrocket as long as schools can continue to charge whatever they want.
 
maxblink said:
MuscleHead is correct. Government interference played a giant role in the skyrocketing tuition increases across the board. Both Federal and State governments are to blame.

For Physical Therapy specifically I believe the issue is more complex however.

The first problem is NOT the tuition as it is pretty normal compared to other professional degree programs. MD, Optometrists, and Pharmacy students pay about the same amount as us. The problem lies in the salary which is kept down by the insurance companies'reimbursement rates.

Their reimbursement rates were fine WHEN the physical therapy was a bachelor's degree and even a master's. The APTA mandated the DPT which adds more schooling and gets paid the same by insurance companies.

This is the real problem.

The solution will come when there are NO MORE masters degree holders are competing with DPT degrees. If one guesstimates the DPT switched over about 10 years ago, then this means it will take about 20 MORE years for the Physical Therapy market to make more sense. (This is assuming one's career length is roughly 30 years). Then the salaries for PT's will go from average of 60k to a more respectable 75k I predict. Which is FAIR considering Physical Therapists need 7 years of school.

What we are facing is UNPRECEDENTED. No other career requiring 7 years of school, and TWO standardized tests is rewarded so little. Possibly Audiologists who have far lower base salary, but often that is deceiving as they make A LOT of money off of sales.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. This is the problem when the degree went from Master's to DPT. The salary doesn't match the cost of education.
 
MuscleHead said:
this boils down to difference in philosophy.
Click to expand...

Except I referenced actual things like federal student loan limits while you're offering conjecture based on opinion.

MuscleHead said:
but i definitely expect a new wave in grad student loans defaults.
Click to expand...

Do you have any basis for this expectation?

MuscleHead said:
the cost of PT school is absurd. and we barely make more than nurses, who can get their degree at a community college in 2 years. everyone keeps saying PT students are coming out with an average of $70k, which is absurd. most of these programs cost $30k a year plus living expenses, plus undergrad. we're moving into a new era where it makes more sense to become a plumber than to pursue a professional degree.
Click to expand...

No one is challenging the fact that PT school is expensive. It is a financial issue that everyone on this board must deal with. I will add that it has always made more sense to be a plumber (or another type of tradesman); they make a great living with very little upfront costs.

MuscleHead said:
the availability of student loans is just too great. it directly inflates the cost of education. if people were forced to pay cash, none of these schools would get away with these outrageous tuition costs. im not saying we'd be better off with less availability, but the costs will continue to skyrocket as long as schools can continue to charge whatever they want.
Click to expand...

Your student loan theory is what I have an issue with, because it is not a cause of increasing educational costs. An excerpt from "Trends in College Spending 1999-2009"...

"The analysis shows that, in 2009, except for private research institutions, tuitions were increasing almost exclusively to replace losses from state revenues or other private revenue sources. In public institutions, education is subsidized by state taxpayers; in private non-profit institutions, by tax-exempt resources such as private gifts, grants and endowments. [Subsidies] can vary dramatically by state and across different types of institutions within states, depending on policies adopted by the states. In the economic downturn of 2009, all institutions clearly were relying more heavily on student tuitions to maintain or increase spending levels."

http://www.deltacostproject.org/resources/pdf/Trends2011_Final_090711.pdf

Let me be even clearer, so what I'm saying isn't written off as a "philosophy difference." As the analysis points out, TUITIONS INCREASE BECAUSE OF DECREASED EDUCATION SUBSIDIES.
 
thekman,
Student income and assets are not a factor in eligibility for Stafford loans, subsidized or unsubsidized. The EFC (estimated family contribution) does not factor in how much you can borrow in Stafford loans, but that information does factor in to financial aid.

I personally believe, from what I have seen,that there are more and more students maxing out the annual borrowing limits of Stafford loans. Since the economic crisis, more people are going back to school and borrowing as much as allowed to support themselves monetarily due to unemployment or under-employment. The good new is: they are getting an education that will hopefully lead to gainful employment. The downside is that many of these jobs will pay less than what these students borrowed. So, it is a likely scenario that there will be quite a bit more student loan defaults in the next decade. This will be especially true for those that are under-employed and do not graduate in the traditional 4 years because they will max out their Stafford loans The aggregate will max out at 4 years and they will still have 1-2 more years of schooling left before obtaining their degree. If they don't finish their degree, it is likely they will have difficultly paying back these student loans while they are still experiencing the same economic hardship that drove them to go back to school.

With the high cost of PT school, and my private undergrad education, my total student loan amount will be more than my current house cost, at twice the interest rate, and over a shorter repayment period. Wow! With that statement, I may have just talked myself out of attending PT school. Scary.

If, as you say, government student loans have such a high rate of repayment and low default, then why is it that student loan interest rates are not lower? Why is the interest rate on a home 3.75% (with a high rate of default) and student loan interest rates so high? (I have credit cards with lower interest rates and most savings accounts nowadays pay less than 1/2 %) Maybe that is a question that our elected officials should address. After all, the government originates these loans.
 
I would also like to mention that before the government took over student loans, I never paid an origination fee for my loans, but now I have origination fees at 1-2% of the borrowed amount and it is deducted from the amount disbursed.
 
Hi trichic:

First off, let me again say that my statement was a counterpoint to MuscleHead's assertion that tuition rises solely because of the presence of federal student loans. According to analysis I cited, rising tuition can be attributed to decreased government subsidies.

I'm not interested in getting into a debate about potential loan defaulting. But if you can back up your students maxing out on Stafford loans and defaulting anecdote with evidence, I'd truly be happy to read it. (Truthfully; I'm not being sarcastic).

A few comments on your questions...

trichic said:
thekman,
Student income and assets are not a factor in eligibility for Stafford loans, subsidized or unsubsidized. The EFC (estimated family contribution) does not factor in how much you can borrow in Stafford loans, but that information does factor in to financial aid.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected. However, need factors into Perkins loans, work study limits, grants and even subsidized Stafford loans. You can put a fine point to it, but my statement was in response to MuscleHead's "students can take out as much money as they want to, to fund these educational costs and costs of living." It was meant to point out that there are limits to federal student loans. Maybe I was being too flippant.

trichic said:
If, as you say, government student loans have such a high rate of repayment and low default, then why is it that student loan interest rates are not lower? Why is the interest rate on a home 3.75% (with a high rate of default) and student loan interest rates so high? (I have credit cards with lower interest rates and most savings accounts nowadays pay less than 1/2 %) Maybe that is a question that our elected officials should address. After all, the government originates these loans.
Click to expand...

First of all, I did not explicitly say what the rate of repayment on loans were nor did I say what the rate of default was on them. My rather hyperbolic sentence was, "Correct me if I'm wrong but there isn't a national pandemic of grad. students defaulting on their federal education loans."

Again, this was all in response to MuscleHead's suggestion that relying on cash and private loans (likely with higher interest rates and generally less friendly terms, as I stated above) would help combat rising tuition rates. If we're playing the assumption game, I'd assume that Joe or Jane, DPT, would be less likely to default on a 5% interest federal loan versus a 7.9% interest Fannie Mae loan.
 
Hi kman,

I wasn't trying to attack you. My comment towards stafford loans was really the only comment that was directed towards you. In the past I have not always agreed with MuscleHead, but he was merely stating his opinion on the future of student loans and default. My statement about possible student loan default is also just my opinion. No one can give any evidence; the future hasn't happened yet. I have looked into private and government student loans. Many private loans have lower interest rates, but they are adjustable. Meaning, these rates could go up. The private loans also have less favorable re-payment terms than the government. I am not trying to criticize you, maybe my information is incorrect, but government loans are not 5% for grad students. On the government student aid website, it states the interest rate on a Direct Plus Loan for graduate students is a fixed 7.9%. I do know for a fact that interest rates on a Fannie Mae loan (for someone with good credit) has not been 7.9% for over a decade. That's a fact. Another fact: Current Fannie Mae rates are 3.75%. People default more commonly on their homes because their houses are "under water" and they can be foreclosed upon and file bankruptcy. Government student loans can rarely be discharged by bankruptcy. That's why there is such a difference in default rates.

Sorry everyone to get off of topic. I do think it's important to not only address the rising cost of tuition, but the issues of repaying the student loans. While we are in school, interest accumulates on these loans. The amount owed upon graduation will be more than the amount originally borrowed and that is an important consideration when factoring in cost.
 
maxblink said:
MuscleHead is correct. Government interference played a giant role in the skyrocketing tuition increases across the board. Both Federal and State governments are to blame.

For Physical Therapy specifically I believe the issue is more complex however.

The first problem is NOT the tuition as it is pretty normal compared to other professional degree programs. MD, Optometrists, and Pharmacy students pay about the same amount as us. The problem lies in the salary which is kept down by the insurance companies'reimbursement rates.

Their reimbursement rates were fine WHEN the physical therapy was a bachelor's degree and even a master's. The APTA mandated the DPT which adds more schooling and gets paid the same by insurance companies.

This is the real problem.

The solution will come when there are NO MORE masters degree holders are competing with DPT degrees. If one guesstimates the DPT switched over about 10 years ago, then this means it will take about 20 MORE years for the Physical Therapy market to make more sense. (This is assuming one's career length is roughly 30 years). Then the salaries for PT's will go from average of 60k to a more respectable 75k I predict. Which is FAIR considering Physical Therapists need 7 years of school.

What we are facing is UNPRECEDENTED. No other career requiring 7 years of school, and TWO standardized tests is rewarded so little. Possibly Audiologists who have far lower base salary, but often that is deceiving as they make A LOT of money off of sales.
Click to expand...


Why in the world will this be the solution?

You previously state that the problem is what you perceive as a decreasing gap between recent PT school graduate debt and the starting salary that is impacted primaroly by reimbursement. How does the retirement of clinicians who have degrees other than the DPT (which will not change the amount of debt that the typical recent graduate has to incur to get a PT degree) change reimbursement?
 
What I don't understand is the complete lack of scholarships in this field.

My boyfriend's applying to law school right now and getting offered full rides left and right while I'm going to be up to my ears in debt.

Absolutely ridiculous.
 
Well there is a full-ride scholarship (and stipend) available through Army-Baylor; you have to be OK with four years of post-grad service with deployment though.
 
But not to be flippant, I too was bothered by the fact that there really aren't any new-student scholarships available (there are some that become available once you're a second or third year student, but those aren't always advertised and they never significantly reduce your overall debt).
 
I dont understand why pt's don't make more??? I do like the fact that a pt can make 60k working 40 hrs. Problem is, a pt probably can't make 100 k working 80 hrs right?

How can doctors make several hundred thousand starting off and do can pharmacists? My dad is an attorney started out at 18 k a year and now make 300k ... In an average size town in Louisiana. Brb going to law school! Seriously it's so disappointing . Pt should be able to make 100 k. How much can you make if you own several clinics with multiple partners?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app I will accept any pt school at this point. I cannot sleep
 
^^^ added from above: my gf is a Brazilian pt. she went to UNICID, the best school in Sao Paulo, and it cost $350 USD a month. Amazing. What's not amazing is their salary. I made more money part time at little Caesars in undergrad as she did as a licensed pt... Well not more . But the same


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app I will accept any pt school at this point. I cannot sleep
 
wjs010 said:
I dont understand why pt's don't make more??? I do like the fact that a pt can make 60k working 40 hrs. Problem is, a pt probably can't make 100 k working 80 hrs right?

How can doctors make several hundred thousand starting off and do can pharmacists? My dad is an attorney started out at 18 k a year and now make 300k ... In an average size town in Louisiana. Brb going to law school! Seriously it's so disappointing . Pt should be able to make 100 k. How much can you make if you own several clinics with multiple partners?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app I will accept any pt school at this point. I cannot sleep
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I guarantee you that is a PT worked 80hrs a week, he/she would easily gross over 100k a year. The APTA states that the average physical therapist salary is 80K a year. If a PT worked 80hrs a week then according to the APTA's numbers then that therapist would make ~ $160,000 before taxes.

The inherent issue is that I do not believe the majority of people go into physical therapy because they wanted to work 80 hrs a week. There are surgical specialties that don't even work that much a week and they make 5-10x what a PT would make. The fundamental issue( as I see it) is the debt/income ratio. I imagine that more PTs and DPT students would be happier if the debt/income ratio was often so out our proportion to one another.
 
In texas, most DPT programs are on average 30k. Thats the entire program!😎
 
^ ^^ what he said 🙂. I mean I know a lot of you are not from texas but 30k tuition plus ~30k for cost of living is still a fraction of what most of you are having to pay just in tuition for these other schools. Move yourselves to Texas for three years, the schools here are great and affordable!
 
TxDPT14 said:
^ ^^ what he said 🙂. I mean I know a lot of you are not from texas but 30k tuition plus ~30k for cost of living is still a fraction of what most of you are having to pay just in tuition for these other schools. Move yourselves to Texas for three years, the schools here are great and affordable!
Click to expand...

👍
 
I wish I was in Texas. I'm your neighbor in Louisiana 🙁 its so not fair how expensive it inevitably will be because there are only 2 schools here


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app I will accept any pt school at this point. I cannot sleep
 
maxblink said:
Editing earlier post.

Just saw your post in another thread that said Texas Woman's University out of state students got a scholarship to subsidize the costs.

That's amazing, now thinking of going there.

Haha Thanks! 🙂
Click to expand...

No problemo. Whatever I can do to help.

wjs010 said:
I wish I was in Texas. I'm your neighbor in Louisiana 🙁 its so not fair how expensive it inevitably will be because there are only 2 schools here


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app I will accept any pt school at this point. I cannot sleep
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LSU NOLA and Shreveport, right? Haha, in my class, there are 8 LSU alums out of the 49 of us that are left since first semester. So, lots of LSU peeps here. At least my class year!
 
Ok, so I have just received my Fin Aid Awards and it is not enough!!!! The first year of DPT school, I am considered an undergrad so the amount of Federal money is limited. They said the second year of school I will be eligible for graduate money, which will include graduate plus loans etc.

To current students, how did you afford your first year with undergrad status? I called the Fin Aid office and they told me private loans. I'm not happy about this.

Advice?
 
NYCPT said:
Ok, so I have just received my Fin Aid Awards and it is not enough!!!! The first year of DPT school, I am considered an undergrad so the amount of Federal money is limited. They said the second year of school I will be eligible for graduate money, which will include graduate plus loans etc.

To current students, how did you afford your first year with undergrad status? I called the Fin Aid office and they told me private loans. I'm not happy about this.

Advice?
Click to expand...

That makes NO sense. Your first year of DPT school IS graduate status. You need to make sure those people in the FinAid office aren't smoking something. You are NOT considered an undergraduate in first year of DPT school.

As a graduate student, you're classified as "independent", so what you get in FinAid is what tuition is for that year. So if tuition ($15,000) and with expected other expenses ($5,000) is $20,000, you should be able to get up to that amount ($20,000).
 
This could be one of those 3 yr undergrad programs that move into the 3 yr PT grad program.
 
Unfortunately, DPT programs have fallen in line with almost all of professional health care degree programs. The compensation for new DPT graduates just has not increased accordingly(I know I keep stating the obvious:idea:) In my mind, there are a number of issues at play:

1. The government allows students to borrow at an alarming rate, so professional programs(including DPT programs) have little to no incentive to keep their prices down.

2. Student's will have to pay for a graduate education that will allow them to be competitive in today's job market; often times irrespective of the costs. Gone are the days when a person could go to an industrial job or office job without formal education(that now often requires an advanced degree). The only jobs that come remotely close to that in the U.S. are engineering, some finance/business degrees, and some mathematics/computer science degrees. Beyond that you're SOL as it relates to finding a job at the B.S./B.A. level. Professional schools know this!!
3. The unrestricted direct access, incessant insurance/reimbursement refereeing, and lack of knowledge/popularity of physical therapists as primary care providers prohibit the salary increases that I think are "fair" for the amount of debt students leave school with.

A 20k bump at all levels of PT practice(entry level, 5+ years, 10-15+years) would, in my mind be "fair". BTW, that was an idea i read about on this site and other anecdotal sources. How can this be reconciled? EVIDENCED BASED PRACTICE with a clinical model and interventions that consistently show results for our patients.

So ultimately, the problem is much larger than just DPT programs. The entire educational bubble and how it is funded will not be able to sustain the copious amounts of debt that student almost HAVE to take on to get a job/career. We, as a profession, have to pump out good basic and clinical research to show the public, insurance companies, and our peers(mainly physicians who almost have a monopoly on healthcare delivery) that the profession is for real!!
 
goyo1010 said:
That makes NO sense. Your first year of DPT school IS graduate status. You need to make sure those people in the FinAid office aren't smoking something. You are NOT considered an undergraduate in first year of DPT school.

As a graduate student, you're classified as "independent", so what you get in FinAid is what tuition is for that year. So if tuition ($15,000) and with expected other expenses ($5,000) is $20,000, you should be able to get up to that amount ($20,000).
Click to expand...

I wish it were not true, but it is. The program is a BS/DPT program and my first year I am considered an undergraduate. I will need private loans to "live" my first year. I wish they would have made this crystal clear during the informational process, but oh well.:meanie:
 
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