Is PT school still financially worth persuing?

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flyingsquirrel

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With the change towards DPT in California leading to 80-100k in total tuition, with cost increasing and salary that has remained the same and hasn't risen because of lack of reimbursements leading to increase in number of patients seen to maintain revenue (sometimes 2 at a time), potential lack of security in the future due to increase in PT schools inflating PTs, is physical therapy school and the career still worth it?

I understand that before DPT, schools used to be cheap, but now it seems schools have almost doubled their tuition cost, and with no shortage of potential students, are also flooding the industry with more and more PTs.

Is it still worth it to pursue physical therapy (entry level around 65k after 80-100k tuition) financially?

I understand that if physical therapy is something that you really wanted to do, then money isn't an issue for you. However money is ALWAYS an issue for 99% of the people who not only choose physical therapy as a career, but also as a job and this aspect must be taken with serious consideration.

Another aspect that must be taken into consideration is also work-life balance, which IMO is more important than any salary. If a hospital requires you to work 11 hours a day (hour early to prep, an hour after for paper work), then that doesn't leave much time for anything else.

I would like to know your opinion. Thanks!

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Actually the professions with the worst work-life balance are lawyers and general practitioners! You won't find too many physicians who are happy what they're doing if they're GPs. They're overworked and they hardly spend any time with patients.

At some point PT schools will have to address the escalating cost of school. Tuition cannot keep rising while salaries remain stagnant. I don't see that happening soon as long as the number of applicants keeps rising. Clearly, students want to pursue PT badly enough that they're willing to incur significant debt to finance their education.

If you can make $70k after graduation, that isn't too bad. You won't have too much discretionary income, but you will be able to afford a comfortable life. As tuition rises, PT students wills simply have to accept more and more sacrifices. They might have to delay having children a few more years, live a little more frugally, work in rural areas or travel, and work more than 40 hours a week (PRN on weekends). Retirement? Forget it. Our generation won't retire until we're 75, if ever.
 
I think you have a valid point. Does the change to a doctorate without a subsequent change in salary make the profession less appealing? Maybe to people who chose PT because they think it will make them millionaires (it won't). But I'd like to think that the majority of PTs and future PTs chose this field because it has much more to offer.

Personally, the lifestyle and work-life balance are what drew me to PT. I originally intended on becoming a large animal DVM, but the days are much harder and longer, the debt is greater, and the starting salary much lower. After a 6-month internship at a large animal hospital, I realized that I would hate my life, even if I was saving cute baby horses. I wanted something that would still let me pursue my passion for medicine, and I feel so lucky to have found PT!

I've actually had the debt vs salary discussion with several of my mentors. I've considered going the MD route, and my current plan is to get a PhD after my DPT. One of my mentors (clinical director of our clinic) says not to do PhD unless I switch to MD. She says as a PT, the PhD will only give me more debt without the ability to earn any more. Another mentor who is a DPT/PhD says that some days she wishes she had gone MD and become an ortho surgeon (for the money and the chance to do surgery), but most days she is happy as a PT. Interestingly, her brother is a MD who wishes he had gone PT! He says that he misses the chance to form relationships with patients and see their progress weekly/daily, rather than every 3-6 months at followups.

To me it's bizarre that we have the conversation about $60k/yr not being enough money. I grew up in a very rural area where most people's household income is less than $60k/yr. I think it all depends on your lifestyle. Even while paying back loans, I think recent grads can live very comfortably. All of the DPTs I know have always been able to drive new cars, go on vacations, and live in nice houses, even immediately after graduation. Everyone has their own definition of wealth, and mine does not include sports cars.

If you want to drive a Porsche and drink $500/bottle wine, don't become a PT. Become a surgeon or reality TV star.
 
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I lived in Portland, Oregon on 20k a year. I lived in an apartment downtown with no car. If you can come out of PT school making 70k, and put 50k back towards your loans, how long do you think it will take to pay them off? Not long...
A couple years of living cheap is good for the soul.
 
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If you are single and make 70k, the IRS will want its pound of flesh. Most students don't have to pay taxes while in school since their incomes are either nil or very low. But once you start working, the tax bite can be painful.
 
Hi,

I have to agree with you that work/life balance is great and so is a 70 k salary when you look at it point blank.

However, you are mostly comparing work/life balance with those also in the medical field rather than other industries. In most other industries a 50k-60k salary can be achievable given several years of experience (replace the years you went to PT school minus the cost of pt school, and the money you would have made if you were working) with only a basic college education, most of these have regular non stressful 8 hour work days. For the cost of PT school in both time and energy + cost, you aren't making much more nor is the ceiling much higher when you come out.

I'm not saying I want to be rich or that 60-70k isn't a whole lot of money, however that doesn't necessarily justify paying a high cost for such a low return (a rip off). Basically i'm saying that paying 100k to only make 60-70k a year IS NOT whole lot of money.

Or at least that is what I like to have a discussion of. Is it still worthy investment?
 
Hi,

I have to agree with you that work/life balance is great and so is a 70 k salary when you look at it point blank.

However, you are mostly comparing work/life balance with those also in the medical field rather than other industries. In most other industries a 50k-60k salary can be achievable given several years of experience (replace the years you went to PT school minus the cost of pt school, and the money you would have made if you were working) with only a basic college education, most of these have regular non stressful 8 hour work days. For the cost of PT school in both time and energy + cost, you aren't making much more nor is the ceiling much higher when you come out.

I'm not saying I want to be rich or that 60-70k isn't a whole lot of money, however that doesn't necessarily justify paying a high cost for such a low return (a rip off). Basically i'm saying that paying 100k to only make 60-70k a year IS NOT whole lot of money.

Or at least that is what I like to have a discussion of. Is it still worthy investment?

Kind of looks like you understand the situation quite well. I think this is a question that you need to ask yourself rather than other people. For me it is worth it.

*Edit - and for what it's worth, I'm only going to be paying around 65k in tuition if I get in where I want, and there are schools that go as low as 30-40K. You don't have to go to a 100k tuition school.
 
If you're married, you can claim 2 exemptions on your tax return (one for you, one for your wife). For 2013, the IRS allows you to deduct $3,900 from your income, for each exemption. If you are married and have, say, 2 kids, you can claim 4 exemptions and deduct $15,600 from your income. And when you are married with kids, you usually have a mortgage, and that also helps lower your taxes. The very worst case is to be single, earning a good salary, and live in a rental place: then you have no easy way to shelter your income from the IRS.
 
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The BLS and APTA have done a great job marketing the PT field as the #4 or #5 best job in America with low stress in 2011-2012 or something of that nature. Every field is going to be over saturated someday. Do something that you love and in my opinion if its PT get in ASAP! My school (chapman university) is allowing cohorts to come in during fall and spring this coming semester for the first time. Add another 55 students per year graduating from the nation.... friggen money making schools......

Based on what was told to me during my volunteer hours when expressing your same sentiments were, "your not going to starve as a PT, but your not going to be rich either. You will live a comfortable life". That's from a strictly financial standpoint. Now... if your going to go 100k+ in debt for it... I don't think it would be advisable to do that no matter how much you love PT. Up your stats... reapply to a state school. Avoid those damn 10 year to 30 year repayment programs if you can.
 
100k debt is pretty much inevitable with 90% of PT schools now people. Accept it, and move on! That's what the cost of the DPT is in 2014 if you're paying for living too. Now if you can live at home and are on your parents health and car insurance, AND you're eating their groceries, you'll be able to stay under 100k..... otherwise quit complaining and pursue it or don't.
 
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Jblil, so what you're saying is.... get married, procreate, and get a mortgage. Haha, sounds like a pretty average life plan, wouldn't you say? But i hear you. Preach.
 
I'm not saying I want to be rich or that 60-70k isn't a whole lot of money, however that doesn't necessarily justify paying a high cost for such a low return (a rip off). Basically i'm saying that paying 100k to only make 60-70k a year IS NOT whole lot of money.

I do not believe it is a "rip-off," or that the return is lower than the investment. You are comparing a one-time $100k investment with a single year of earning. But you have to look at the earning potential over a ~40yr career. I wonder if anyone has done a study on the ROI for a DPT...

Yes, some people are able to make just as much money without a doctorate, or even without a bachelor's. But the average person cannot. You could also make the argument that even getting a bachelor's is a rip-off (Occupy Wall Street, anyone?). Even with the rising cost of higher education, college degrees have been proven to increase a person's earning potential.

For me, you can't have this discussion and focus solely on the financial aspect. A DPT degree is not just about the ability to earn more money. It is about the opportunity to have a career that I love.
 
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Jblil, so what you're saying is.... get married, procreate, and get a mortgage.

I would encourage everyone to do taxes by hand at least once, so you understand how the numbers flow.
If you know the basics of the US tax code, you'll make wiser financial decisions.
 
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At some point PT schools will have to address the escalating cost of school. Tuition cannot keep rising while salaries remain stagnant. I don't see that happening soon as long as the number of applicants keeps rising. Clearly, students want to pursue PT badly enough that they're willing to incur significant debt to finance their education.

This is just so true. When we bring up tuition (at one of the cheaper PT schools in the US), the University administration just kind of balks and says with the number of applicants we have, tuition is not an issue and raising it is not a big deterrent to applicants.
 
PT school is worth the cost if you know what you are getting in to and make a plan. PT school cost me around 90k. I had 25k left from undergrad and a husband with about 25k in grad school loans. We now make around 150k (before tax) in salary. We're paying off our loans of about 20k a year, so we'll be done in about 7 years. Likely less since as our salaries go up, as that money gets allocated toward loan repayment. I'll be 34 when we're student loan debt free. Not too bad-I think.

I also think it's important to mention that we still have been planning and saving for a house down payment and keeping emergency savings. Without those two pieces, my loans would be gone within a few years. I also realize this whole process has been made easier by being married. Although he only makes what he does because of his graduate degree (read: more loans)

All this rambling, bottom line: PT school is expensive. It's scary when you really think about all the money. But if you can make a plan, and stick to it, its going be ok. Budgets are your friend. The school I went to started a financial series (that was optional) for students to learn about their finances and student loans- It was really helpful. I also realize that I have more financial knowledge than some (I'm married to an accountant). Even though we're PTs, we have to get smart with our money or we will be slaves to our careers forever.
 
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There are many differing opinions in this thread. Personally, as someone applying this cycle, I like to see people have this conversation. It's important to remember that everyone's situation is different though.
 
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