redirtgirl, thanks for sharing your thoughts. It's nice to hear from someone in the program. Some quick things you pointed out.
There has been a change to the tuition policy at UD. There is no longer an in/out of state tuition rate – it is the same for all. Some students get GA or TA positions and this assists with cost.
That change you mention is true in a literal sense, but I doubt Delaware taxpayers are high and dry on their flagship state university. From your Philly location I'll assume it was your hometown/school before entering at UD. The initial flat tuition was true but, they also state the following:
"Effective July 2009, UD graduate school tuition is the same for residents and non-residents. owever, the Dean of the College of Health Science is awarding a 50% tuition scholarship for DPT students that are considered Delaware residents.
The tuition rates below reflect the 50% scholarship."
http://www.udel.edu/PT/Study With Us/residenttuition.html
Say you went to UD for undergrad, that 50% scholarship by the dean is still there right? Still seems fair of a public uni. Everyone's charged the same but in reality scholarships equal in and out of state. My public undergrad did a similar policy with IS scholarships and an overall flat tuition, we had >30% OOS come. If you can say up front initial costs are the same for everyone, then more people don't feel bad for being OOS. I could be wrong here, if that website is wrong
Your program lists many forms of funding some programs only dream, I do not doubt that GA and TA spots exist.
I don't know what "they have good funding depending on your interests" means so it's hard to speak to this point. I do know that it is definitely a leading university for research in this field (and similar fields like biomechanics, etc) and so there is a lot of opportunity to get involved with research should that be an interest. I am not involved in research but find that I benefit from having what I believe are current published experts in the field giving me instruction and exposing me to the latest evidence. There are also a lot of visiting experts from neighboring PT programs that speak to us. We've had professors from U of MD and Arcadia and more.
Sorry if the point was vague, I was saying if you have interest in a terminal degree beyond the entry-level PT in a dual degree program your program offers what appears generous funding (due to NIH grants, ect.), which for these additional years I believe it should. Those who are in you program are fortunate for this, thus essentially the phrase of "if this is your interest, there's funding for it."
Your faculty and program is well regarded and ranked highly for a reason, you should be proud.
😀