Frequently Asked Questions

The University of Findlay’s Weekend PTA to DPT Bridge Program was established in 1997, and is the longest-established DPT program specifically designed to Bridge a PTA to a DPT. We know, understand, and embrace the PTA. We value the prior knowledge, and work experiences the PTA brings to the classroom. We have the experience to assist you and support you in your career goal to bridge from a PTA to a DPT. Everyone else in your cohort will be a PTAs. Our students have found this to be invaluable. While other programs may require you to move to be near campus or attend for a week or more at a time, you can complete Findlay’s program from anywhere in the country, with 12 annual campus visits, and no travel in the summer term or in December. Furthermore, you can continue working as a PTA during the program. In fact, we require an average of 40 hours per month. 

Our graduate programs are billed by the credit hour per term. The total cost based on the prior year of the program can be found here (Insert link for Bridge program financial fact sheet.)  A breakdown of tuition, graduate fees, and course specific fees can be found https://www.findlay.edu/offices/business-affairs/student-accounts/graduate-charges.  

There is financial aid available in the form of federal loans. There are few scholarships or grants available through Findlay for graduate students. Outside scholarships from companies and organizations can be accepted towards tuition. Findlay does offer graduate assistantship positions; however, these would not be a good fit given this program requires students to continue their PTA work for a minimum of 40 hours each month while in a didactic portion of the program. Findlay does work with companies who offer tuition remission benefits, which is an option for some students in this program. Learn more about graduate financial aid by clicking here. 

It begins in January with two years and three months of didactic coursework. At the conclusion of all didactic coursework in March of the third year, the students will begin their full-time clinical experiences. The three 10-week full-time clinical experiences are scheduled consecutively and are completed in November of the third year of the program. Degree conferral is just three years in November. 

Classes during the didactic portion of the program are scheduled in four academic terms per year: winter, spring, summer, and fall. The winter, spring, and fall terms are each approximately 12 weeks long. The summer term is 10 weeks and classes will be online. This results in approximately 12 class meetings per year in years one and two, and four meetings total in year three. This schedule is subject to change. 

Weekend classes are typically held on Thursday later afternoon through Saturday afternoon. The exact course schedule will vary by term. 

Yes. The online components are important and will occupy a considerable part of your time when you are not on campus. Fall, winter, and spring terms have online/distance components as well as on-campus weekends. The summer terms will be online. 

Students have reported spending an average of 20-25 hours per week on class assignments and studying.  

Absolutely. We have had students commute from 48 different states for this program. 

Students typically use one of two options. There are local hotels in town that provide University of Findlay student discounts. Many will often find classmates to share a room with to reduce the cost of accommodation. Students recently have also found affordable Airbnb or Vrbo homes in which to stay. 

Yes. Clinical affiliations can be completed in any state provided we can obtain a contract with the healthcare organization willing to host a student. We have over 1000 clinicals set up throughout the country, but if there is not one available within a reasonable driving distance of your home, we will work with you to set up new clinical affiliation near you. Clinicals cannot be completed within the same healthcare system you currently work as a PTA or have recently worked as a PTA in the last five years. 

The program has a strict attendance policy. Students are expected to make appropriate and safe arrangements for travel considering weather conditions. In rare situations, when weather conditions or other true emergency situations make it impossible for a student to arrive at campus, we work with that student individually and in nearly all cases, consider it an unavoidable emergency absence. Generally, students can use technology to virtually visit campus when those unsafe, urgent conditions arise, or flights are cancelled. Non-emergent absences are not encouraged; however, the attendance policy does account for selecting life commitments outside of class time. 

The prerequisite courses and labs must be taken at regionally accredited institutions, and the course content must match our prerequisites. 
 
University of Findlay has online course offerings. View Course Options 
 
Please note that if the courses were taken as part of the BSPTA from PIMA or the BSHS at Professional Skills institute, select courses will meet the corresponding pre-requisites even though they are from a non-regionally accredited university. You should utilize Transferology to select appropriate prerequisite courses or review past coursework to determine whether it will be accepted. Please click here To access our Transferology Guide that provides step-by-step instructions on using this tool. If you have coursework that you believe matches our pre-requisites, please contact admissions@findlay.edu to inquire about course substitutions. 

The cumulative and prerequisite GPA is calculated by PTCAS from the student application. You can use the PTCAS GPA calculator to calculate your GPA. 

For us to recognize a PTA degree, the PTA program must be accredited. As long as the PTA program is CAPTE accredited, the regional accreditation status of the school is not important. 

Yes, if the following criteria are met. Bachelor’s degrees must be from a regionally accredited institution. Bachelor’s degrees from nationally accredited schools are not acceptable, with the exception of the BSPTA program from Pima Medical BSHS from Institute and Professional Skills Institute, which will be accepted. Prerequisite courses and labs must be taken at regionally accredited institutions, and the course content must match our prerequisite. You should utilize Transferology to select appropriate prerequisite courses or review past coursework to determine whether it will be accepted. Please click here to access our Transferology Guide that provides step by step instructions on using this tool. 

There is no time limit requirement in place for any of our prerequisites. Prerequisite courses can be taken any number of years ago. 

We use a free, online system called Transferology to share information about how courses transfer into Findlay from other schools. Click here for a list of our prerequisites. Transferology can evaluate courses you have taken in the past or help you select courses to take in the future to meet our requirements. Please click here to access our Transferology Guide that provides step by step instructions on using this tool. If any of your courses appear not to meet our prerequisites on Transferology, please use the “Request More Information” button and note the course(s) you have questions about. 

• Toledo’s airport is about 50 minutes from campus. This is a smaller airport with limited flight options. 

• Detroit is the next closest airport to campus, about 1 hour and 30 minutes away, and is likely the best option for a direct flight. 

• Dayton’s airport is about 1 hour and 40 minutes from campus. It has more flight options than Toledo, but less than Detroit or Columbus. 

• Columbus’s airport is about 1 hour and 45 minutes from campus. Columbus Airport is the one with the most concerns about hitting rush hour traffic. 

• Cleveland’s airport is about 2 hours from campus. 

The University of Findlay requires all bachelor’s degrees to be from regionally accredited institutions. There are two non-regionally accredited bachelor’s degrees accepted for the DPT Program. These two degrees include the BSPTA program from Pima Medical Institute, and the BSHS from Professional Skills Institute in Ohio. If you are planning to earn a bachelor’s degree, please contact admissions@findlay.edu to ensure your degree will be accepted at the University of Findlay. 

No, the GRE is not a requirement for application or admission into the DPT program. 

Yes. In fact, the program requires that you work an average of 40 hours per month as a PTA while taking didactic courses. When choosing to enter this program, students must realize that the DPT Program is rigorous and requires you to be a full-time student. We highly recommend working full-time during the program but realize that some must receive healthcare insurance. We recommend looking into alternatives to full time employment such as bargaining for benefits with less than 40 hours per week, looking into federally supported benefits as well as the Health Insurance Marketplace, also known as the Health Insurance Exchange.