80% of our rehabilitation science program graduates land on faculty positions whether in the US or abroad.
- 300+ vacancies and new faculty positions exist in physical therapist programs in US
- Where can a Ph.D. in rehabilitation science lead you?”:
80% of our rehabilitation science program graduates land on faculty positions whether in the US or abroad. The majority of the others pursue post-doctoral research opportunities.
The success of employment of the program graduates is driven by the quality of graduates, reputation of the program, and a shortage of faculty in physical therapist education programs across the US. According to the 2019-2020 Fact Sheet from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (PDF), close to 300 current and projected core faculty vacancies exist in the US.
The board of directors of the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy recently recognized there is “a nationwide shortage of qualified faculty, with an average of 1-2 open faculty positions per program. Furthermore, accreditation requirements stipulate that at least 50% of program faculty must have a Ph.D. or equivalent academic doctoral-degree, and all full-time faculty are required to have a defined scholarly agenda, including clinical or non-tenure track faculty. The result is that the demand for physical therapy faculty with the necessary qualifications has outpaced the supply of qualified individuals.”