Thank you for your interest in Slippery Rock University’s Graduate School of Physical Therapy.  Our physical therapy program strives to provide a framework which fosters the development of highly competent general physical therapy practitioners who are able to deliver quality patient care in a variety of practice settings.    

Your education at SRU will equip you with a strong foundation to prepare you for practice in a rapidly changing health care environment. Our faculty members are committed to aiding you with your transition and would like to assist you in your decision to join the hundreds of PT students that have chosen SRU.

Slippery Rock University is nestled in the heart of the Borough of Slippery Rock.  The University is home to over 6,500 undergraduates and 700 graduate students and is one of the largest campuses in Western Pennsylvania.  Our 600-acre campus offers a wide variety of activities as well as a multi-million dollar recreation facility. 

SRU is just 50 minutes north of downtown Pittsburgh and only 10 minutes away from Prime Outlet’s 140 brand name stores.  Moraine State Park and McConnell’s Mill State Park are both close to campus and offer several year-round outdoor activities. 

Slippery Rock University just opened its new  $5.5 million Physical Therapy Building in August 2001.  SRU was the first university in Pennsylvania and the 3rd in the United States to offer an accredited doctor of physical therapy degree, and prepares students for careers in all areas of physical therapy clinical practice.  Our program has earned a reputation of excellence over the years and boasts a 95%  first-time pass rate on the licensing exam as compared to the state average of only 89% and a 91% national first-time pass rate.   

Our new 34,000-square-foot building houses five newly equipped laboratories which include neurohistology, musculoskeletal, cadaver, procedures and a state-of-the art research motion analysis laboratory.  A computer lab and learning resource center, where  professional texts are available for reference, is also  exclusively available for PT student use.  We encourage you to come and visit the new building where you will observe classes, and meet with faculty and graduate students currently enrolled in the DPT program.    

The School of Physical Therapy Program Offers:

Qualified Faculty

• Knowledgeable

• Experienced

• Friendly & accessible

• Clinical Specialists

Strong Clinical Preparation

• Hands-on learning experiences in classroom and a variety of clinical settings

• Excellent clinical laboratories

• 95% first time passing rate on national licensing exam

• 37 weeks of clinical residencies

• Local, national and international clinical sites:

1. Over 200 sites to choose from

2. Site in Hawaii, Scotland and Australia

3. Clinical experiences supervised by SRU faculty

Foundational Science Preparation

• Doctorally prepared faculty with basic science background

• Excellent laboratory facilities

• Interactive software and online materials to facilitate learning

• Graduate assistants to provide tutoring and assistance

Strong Research Curriculum

• Collaborative student-faculty research projects

• Opportunities in motion analysis, neurohistology, musculoskeletal and clinical research

• Research presentation opportunities

As a newcomer to our school, you will be a little    unsure of things until you become familiar with the “ins and outs” of our program. To make your transition   easier, we have a “big-little” program that will help and guide you at SRU. 

Every incoming first-year “little” DPT graduate student is given a “big” second-year DPT graduate student to answer any questions as well as assist and guide you throughout the program. This program has proven to be a huge success over the past years and is a nice welcome to incoming students.  

The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program at Slippery Rock University was one of the three original programs in the United States to transition from the master’s level  to a doctoral level program. 

With the transition from the master’s program to the DPT, students are able to have a greater depth of study in the areas of PT examinations and interventions.  This change, in addition to the 37 week clinical education experiences that are dedicated to hands-on patient experiences, defines our outstanding and competitive DPT program. For more information on the DPT degree, visit the APTA web site at  http://www.apta.org.

SRU’s physical therapy program also offers a wide variety of geographical locations to choose from for your clinical experiences. Your clinical site options blanket most of the continental United States as well as some of the more unique and popular settings in Hawaii, Scotland and Australia. Friendly and easily accessible professors make learning both educational and fun. 

Scholarships and Graduate
 Assistantship Opportunities

Investing in your future can be expensive.  To assist you with the financial aspect of your graduate education, SRU offers not only the typical graduate financial aid programs, but other opportunities to help defray the cost of graduate study.  

Departmental scholarships are available and can be accessed on the SRU financial aid department web site at These scholarships are awarded by individual departments and may be based on academic performance and other criteria as determined.   

Graduate assistantships are awarded by various  departments on campus in conjunction with the Office of Graduate Studies.  Students who receive graduate assistantships may be awarded a full-time or part-time tuition waiver and receive a stipend.  Approximately 125 university-funded graduate assistantships are awarded each year to deserving full-time graduate students.  Assistantships may be awarded for up to two years and are intended to relate as much as possible to the student’s program of study.  The awarding of an assistantship is considered an honor and is generally awarded in the second year of study.

Research Facilities 

Slippery Rock University’s Graduate School of Physical Therapy offers PT graduate students the unique opportunity,  to publish their research studies in national peer-reviewed journals.  Research facilities include a musculoskeletal and a procedures laboratory as well as a state-of-the art motion analysis laboratory, providing students with cutting edge resources at their finger tips. 

SRU has more than 700,000 volumes, along with an extensive microfiche collection and major professional journals and newspapers, housed in Bailey Library.  A large reference collection, including bibliographies, indexes, and abstracts, as well as a comprehensive     material center and an audiovisual center are available for student use and are a great resource for comprehensive literature searches.