Traditional Program
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Admission to the PTA is highly competitive and is based on grade point averages, interviews, references, experience and other evidence of potential success for the Program. Admission to SWOSU does not guarantee admission to the PTA program, although applicants are awarded 0.33 points per technical support course taken at SWOSU. All technical support courses must have been taken within the past seven years from the date of application. The application deadline is April 1.
Accreditation
Graduation from a physical therapist [assistant] education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; phone; 703-706-3245; accreditation@apta.org is necessary for eligibility to sit for the licensure examination, which is required in all states. Candidacy is considered to be an accredited status, as such the credits and degree earned from a program with Candidacy status are considered, by CAPTE, to be from an accredited program. Therefore, students in the charter (first) class should be eligible to take the licensure exam even if CAPTE withholds accreditation at the end of the candidacy period. That said, it is up to each state licensing agency, not CAPTE, to determine who is eligible for licensure. Information on licensing requirements should be directed to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT;www.fsbpt.org) or specific state boards (a list of state boards and contact information is available on FSBPT's website.
Southwestern Oklahoma State University is seeking accreditation of a new physical therapist [assistant] education program from CAPTE. The program is planning to submit an Application for Candidacy, which is the formal application required in the pre-accreditation stage, on [insert date]. Submission of this document does not assure that the program will be granted Candidate for Accreditation status. Achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status is required prior to implementation of the [professional/technical] phase of the program; therefore, no students may be enrolled in [professional/technical] courses until Candidate for Accreditation status has been achieved. Further, though achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status signifies satisfactory progress toward accreditation, it does not assure that the program will be granted accreditation.