Pre-PT Grind | Physical Therapy School Podcast · Pre-PT Grind

314. Is Physical Therapy Worth It? | Pre PT Chat Live

·1 hr 16 min·2 clips

With an $87,000 average salary and about $96,000 in tuition, Casey puts PT school's return on investment at roughly 0.9.

1. Pre-PT Grind's episode 314, 'Is Physical Therapy Worth It?', is a live chat that runs about 76 minutes and tests the title question with salary and tuition math. 2. Hosts Casey and Joseph run the stream across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, and they promote their Cash in Class University channel and a masterclass on cutting school debt. 3. Casey's thesis is that PT school is 'just a product' whose value depends on doing the math, so the worth question should not be answered with assumptions. 4. In the first scenario, an average $87,000 salary against roughly $96,000 in tuition ($32,000 per year over three years) gives an ROI of about 0.9, an $11,000 gap. 5. In the low-cost scenario, $55,000 in tuition paired with a $150,000 pediatric early-intervention salary gives a 2.7x return, while a $226,000 school paired with $70,000 pay gives 0.3. 6. A quiz segment lists Alaska as the highest-paying state for PTs and California for PTAs, and pediatric early intervention as the top-paying PTA setting at roughly $140,000-$160,000 per the 2024 data. 7. Joseph says he only confronted the money question in his second year at a school costing about $31,000-$32,000 per year, and that his grades spiraled because he 'felt like I was in a cage.' 8. Joseph notes that most students want outpatient ortho, which pays about $70,000-$75,000 depending on state, and he pushes back on the idea that wanting more money is 'selfish.' 9. Casey lists questions he wishes someone had asked him, including 'what does worth even mean to you?', and recounts Joseph's keynote at the FPTA student conclave in Fort Lauderdale, which drew over 200 students versus the 50 he expected. 10. Pre-PT and PT students weighing debt against salary would get the most from this.

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