• Curriculum

Why become a physical therapist?

It is more important now than ever before to have highly trained physical therapists that are able to meet today's demands. Harding's Doctor of physical therapy program is designed to help patients to improve their quality of life through the assessment and improvement of movement, management of pain and prevention or recovery from injuries or other physical conditions.

Doctor of Physical Therapy Program

Harding University's physical therapy program is a continuous eight-semester study comprised of 110 semester hours of coursework and an average of 1,600 hours of supervised clinical experience. Graduates will earn a Doctor of physical therapy degree and be eligible to sit for the physical therapist licensure exam. 

Curriculum Plan

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Accelerated B.S. in Exercise Science - Doctor of Physical Therapy

This accelerated degree track for Harding undergraduate students provides the necessary pre-requisites for PT school in the first three years and allows you to earn a B.S. in exercise science degree from Harding after completion of the fourth year - saving time and money! 

A Harding student may apply for provisional admission to the accelerated BSEXSS/DPT program once they have met the following conditions:

  • Complete 45 hours of university credit with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 and a minimum Science GPA of 3.3
  • Complete the following courses with a minimum of GPA of 3.3
    • BIOL 1500 – Principles of Biology
    • CHEM 1040 – College Chemistry I
    • CHEM 1050 – College Chemistry II
    • BIOL 3200/3200L – Anatomy & Physiology I

How does accelerated application process work?

The application process will be directly to the program and not through PTCAS. Harding students will fill out an application, write an essay on a selected topic and undergo an interview with a member of the PT faculty. Students may contact pt@harding.edu for more details on how to apply to this program. 

If the student is granted provisional admission, he or she may transition full-time into the graduate portion of the PT program when the following conditions have been met:

  • Completion of all required liberal arts course requirements
  • Overall GPA 3.5
  • Science GPA of 3.3
  • Completion of 101 hours of undergraduate credit
  • GRE – of at least 145 on both the verbal and quantitative sections

Students who are provisionally admitted must maintain a 3.0 GPA in the first two semesters of PT education to gain full admission into the program

If the student is not accepted, they will continue with their degree in Exercise Science and are eligible to apply through the normal process with PTCAS.

After completion of the first year of the DPT program, the students will be awarded a Bachelor’s degree. If the student is unsuccessful in the DPT program, they can transfer back to the Exercise Science program to complete an undergraduate degree.

Contact Us

Physical Therapy Program is part of the College of Allied Health

501-279-5990

pt@harding.edu

Off-campus building located 1.5 miles from the main campus of Harding University.

Harding University
Physical Therapy
1300 South Main
Searcy, AR 72143

Program Director:
Kevin Ramey, PhD, PT

501-279-5991

kramey1@harding.edu