Five most common undergraduate degrees among Doctor of Physical Therapy program applicants

There is no single required major for physical therapy (PT) school. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) states in its overview of the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) admissions process that no specific undergraduate major is required. Most DPT programs ask applicants to finish a bachelor's degree before they enroll, according to APTA's guide to becoming a physical therapist, and what programs check closely is whether you completed their prerequisite courses. The PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet (PDF, 1.1 MB) found no sign that admissions favors one PT-related major over another when applicants meet those prerequisites. Most applicants still come from a handful of majors: exercise science and kinesiology alone accounted for 11,338 of the cycle's 18,508 applicants, or about 61%. For the full path from bachelor's degree to license, see our guide on how to become a physical therapist.

Each year, the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service (PTCAS) collects data on applicants to accredited DPT programs all over the country. Because 295 institutions, or 97% of those eligible, took part in PTCAS in the 2024-25 cycle, according to the PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet, its data gives a detailed picture of who is applying to PT school. The table below shows the five most common undergraduate majors among applicants and accepted students in that cycle.

^{Source: PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet, Figures 8 and 9. Shares are calculated from the counts PTCAS reports for all 18,508 applicants and 14,267 accepted applicants.}

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Exercise science

Exercise science was the most common major among DPT applicants in the 2024-25 cycle: 6,179 applicants, about one-third of the pool, majored in it as undergraduates, according to the PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet. The Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP 2020), the U.S. Department of Education's system for tracking and reporting college fields of study, places exercise science and kinesiology under one code and describes the field as the scientific study of the anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and biophysics of human movement. Physical therapists work to help those who have issues in functional movement, so an exercise science degree can be a great way to start understanding the mechanisms addressed by PT. The PTCAS fact sheet also notes that majors designed around physical therapy preparation, including exercise science, provide built-in prerequisite coverage.

Common exercise science courses

The CIP 2020 description of exercise science and kinesiology programs names these areas of instruction:

• Anatomy and physiology of human movement
• Biomechanics
• Motor behavior
• Motor development and coordination
• Motor neurophysiology
• Rehabilitative therapies

Kinesiology

The next most common undergraduate major among aspiring DPTs is kinesiology. In the 2024-25 cycle, 5,159 applicants, about 28%, held a kinesiology degree, according to the PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet. Kinesiology looks at the way physical activity and exercise influence society, health, and quality of life. Because CIP 2020 classifies kinesiology together with exercise science, the areas of instruction listed above apply to both majors. The PTCAS fact sheet names kinesiology among the majors designed around physical therapy preparation that provide built-in prerequisite coverage.

Health science

Health science was the third most common major in the 2024-25 cycle, with 1,692 applicants, about 9% of the pool, according to the PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet. The CIP 2020 description of general health sciences programs says they prepare students either for specialized training or for a range of allied health concentrations. That breadth can appeal to learners who want to continue on to a variety of graduate programs in the healthcare field. Because these programs include basic science coursework, a health science degree may cover some common DPT prerequisites, but compare your degree plan with each program's list.

Common coursework for health science majors

The CIP 2020 description names these areas of instruction:

• Basic sciences
• Research procedures
• Clinical procedures
• Subject matter related to various health occupations

Biology

The PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet shows that 1,449 applicants, about 8% of the pool, were biology majors, making biology the fourth most common major. Since biology focuses on the study of living organisms, coursework in this program broadly relates to what learners will eventually study in PT school. Not every biology course counts toward DPT prerequisites, though: APTA's admissions process overview notes that the two biology courses programs commonly require should not be botany or zoology, and that the anatomy and physiology, chemistry and physics prerequisites it lists include labs.

Common biology coursework

According to the CIP 2020 description of general biology programs, they include instruction in general biology and a variety of biological specializations. Specializations CIP 2020 recognizes include:

• Biochemistry
• Genetics
• Microbiology
• Evolutionary biology
• Marine biology
• Botany/plant biology
• Zoology/animal biology

Psychology

In the 2024-25 cycle, 664 DPT applicants, about 4%, studied psychology at the undergraduate level, making the subject the fifth most common major among DPT applicants, as seen in the PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet. Psychology majors learn about the science of the human mind, behavior, and mental processes. APTA lists psychology among the courses DPT programs commonly require, alongside lab sciences such as anatomy and physiology, chemistry and physics, so psychology majors may need to plan those science prerequisites as electives.

Common psychology coursework

The CIP 2020 description of general psychology programs says they include instruction in the principles of psychology's subfields, research methods, and psychological assessment and testing. The American Psychological Association's Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major (Version 3.0, 2023) expect students to build research skills mainly in required courses on research methods and statistics. Coursework areas these sources name include:

• Research methods
• Statistics
• Psychological assessment and testing
• Cognitive psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Social psychology
• Behavioral neuroscience
• Behavior problems and disorders

Common DPT prerequisite courses

There is no standard set of courses applicants must complete before applying to physical therapy school — every program is different. APTA's admissions process overview advises checking the PTCAS directory or each institution's website for the courses each program requires. Therefore, you should always check the requirements of each school you plan to apply to in comparison to your undergraduate program’s curriculum. This will help you determine whether additional coursework is necessary to meet certain prerequisites. Our overview of DPT admissions requirements explains the other parts of an application. Some common course prerequisites for DPT programs, as APTA lists them, include:

• Physics I and II
• Psychology
• Chemistry I and II
• Biology I and II
• Anatomy and physiology
• Statistics

How to choose a major if you're aiming for PT school

Because programs look at prerequisites more than the name of your major, a few planning steps matter whichever major you choose:

1. Map prerequisites early. List the programs you are considering, check each one's required courses in the PTCAS directory or on its website, as APTA's admissions guidance recommends, then plan those courses into your degree.
2. Protect your science and math grades. Accepted applicants in the 2024-25 cycle averaged a 3.35 combined science and math GPA, compared with 3.23 for all applicants, the widest gap of any GPA category PTCAS tracked, according to the PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet.
3. Start observation hours while you are an undergraduate. In the same cycle, 96.1% of applicants reported PT observation hours, with a median of 220 hours, and PTCAS describes observation as a threshold requirement rather than a way to stand out, according to the PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet.
4. Check testing requirements. Review each program's admissions testing policy before you apply; our guide to DPT GRE requirements explains what to look for.
5. Know the other entry routes. Some programs use a 3+3 format, in which students complete three years of set pre-PT courses before advancing into a three-year DPT, and a few admit students straight from high school, according to APTA's guide to becoming a physical therapist. Our overview of types of physical therapy degrees compares these formats.

What if my bachelor’s was earned in another area?

If you want to become a physical therapist but do not hold a bachelor’s degree in one of the described areas, it doesn't eliminate the possibility of attending PT school. The PTCAS 2024-25 Fact Sheet reports that students with nontraditional majors were accepted in the 2024-25 cycle in smaller numbers because fewer of them applied, not because they were less qualified, and it describes admissions outcomes as "pathway-neutral, but prerequisite-dependent."