Prediction of licensing examination scores in physical therapy graduates

The primary purpose of this study was to determine which information available on applicants to the University of New Mexico physical therapy program would best predict performance on the licensing examination. The secondary purpose was to provide documentation of a procedure for selection that could be useful to other programs in other settings. American College Testing (ACT) scores, prerequisite and nonprerequisite grade point averages (GPAs), and interview and recommendation scores were used to predict licensing examination scores for the classes graduating from 1980 to 1984. Six of the regression analyses were significant, but three had similar correlations that were much higher than the rest. The variables in those three regression analyses were ACT composite score and both GPAs; ACT composite score, both GPAs, and interview score; and ACT composite score, prerequisite GPA, and interview score. The results of this study suggest that selection committees use standardized ability tests as admission criteria because the ACT scores accounted for the most variance in licensing examination scores. Other professional schools might also benefit by applying the procedures used in this study to their own data to develop prediction equations.