Career Regret Related to Educational Debt Within the Physical Therapy Profession

Educational debt and the economic value of entry-level education is a growing concern within the physical therapy profession. The purposes of this study were to determine if physical therapists (PTs) and physical therapist assistants (PTAs) had career regret related to their educational debt, and to analyze the relationships between career regret and participant demographics, education, employment, and financial information.

One thousand three hundred PTs and 234 PTAs within 10 years of graduation.

Participants completed a survey assessing their demographics, education, employment status, financial situation, and career regret related to educational debt. Chi-squared analyses and multivariate logistic regression modeling were used to determine factors associated with PT and PTA career regret.

In total, 41.3% of PTs and 22.1% of PTAs reported career regret related to their educational debt. Of the 11 factors significantly associated with PT career regret status, 6 remained significant predictors in the multivariate model. These 6 factors included current financial situation, still having educational debt, working in a preferred setting, ever working more than 1 job, graduating with an expected educational debt amount, and American Physical Therapy Association membership status. Career regret status among PTAs was significantly associated with 8 factors: age category, ethnicity, current financial situation, still having educational debt, type of academic institution attended, educational debt at the time of graduation, graduating with an expected educational debt amount, and debt management education received during PTA school.

This study evaluated career regret related to educational debt in both PTs and PTAs. Career regret was particularly high, especially among surveyed PTs. Results highlight the need to integrate debt management education throughout PT/PTA curricula. Prospective and current students should be provided with the profession's debt-to-income ratio, and innovative curricular models, along with additional financial resources, should be explored to mitigate educational debt.