James Madison University has a 4+3 articulation agreement with the DPT Program at Arcadia University.

To be eligible for the terms of this agreement, students must minimally be matriculated full-time at JMU for their final four semesters in one of the following majors:

• Health Sciences 
• Kinesiology
• Athletic Training
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Psychology
• Integrated Science & Technology
• Nursing 
• Dietetics 

For admission and entry into the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Arcadia University, candidates must submit an application available through the PT Centralized Application Service (www.ptcas.org).  All requirements listed on the PTCAS website for Arcadia University (including courses, grades, GRE scores, observation hours) must be met.  The application deadline is published on the program specific page in PTCAS. 

To be eligible for the terms of the articulation agreement, JMU students must submit the completed PTCAS application by the published deadline, meeting all requirements listed in PTCAS as well as the following additional requirements:

1. Students must achieve an overall GPA of 3.5 and a Prerequisite GPA of 3.5.
2. Students must have a recommendation from the Pre-PT advisor at JMU, in addition to the recommendations stipulated on PTCAS website.

Arcadia University will grant assured admission each year into the Doctorate in Physical Therapy program for up to three qualified JMU students.  If there are more than three applicants in a given year, the decision will be based on overall ranking by Arcadia and the remaining candidates can still be considered for a seat with the general pool.

Students whose credentials do not meet the requirements for automatic admission to the DPT program may still apply.  They will be considered in relation to other qualified candidates from the general application pool.

COVID-19 related information

• Due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many institutions replaced letter grades for the spring semester of 2020 with grades of Pass or Fail (Credit or No-Credit). Given this, Arcadia will accept a grade of “Credit” for any prerequisite course taken at JMU in the spring, 2020 semester in the same manner that it would accept a grade of “C” or better.
• At this point, Arcadia will accept a “Credit” grade only for courses taken in the Spring, 2020 semester.
• Students are advised to frequently visit the website of the Arcadia DPT program (Arcadia DPT) to stay abreast of other changes that may be instituted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For further questions regarding this agreement, please contact Bre Taylor at 215-517-2414 or by email at PTadmission@arcadia.edu.