Georgia·Healthcare Support Occupations·SOC 31-2021

Best Physical Therapist Assistant programs in Georgia, ranked by enrollment

Assist physical therapists in providing physical therapy treatments and procedures.

7 schools in Georgia run programs that feed this job, graduating 73 people a year. The job pays a median of $72,800 in Georgia across about 2,620 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledPhysical Therapy Assistant (PTA)Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA)Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant (LPTA)Certified Physical Therapist Assistant (CPTA)AssistantPhysiotherapy AssistantLicensed Physical Therapy AssistantHome Care Physical Therapy Assistant
Graduates / yr
73
in Georgia
Median pay · Georgia
$72,800
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,620
people employed
Schools
7
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
37%
across those schools
Median net price
$25,764
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Georgia that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Georgia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Georgia (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Georgia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 51.0806In Georgia
73
100.0%
7$29,507$11,000

Top 7 schools in Georgia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 7 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Chattahoochee Technical College
Marietta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
15Physical Therapy Assistant$40,45838%
2Lanier Technical College
Gainesville, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
14Physical Therapy Assistant$31,80534%
3Athens Technical College
Athens, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
12Physical Therapy Assistant$29,37451%
4Albany State University
Albany, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
11Physical Therapy Assistant$46,06131%
5Central Georgia Technical College
Warner Robins, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
11Physical Therapy Assistant$29,91147%
6South University - Savannah
Savannah, GA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
6Physical Therapy Assistant$39,7619%$25,764
7Atlanta Technical College
Atlanta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Physical Therapy Assistant$27,99749%

All 7 schools in Georgia

Every school in Georgia with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Georgia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Chattahoochee Technical CollegeMariettaPublic151
Lanier Technical CollegeGainesvillePublic141
Athens Technical CollegeAthensPublic121
Albany State UniversityAlbanyPublic111
Central Georgia Technical CollegeWarner RobinsPublic111
South University - SavannahSavannahPrivate for-profit61
Atlanta Technical CollegeAtlantaPublic41

What physical therapist assistants earn in Georgia

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Georgia
$72,800
Mean annual
$68,580
Jobs in state
2,620
What the range looks like
10th pct$43,400Median$72,80090th pct$89,600
Versus the national median
+6.5%

U.S. median $68,380. Georgia pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.74×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Georgia

Dalton, GA
$66,650median
30 jobs
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
$74,730median
1,370 jobs
Savannah, GA
$63,600median
70 jobs
Athens-Clarke County, GA
$65,910median
70 jobs
Gainesville, GA
$65,040median
60 jobs
Macon-Bibb County, GA
$68,070median
50 jobs
Rome, GA
$71,680median
80 jobs
Brunswick-St. Simons, GA
$72,500median
30 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+22.0%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
19,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
24,500
111,500 → 136,000
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Physical Therapist Assistants page.

How to become a Physical Therapist Assistant

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingMonitoringWritingCritical ThinkingReading Comprehension

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Georgia

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 1 majors mapped to Physical Therapist Assistants1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 51.0806Physical Therapy Assistant

Common questions

Answers for people weighing physical therapist assistants programs in Georgia.

What degree do you need to become a Physical Therapist Assistant?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Physical Therapy Assistant, which awarded 73 degrees in Georgia in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Physical Therapist Assistant?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. Together they graduate about 73 people a year in Georgia.

How much do physical therapist assistants earn in Georgia?+

The median is $72,800 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.5% above the U.S. median of $68,380. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for physical therapist assistants growing?+

BLS projects a +22.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 19,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Georgia?+

7 institutions in Georgia reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do physical therapist assistants work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA), Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA), Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant (LPTA), Certified Physical Therapist Assistant (CPTA) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-2021.

Physical Therapist Assistants in other statesCaliforniaTexasFloridaOhioIllinoisMichiganArizonaOklahoma
Programs in GeorgiaPhysical Therapy Assistant

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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