DO LICENSURE EXAM PASS RATE REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCREDITATION OF PHYSICAL THERAPIST EDUCATION PROGRAMS DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACT PROGRAMS WITH A HIGH PROPORTION OF STUDENTS FROM RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS? Awilda R. Haskins*; Neva Kirk-Sanchez Physical Therapy, Florida International University, Miami, FL PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of licensure exam pass rate requirements for program accreditation on CAPTE-accredited physical therapist education programs with a high proportion of students from racial and ethnic minority groups. BACKGROUNDS/SIGNIFICANCE: Standardized tests such as the GRE and the SAT have been found to be biased against students from racial and ethnic minority groups. The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) has increased the minimum licensure exam pass rate requirements for program accreditation. If the national physical therapy licensure examination is similarly biased against minorities, the higher licensure exam pass rate requirements for program accreditation could have an adverse impact on the accreditation of programs with a high proportion of students from ethnic and racial minority groups. SUBJECTS: The subjects included 78 PT programs. Of the PT program responses, 6 were from bachelor's programs, 66 were from master's programs, and 6 were from doctoral programs. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A mailed survey design was used. The survey was sent to 189 physical therapist programs educational programs. Ninety-two (92) surveys were returned (48.7% return rate), with 78 (85%) of those being useable. Data for the graduating class of 2001 were collected: degree offered, total number of graduates, number of minority students, and first-time-taker pass rate on the licensure exam. ANALYSES: Data were analyzed using SPSS(c). The dependent variable was each program's pass rate. The independent variables were the proportion of white non-Hispanic, black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, other minority, and total minority students. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between the independent and dependent variables (alpha = .01). RESULTS: Analysis revealed that there is no relationship between the proportion of students from racial and ethnic minority groups and the licensure exam pass rates for physical therapist education programs. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that the higher CAPTE standards for passing the physical therapist licensure examination do not disproportionately affect physical therapist education programs with a higher number of students from minority groups. FUNDING SOURCE: None. KEYWORDS: diversity, education, licensure Copyright 2009 by the American Physical Therapy Association. Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Educators, students, and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy (ISSN 1538-6724) by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Other types of customers who want permission to reprint should contact the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.