Eligibility Requirements

Students must be nominated from physical therapist professional education programs and physical therapist assistant education programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education of the association.

Student nominees should be in one of the following phases of their educational program:

• Physical therapist education program students must be within 12 months of completing all requirements for graduation from the entry-level program when the nomination process for the Honors & Awards Program opens on Sept. 1. [Must be scheduled to graduate between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024.]
• Physical therapist assistant education program students must be enrolled in the final year of study. For physical therapist assistant education programs that have a part-time curriculum, all nominees must be in the final year of the curriculum of that institution. Each institution must determine the minimum number of credit hours required for final year status. Based on this, all nominees must be in the final year of the curriculum to be nominated. [Must be scheduled to graduate between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024.]

Nominations of students from an educational institution will be limited to one physical therapist education student and one physical therapist assistant student.

Criteria for Selection

• Superior scholastic performance.
• Past productivity.
• Evidence of potential contribution to physical therapy.
• Service to the American Physical Therapy Association.

A strong application should demonstrate the following:

Academic honors, awards, scholarships, and honorary societies.

• Healthcare related.
• Non-healthcare related.
• School related.

Extracurricular activities (include leadership positions, offices held, and participation on committees.

• Healthcare related.
• Non-healthcare related.
• School related.
• APTA member activities.
• Meetings attended
• Component level.
• National level.
• Other.

Evidence of potential contributions to the physical therapy profession.

• Publications.
• Presentations.
• Research.
• Other.

Employment experience.

• While enrolled in PT/PTA school
• Relevant experience prior to PT/PTA school

Letters of support that are positive, cite specific examples of professional accomplishments, and provide additional information on depth, scope, and quality in a convincing manner.

What Recipients Receive

An award of $5,000 will be granted to each physical therapist professional education student recipient and $3,000 to each physical therapist assistant education student recipient.

Student recipients will receive an award presented by APTA's Board of Directors at an APTA national event with monetary awards mailed directly to recipients. An official announcement will appear in an association publication.

Submission Requirements

Nominees for the award will be selected by the faculty and the student body of the program in which the nominee is enrolled.

During the online process, the following documents will be required for upload (note these forms will be available when the application process opens):

• Completed student application form.  
• Current enrollment verification form.  
• Student essay as explained in the application form.
• Two letters in support of the nomination, one from a representative of the student body and one from a representative of the faculty, that specifically focus on a nominee's worthiness for this award, not to exceed two pages each (Note: If more than two letters of support are received, only the first two will be considered. The nominator will be asked to remove additional letters.).

Submit a Nomination

The nominations call for the Honors and Awards program is open Sept. 1- Dec. 1. Nominations must be submitted through our online portal by Dec. 1; late submissions will not be considered. Selected recipients and their nominators will be notified in May.

Additional Resources

For questions regarding the nomination process or the award, please contact honorsandawards@apta.org.