Lisa Lopez Snyder
April 8, 2025
The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (HRS) is thrilled and proud to announce that U.S. News & World Report has ranked our clinical doctorate programs in Physical Therapy (DPT) as #4 and Occupational Therapy (OTD) as #9 among the Best Graduate Schools in their respective fields for 2025.
In addition, our online Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and AS to BS Completion Degree in Radiological Sciences programs rank among the nation’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for 2025 at #5. These programs account for half of Ohio State's online program portfolio receiving this distinction.
The Ohio State DPT program’s leap from #8 in 2024 to #4 in 2025 and the OTD ranking increase from #11 to #9 in the nation, reaffirms their reputation for excellence.
“We’re grateful for the high esteem in which our program is held by colleagues from around the country,” says John Buford, PT, PhD, FAPTA, professor and director of the Division of Physical Therapy. He says that in 2014, when the program ranked 19, it set a goal to reach the top 10 by 2020. “We reached that goal in 2016, and have continued to move up since then,” he says.
“Our mission is to advance the profession of physical therapy,” he adds. “We take that seriously by engaging in high level research, scholarship, leadership and professional service. But the single most important thing we do to advance the profession is to help prepare our doctorate of physical therapy students for a career of excellence in patient care."
For Erika Kemp, OTD, clinical associate professor and program director in the Division of Occupational Therapy, the OTD rankings reflect how hard the program is working to be responsive to the changes in both health care and higher education, particularly as the division had set its sights on being within the top 10.
“This includes a focus on knowledge translation through both faculty research and students’ work and community expert mentors as they co-create the innovative capstone projects and experiences,” she says.
Carmen P. DiGiovine, PhD, ATP/SMS, RET, clinical professor and director of the Division of Occupational Therapy agrees. “Our passion for knowledge translation shows up in everything we do, whether it is education, research, service or clinical practice. By translating that knowledge into educational, clinical and community practice, we maximize impact on our students and our community.”
Jimmy Oñate, PhD, AT, FNATA, interim HRS school director and interim vice dean for Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in The Ohio State University College of Medicine, adds: “These recognitions reflect the positive response to the flexible academic environment that HRS programs provide and that professionals seek, and the highest standards for academic excellence we strive to achieve.”