Quick answer:5 colleges within 100 miles of Merced, California award a physical therapist assistant degree, the nearest about 53 miles away (IPEDS Completions, 2024).
Physical Therapist Assistant Program Access Near Merced, California
Distance from Merced
Colleges awarding this degree
Within 25 miles
0
Within 50 miles
0
Within 100 miles
5
Within 250 miles
11
Source: IPEDS Completions, 2024, counting institutions that reported awarding this degree, joined to IPEDS institution coordinates. Distances are straight-line.
Access around Merced is thinner than in the larger California metros. The nearest college awarding this degree is roughly 53 miles away and 5 sit within 100 miles, which is the case where an online or low-residency program earns its keep.
Choosing A Physical Therapist Assistant Program From Merced
The subject matter does not change by location: kinesiology, therapeutic exercise, physical agents and modalities, and supervised clinical education. What changes is how you take it. Ask each college whether the program holds accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), how much of the coursework is delivered online, and which components require you on campus. Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
Colleges Near Merced
How we rank schools – graduation rate, graduate earnings, cost and retention.
Advertising plays no part.
This page lists 10 schools
within 245 miles, nearest first in 25-mile
distance bands, then by BOC Score inside each band with the highest at the top.
10 of them carry a score.
LOCAL RANK
Location / proximity to this page
Defines the local group
Graduation rate how often students finish
30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry whether it paid off
25%
Average net price what students actually pay after aid; lower ranks higher
20%
Retention rate how many come back for year two
15%
Fully online availability whether you can study while working
10%
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.
Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal
about the institution rather than about this subject.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from
this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
What Physical Therapist Assistants Earn in California
Physical Therapist Assistants in California earn a median $83,110 per year against $68,380 nationally (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The California median for physical therapist assistants is $83,110 per year, above the national median of $68,380, on state employment of 9,400 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
These are statewide figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish wages at city level, so no page can tell you what this job pays in Merced specifically. For the metro-level picture where it is published, and the full percentile spread, see the California page.
U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Completions, 2024 - institutions awarding this degree, with IPEDS institution coordinates
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 - Physical Therapist Assistants (SOC 31-2021)
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
