The Chesapeake Area Consortium for Higher Education was developed in 1995 to offer a physical therapist assistant program for three community colleges: Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), Charles County Community College, and Chesapeake College in Maryland, serving a nine-county rural area. An assessment was performed to determine needs in the area, and the three colleges jointly funded the set-up and continued operation of the program.

The program enrolls 24 students each year: 12 from AACC, and six each from Charles County Community College and Chesapeake College. Costs are shared between the three colleges in proportion to the number of students enrolled in the program at each institution.

The consortium has been very successful at sharing costs and resources at the three institutions. Student access to the physical therapy profession has been enhanced by the innovative nature of the program. Based on results of surveys, graduates and their employers have a high level of satisfaction with the quality of the program with and graduate preparedness for the profession.

Website: http://www.aacc.cc.md.us/ahd/phys_therapy_assist.htm