Multi-Year Trends in NPTE Preparation: Study Behaviors, Content Challenges, and Exam Performance (2017–2024)

The dataset consists of cross-sectional survey responses collected from 2,111 physical therapy students across the United States who were eligible to take the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) between 2017 and 2024. Data were collected electronically over a seven-year period and stratified into pre-pandemic (2017–2019; n = 691), during-pandemic (2020–2022; n = 700), and post-pandemic (2022–2024; n = 720) cohorts based on NPTE eligibility dates. Variables include self-reported study behaviors (study frequency and location), preparation resource utilization (textbooks and commercial review materials), perceived content- and system-level preparation difficulty aligned with the NPTE content outline, and self-reported NPTE scaled scores for first attempts. All variables are categorical or ordinal and were de-identified prior to analysis. The dataset does not contain personal identifiers or institutional affiliations and was designed to capture longitudinal trends in NPTE preparation behaviors and perceptions across multiple cohorts rather than individual-level trajectories.