Some is degree creep. A DPT doesn’t take much longer to earn than the old Master’s did. Is there enough of an increase in educational content to call the degree a doctorate? The accrediting body thinks so. But I think I’d have a hard time arguing the increase in education or the degree becoming a doctorate is all about the money… Who gets the money? The therapists don’t make more money, and the education is not so much longer that the institutions are collecting years more of tuition. The field, whether the old MS or the new DPT, has always been highly competitive for admission. I remember when I started working, before the DPT became the standard, some excellent good students needing to apply in more than one cycle to get a placement.
I had a PA student deliver my second child. That kid turns 21 soon. There’s been a PA at my family practice office since I started going there (late 80s, early 90s). The profession’s been around a while.