Program Overview
Students who are accepted into the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree option, and satisfactorily complete the program, will earn a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies degree.
There are two pathways for students interested in entering the Physician Assistant Studies major:
Pathway A: Applicants who have completed a bachelor’s degree from an accredited United States-based institution, and all prerequisite science coursework (see below) with a grade of “B” or better within the past eight calendar years*, should apply for direct entry into the professional phase (the didactic and clinical years) of the Physician Assistant Studies program. See the Selective Admission Criteria for complete selective admission requirements.
Pathway B: Applicants who are expected to complete their bachelor's degree in the spring semester of the application cycle are eligible for selection. Applicants may apply with a maximum of two outstanding prerequisite courses. Prerequisite science coursework must be completed within the past eight years. See the Selective Admission Criteria for complete selective admission requirements.
*Note, applicants must earn a Prerequisite Science GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0-point scale.
Application & Admission
Yes. The CASPA application should be completed during the open application cycle in which the student seeks to enter the professional phase of the program, after all Selective Admission Criteria have been met.
Applicants who are unsure which application (CASPA or Penn College) to complete should contact the Penn College PA Program Office at pa@pct.edu to discuss their situation prior to proceeding.
All applicants for selective admission to the professional phase of the program must submit a completed application through CASPA during the open cycle. The Penn College CASPA application opens on July 1 each year and closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on January 15th. Applications received after January 15 will not be considered for selection.
The program accepts up to thirty (30) students each application cycle for an August start. Cohort size may vary based on clinical site availability and alignment with accreditation standards.
Admission decisions, regardless of outcome, will be emailed to all applicants via the email address provided in their CASPA application by March 1st.
Prerequisites
The program accepts any bachelor’s degree completed at an accredited United States-based institution, provided the applicant has satisfactorily completed all of the prerequisite science courses listed below within the eight calendar years preceding the selection year. Applicants must earn of at least 3.0 on a 4.0-point scale.
Students planning to complete their bachelor’s degree at Penn College should consider the Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree (major code BMC), as this degree contains all of the necessary prerequisite science courses used in the PA program’s selective admission process. Applicants who complete their bachelor’s degree through Penn College do not receive a competitive advantage over applicants who complete their bachelor’s at another accredited U.S.-based institution.
Prerequisite Science Coursework:
- Biology: two courses with labs; acceptable courses include:
o 100-level introductory series courses (e.g., General Biology I & II, Introduction to Biology I & II, Principles of Biology I & II, etc.)
o Cell Biology
o Molecular Biology
o Evolution and/or Ecology
o *Genetics and microbiology are not acceptable as they are separate requirements. - Anatomy & Physiology: two courses with labs; acceptable courses include:
o A&P I & II with labs
o Separate Anatomy (with lab) and Physiology (with lab) courses - Microbiology with lab
- General Chemistry: two courses with labs; acceptable courses include General Chemistry I & II or Principles of Chemistry I & II
- Organic Chemistry with lab
- Biochemistry
- Genetics
All applicants seeking selection into the professional phase of the program must document 500 prior experience hours including 16 hours spent shadowing a practicing healthcare provider (PA, NP, MD, and/or DO) in CASPA prior to the January 15th application deadline. These hours can be any combination of Patient Care experience, Healthcare experiences, and/or Shadowing.
Only prior experience hours obtained within the past five calendar years will be accepted. All submitted hours will be reviewed for suitability by the PA Program Selection Committee. The committee may not accept all experience hours submitted. Provide all relevant hours from the past five calendar years (not just the minimum 500) along with a detailed description of key responsibilities for each experience.
Note: Please be aware that virtual shadowing hours will not be counted towards the 16-hour requirement. Additionally, any school-related activities coursework or prior rotations that contributed to grade completion will not be considered as prior experience hours.
Applicants can track hours earned prior to the application cycle via the Experience Tracking Sheet . Applicants will enter experience hours into CASPA during the application cycle for which they are applying for selection.
No.
Note: If you have completed the PA-CAT exam, it is encouraged to submit your exam results with your application; however, it is not a mandatory requirement.
Yes, in some cases. All prerequisite courses must be completed at an accredited United States-based institution without exception. Courses taken at other institutionally accredited colleges and universities may be eligible for transfer provided the courses are comparable to courses offered at Penn College and are applicable to this degree. The PA program WILL NOT accept prerequisite science coursework from certain institutions, Please refer to Penn College's Transfer Course Equivalency Search to determine if Penn College will accept the course. Courses that are not listed in Penn College's Transfer Course Equivalency Search may not be accepted.
No credit is given for internships/co-op courses or academic courses with pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory grades. The program does not award advanced standing for any physician assistant professional phase coursework completed at a different PA program.
NOTE: Penn College will accept “pass” equivalent grades, assigned as a result of COVID-19 for the Spring 2020 semester. Students seeking to be ranked through the selective admission process will be asked to provide a letter grade for all pass/fail coursework. In a case where a student is unable to secure a letter grade from their transferring institution, those course(s) will not be included in the science grade-point calculation, or other grade-related criteria, associated with selection. For more information, please refer to the Selective Admission Criteria.
College credit earned before high school graduation is subject to standard transfer protocol and will be evaluated only if the college where the course was taken issues an official college transcript.
For additional information on the process for transferring credits, please refer to the Transferring Credits webpage.
All prerequisite science coursework must be completed during the eight calendar years immediately preceding the intended year of selection. To calculate this eight-year period, subtract 8 from the year you plan to begin the program. For example, if an applicant is applying to the January 2026 selection for an August 2026 program start, all prerequisite coursework must have been completed in 2018 or later (2026 – 8 = 2018).
Testing & Selection
Casper is an online, open-response situational judgement test developed and administered by Acuity Insights. It is used by academic programs to help assess applicants for non-academic attributes or “people skills.” Penn College utilizes the Casper test in its selection process to assess applicants, rather than conducting interviews. We do this to eliminate the unconscious bias often associated with the interview process.
Acuity Insights administers Casper as part of Acuity Insights Assessments, which is comprised of the Casper test and another assessment called Duet. Penn College does NOT use Duet in its selection process and does not require applicants to complete Duet. Students may only take Casper once per application cycle, and the results are only valid for that cycle. Please refer to Casper Test for registration instructions.
For additional information, please refer to the Acuity Insights website.
To view the current application cycle Casper test dates and times, visit the Acuity Insights App . Click on the "Dates and Fees" tab at the top of the website. Under "Search Test Information," select "United States of America." Under "Programs," scroll to "Professional Health Sciences" and select "Physician Assistant." Finally, under "Schools," select "Pennsylvania College of Technology." All available dates and times for our program will be listed.
The science grade-point calculation factors in the grade value for attempted prerequisite science courses outlined in the Selective Admission Criteria. This differs from the graduation grade-point average (GPA), which is a calculation based on total grade points achieved for all credits attempted toward the student’s current major or completed bachelor's degree
For additional information please refer to the Understanding Grade-Point Average (GPA) webpage.
No, plus/minus grades are not used when calculating grade-point calculations, only the base letter grade earned is used (e.g., a B+ is a B, and an A- is an A).
Deposit
Yes. Penn College requires applicants who are offered a seat in the PA program to hold that seat with a $500 non-refundable deposit. Only students who are offered a seat will be required to submit the deposit, and instructions for paying the deposit will be included in the offer letter. The $500 deposit is applied towards the first semester of didactic coursework for students who matriculate into the PA program. The deposit is not refunded to applicants who pay the deposit but do not matriculate into the PA program.