Physician Assistant Program FAQ
The program matriculates a new class every January.
Yes, a bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited college or university must be completed by October 1 of the year prior to matriculation. Degrees earned outside of the U.S. must be accepted by a U.S. equivalency reporting agency as an equivalent from a foreign institution.
International applicants with a degree earned outside the U.S. must meet the following criteria:
- Submit your foreign degree coursework to a U.S. based evaluation service for a course-by-course US equivalency report. This report should then be sent directly to CASPA from the evaluation service. Click here to learn more about foreign evaluation vendors used by CASPA.
- All required prerequisite courses must be taken at a regionally accredited U.S. higher education institution and be verifiable through official transcripts
- Must communicate well in English
- TOEFL Exam Score: Minimum 550 paper-based exam, 80 internet based
The program requires a minimum cumulative, science, and prerequisite GPA of 3.0. CMU PA Program uses CASPA calculations for applicant’s cumulative and science GPAs. Quality of GPA above the minimum required 3.0 will be considered during the applicant screening process. If you have questions about the GPA calculation process, we recommend you reach out to CASPA.
A minimum of 500 hours of health care experience is required at the time of application. Applicants will have the opportunity to report relevant health care experience in the Supporting Information section of the CASPA application. Both paid and volunteer experiences are acceptable. The number of reported health care experience hours will be considered during the applicant screening process.
Average statistics of academic and experiential qualifications for the CMU PA cohort of 2025 are as follows:
Averall Cumulative GPA: 3.64
Average Prerequisite GPA: 3.75
Average Health Care Experience Hours: 3,493
Connection to Western Colorado 50% of cohort
Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine: 25% of cohort
We recommend when tracking your hours, record the location, supervisor, contact information, your position, and a short description of an applicant's involvement in patient care, and the number of hours you completed at each location.
Yes, you are able to submit the CASPA application with coursework still in progress. Up to nine semester credits of prerequisite coursework can be outstanding at the time of application. A plan to complete outstanding coursework must be documented in the CASPA application. All applicants must complete the required prerequisites. Any outstanding prerequisites must be completed with a grade of “B” or higher. Any grades below “B” can disqualify any applicant from matriculating into the program. Although applicants can apply with outstanding prerequisites, please keep in mind that all prerequisites must be successfully completed and transcripts for outstanding prerequisite coursework must be received by CMU no later than October 1 of the year prior to matriculation.
Yes, we strongly encourage you to complete all admission requirements early! The CMU PA Program uses a rolling admissions process. The selection committee will begin review of applicants based on completion date of all admission requirements. An invitation to interview will be offered to the most competitive applicants. With this approach, the program may offer all available seats to qualified applicants prior to the September 1 admission cycle deadline.
Applications are considered complete and ready for review after all admission requirements are met including:
1) The CASPA application has been verified
2) The CASPer Exam score has been received by the CMU MPAS Program
3) The CMU $50 Graduate Application fee has been paid
Applicants are encouraged to consider program deadlines carefully and start the application process early. Once an applicant has completed and submitted the CASPA application, CASPA will verify the information and this process can take up to four weeks. Once an application is verified by CASPA, it is forwarded to CMU PA Program for consideration. Forwarding of an application may take an additional two weeks beyond the verification date. The CASPA application cycle closes September 1. More information on CASPA and the verification process can be found at: http://help.liaisonedu.com/CASPA_Applicant_Help_Center
We highly recommend that all prerequisites are completed within the last five years. However, there is no time restriction or cutoff date for prerequisite course requirements. All prerequisites must be successfully completed and transcripts for outstanding prerequisite coursework must be received by CMU no later than October 1 of the year prior to matriculation.
The best way to communicate with the PA Program and MPAS Admissions Team is through email. The Admissions Coordinator is responsive to questions submitted within three business days. We encourage applicants to contact us anytime by clicking HERE or sending an email to [email protected].
Western Colorado includes the following counties: Archuleta, Delta, Dolores, Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Gunnison, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mesa, Mineral, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Routt, San Juan, San Miguel, Saguache, and Summit.
If an applicant believes the requirements have been met for a prerequisite course but that course is not listed on our prerequisite course list (see the Prerequisite Course Requirements page), they may fill out the prerequisite waiver form with appropriate documentation (i.e., syllabus or course description from university website). This waiver form and supporting documents must be emailed to [email protected] prior to the application deadline for it to be considered for the current application cycle.