Prospective Applicants

*The program's CASPA portal will open for the 2025-2026 CASPA application cycle in September 2025 for the Fall 2026 cohort. 

Applicants to the Howard University Physician Assistant Program must meet all program admission requirements. To have an application considered and reviewed by the program's admissions committee for Fall 2026, the following items must be completed and CASPA verified by January 15, 2026:

1. Complete and submit application through CASPA (Central Application Service for Physician Assistants)-  CASPA | Applicant Login Page Section (liaisoncas.com)

Program Admission Requirements

1. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from a US institution of higher education accredited by a regional accrediting association or the degree equivalent in another country with a 3.0 GPA on a scale of 4.0 from the institution.
   • Students may apply while their bachelor's degree is in progress; however, degree completion and final transcripts are required prior to enrollment into the PA program.
   • Request official transcripts from all US institutions attended sent to CASPA.
   • Request official evaluations of transcripts from all foreign institutions sent to CASPA as follows:
     • Applicants with a bachelor’s degree earned from a foreign institution must send their transcripts to one of the member organizations associated with the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) for translation (https://www.naces.org/members). Then submit the results to CASPA and complete all Medical Core prerequisite courses (see below) in the United States. NO exceptions will be made. This is a requirement before admission can be granted. The academic evaluation requirement cannot be waived.
   • This requirement will be automatically waived for the TOEFL/IELTS requirement for international students who are from a nation where English is an official language or who have studied in the United States for at least four years.
   • Applicants who are not U.S. citizens are required to submit official test scores for Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) https://www.ets.org/toefl directly to CASPA. The required minimum score for admission is 90. The CASPA code is: 3709.
2. Applicants must have cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale.
3. Applicants must have a 3.0 prerequisite science GPA or higher on a 4.0 scale. HUPA does not accept Pass/Fail grades for any program prerequisites.
4. Applicants must successfully complete the following *prerequisite courses with a grade of “C” or higher (within the bachelor’s degree or through coursework at a regionally accredited US institution of higher education):
   • General Biology I with lab
   • General Biology II with lab
   • General Chemistry I with lab
   • General Chemistry II with lab
   • Human Anatomy and Physiology I with lab
   • Human Anatomy and Physiology II with lab
   • Medical Terminology
   • Microbiology with lab
   • Organic Chemistry with lab or Biochemistry with lab
   • Psychology
   • Social Sciences (Sociology/Anthropology/African American Studies/Communication/Philosophy)
   • Statistics

*Recommendation completed within 3 years of matriculation. *Alternate course sequence: Human Anatomy with lab and Hman Physiology with lab. 

*Prerequisite science requirements must be completed within seven (7) years prior to the date admissions.

•  Has previously completed the General Biology or General Chemistry requirement
• If an applicant has previously completed the General Biology or General Chemistry requirement with a grade of C or higher and has a higher-level science prerequisite course grade of B or higher in the same subject area within seven years, a course substitution for the program science prerequisite will be applied. The Admissions Committee will apply this substitution automatically.
• Knowledge-based testing or experiential experience does not satisfy any of the prerequisites.

The program does not award or grant advanced placement credit for courses within the program curriculum.

5. Submit a personal writing statement to the question in CASPA.
6. Submit a current resume/CV inclusive of education, volunteer, and professional experience, if applicable.
7. Submit 3 letters of recommendation addressing the applicant’s potential as a Physician Assistant.
   • One letter of recommendation must be from a practicing healthcare provider or academic professor or employer/supervisor.
8. Documentation of a minimum of 800 hours of direct patient care experience (paid or volunteer) is required. (HUPA Direct Patient Care Hours Form)
   • Direct patient care hours must be current within the 7 years application.
   • It is recommended that students obtain direct patient care hours in different medical settings, e.g., hospice, assisted living facility, hospital, underserved areas/countries, etc.
   • To obtain strong direct patient care experience, students are encouraged to obtain certification credentials, e.g., paramedic, nurse's aide, phlebotomist, medical assistant, radiologic technologist, EKG tech, EMT (I or Basic), LPN, dental hygienist, or clinical laboratorians (the student MUST have direct patient interaction, not just with specimens), or behavioral health technician.
   • All required direct patient care hours must be completed and submitted by the January 15th application deadline.
9. Documentation of up to 40 hours shadowing a practicing physician assistant is recommended, not required. (HUPA Shadowing Hours Form.
10. Applicants must be able to pass a background check and drug screening test. Background checks and drug screening tests must be performed within 90 days of matriculation of matriculation in the Howard University Physician Assistant Program, and prior to start of the clinical phase of the program.
11. Applicants must have no history of dismissal from another Physician Assistant program for academic or disciplinary reasons.
12. All applicants must meet the program's Technical Standards which can be found on the Howard University Physician Assistant Program website: (https://cnahs.howard.edu/node/1136).

Program Admissions Process

1. All applications submitted through CASPA are received by the Admissions Committee or designated faculty/staff to ensure applications meet the minimum criteria to be assigned to a program faculty member on the Admissions Committee for review and ranking based on the scoring rubrics designed by the program for this purpose. The components of the rubric are:
   • Cumulative GPA
   • Science GPA
   • Letters of recommendation
   • Direct patient care experience (paid/volunteer)
     • Prior healthcare experience
   • Physician assistant shadowing experience (not required)
2. The program awards preference related to the program mission to candidates with the following attributes (in no specific order):
   • Military veterans
   • Military reservists
   • Military-connected dependents
   • Graduates from Howard University
   • Graduates from an accredited HBCU

3. Qualified applicants who meet a minimum of 75% of total points possible on the Applicant Application Rating Summary Form will be invited to participate in an on-site (or virtual) interview. A maximum of 125 interview invitations are extended. 

   The interview process will include the following elements:

   • An on-site writing assignment on a healthcare related topic. Virtual applicants will submit a writing sample during the virtual interview via email within 5 minutes of completing the writing assignment.
   • Interview with a panel comprised of the program admissions committee members, program alumni, advisory board members, clinical preceptors, and other University faculty. All interviewers will complete an interview scoring rubric with recommendation. Any candidate who receives a “Do Not Recommend” in the interview process will not be considered for admission.
   • Applicants will participate in a group round table discussion with the program director.
   • All components of the interview process will be scored and submitted. Once all scores have been compiled, applicants will be ranked in numerical order based on points accumulated.

   *The program preference is to conduct an in-person interview.  However, requests for a virtual interview for extenuating circumstances will be reviewed for consideration.

4. Applicants who meet a minimum of 75% of total points possible after the interview will be eligible for program selection.
5. The Admissions Committee will review and vote on the applicants to make final decision on the applicants who will be offered acceptance to occupy the available seats for the incoming class. Each cohort will comprise of twenty (20) students.
   1. Students who meet the criteria but are greater than twenty (20) students will be placed on a waiting list.
   2. Students who are offered a seat in the program will be made aware through the Howard University Office of Admissions.
6. Upon an offer of admission, candidates are required to submit a non-refundable program good faith deposit ($700) and a non-refundable enrollment fee ($300) by the stated deadline to confirm acceptance of a seat in the new cohort.