Admissions
The UNC Physician Assistant program is a graduate program awarding a Master of Health Sciences in Physician Assistant Studies. Our program is committed to diversity in the student body and in the physician assistant workforce. We encourage persons from all socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and religious backgrounds to apply.
We especially encourage veterans from all areas of the U.S. Armed Forces to apply to our program. We recognize that your service and experiences would provide a valuable perspective in our program. We give preference to veterans who served in a medical capacity while serving in the military, particularly, Special Forces Medical Sergeants. Preference is also given to applicants who meet the mission and goals of the program.
In alignment with the UNC mission to educate residents to meet the workforce needs of the state of North Carolina, the UNC PA Program has collaborated with NC A&T to create the Aggies to Tar Heels PA Pathway. This pathway ensures that UNC will admit two qualified applicants from NC A&T each admissions cycle. These students must meet all current requirements as published on the UNC PA Program website and participate in the interview process.
How to Apply
The UNC PA Program is currently processing applications for January 2025 admissions. CASPA is closed.
Carefully review the requirements for January 2025 admissions within the tab below. Further details regarding requirements can be found in the FAQ tab.
Advising Worksheet
Use this tool to monitor your preparation progress and review helpful tips.
Applicants interested in starting the program in January 2025
The UNC PA program participates in the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) online application process. Follow the steps below to complete your application:
- CASPA applications open April 27, 2023 and close October 1, 2023. Only applications in CASPA with a verified status by October 1, 2023 will be considered.
- Complete a CASPA application by October 1, 2023. A UNC supplemental application has been sent out and is due January 15, 2024 along with an application fee of $95.
- A verified status is given when an application is e-submitted and all transcripts, payments, at least three letters of reference have been received and verified by CASPA and attached to the application. Documents should be sent several weeks prior to this date to ensure items arrive on time.
Admissions Requirements
GPA
Applicants must meet the following GPA thresholds (no exceptions):
Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (includes all academic coursework)
OR
Last 60 semester hours of 3.0
Bachelor’s Degree
Degree from a regionally accredited institution in the U.S. to be conferred by December 31, 2024.
Prerequisite Coursework
Minimum cumulative prerequisite GPA of 3.2. See below for accepted coursework and click to find out if your courses will count.
| Required | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semester Hours | Quarter Hours | UNC Chapel Hill Equivalencies | NC Community College Equivalencies | |
| Anatomy* | 3 | 5 | EXSS 155; EXSS 175 or BIO 252 & BIO 253* | BIO 168 & BIO 169* |
| Physiology | 3 | 5 | EXSS 256; EXSS 276 or PHYI 292 | |
| Biochemistry or Organic Chemistry | 3 | 5 | CHEM 261 or CHEM 430 | CHM 251 or CHM 271 |
| Microbiology | 3 | 5 | BIO 422 or MCRO 251 | BIO 175 or BIO 275 |
| Sociology or Psychology | 3 | 5 | PSYC 101 or higher or SOCI 101 or higher | PSY or SOC prefix course |
| Statistics or Biostatistics | 3 | 5 | STOR 151, 155 or PSYC 210 | BUS 228, MAT 152 or PSY 285 |
| Medical Terminology** | CLAS 126 | MED 121 & MED 122 |
* A&P Human-based highly preferred. Applicants completing A&P I are required to take A&P II. Completion of A&P I and A&P II do not require additional physiology coursework.
** A certificate of completion may also be accepted in lieu of academic credit.
Notes: Prerequisite courses must be completed with grades “C” or better (not C minus) . It is strongly recommended, but not required, that all prerequisite courses be taken within the last seven years. Students with prerequisite courses older than seven years are encouraged to audit or retake courses to refresh their understanding of the subject matter. All coursework must be completed by the time of CASPA submission.
Patient Care Experience
A minimum of 1,000 hours of paid, direct, hands-on patient care.
- Examples include experiences in which you are directly responsible for patient care: prescribing medication, performing procedures, directing a course of treatment, work as an active nurse, EMT, etc.
- Positions must be paid.
- These hours must be completed no later than the application deadline
- Applicants are required to confirm their patient care experiences during application on our program Patient Care Experience Verification Form. Download the Patient Care Experience Verification Form.
GRE
The GRE is a not a required component of the admissions application and is not recommended to be completed for submission. If you wish to submit GRE scores for review, the scores must be sent to CASPA using the code 6945.
Letters of Recommendation
Three (3) Letters of Recommendation are required and should include the following:
- At least two of the three letters are required from experienced health care professionals who observed or supervised you in a clinical setting.
- At least one letter is required from a practicing Physician Assistant.
- No personal recommendations are accepted.
- It is strongly recommended that letters of recommendation are from references who have known you for at least one year.
Technical Standards
Students must meet technical standards for admission, progression, and graduation from the PA program.
Applicants interested in starting the program in January 2026
In an effort to better serve our applicants and prospective students, the UNC PA Program will open in April 2025 for applications to be submitted for matriculation in January 2026. All applications must be submitted through the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) online process.
The UNC PA program participates in the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) online application process. Follow the steps below to complete your application:
- Applications for January 2026 will open in April 2025.
- Complete a CASPA application and submit a UNC supplemental application along with an applicant fee of $95. Applicants should carefully read over CASPA’s application instructions early in the application period to familiarize themselves with the application process and requirements. It is the responsibility of the applicant to meet the required established deadlines.
- A verified status is given when an application is e-submitted and all transcripts, payments, at least three letters of reference have been received and verified by CASPA and attached to the application. Documents should be sent several weeks prior to this date to ensure items arrive on time.
Admissions Requirements
GPA
Applicants must meet the following GPA thresholds (no exceptions):
Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 (includes all academic coursework)
OR
Last 60 semester hours of 3.0
Bachelor’s Degree
Degree from a regionally accredited institution in the U.S. to be conferred by December 31, 2025.
Prerequisite Coursework
Minimum cumulative prerequisite GPA of 3.2. See below for accepted coursework and click to find out if your courses will count.
| Required | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semester Hours | Quarter Hours | UNC Chapel Hill Equivalencies | NC Community College Equivalencies | |
| Anatomy* | 3 | 5 | EXSS 155; EXSS 175 or BIO 252 & BIO 253* | BIO 168 & BIO 169* |
| Physiology | 3 | 5 | EXSS 256; EXSS 276 or PHYI 292 | |
| Biochemistry or Organic Chemistry | 3 | 5 | CHEM 261 or CHEM 430 | CHM 251 or CHM 271 |
| Microbiology | 3 | 5 | BIO 422 or MCRO 251 | BIO 175 or BIO 275 |
| Sociology or Psychology | 3 | 5 | PSYC 101 or higher or SOCI 101 or higher | PSY or SOC prefix course |
| Statistics or Biostatistics | 3 | 5 | STOR 151, 155 or PSYC 210 | BUS 228, MAT 152 or PSY 285 |
| Medical Terminology** | CLAS 126 | MED 121 & MED 122 |
* A&P Human-based highly preferred. Applicants completing A&P I are required to take A&P II. Completion of A&P I and A&P II do not require additional physiology coursework.
** A certificate of completion may also be accepted in lieu of academic credit.
Notes: Prerequisite courses must be completed with grades “C” or better (not C minus) . It is strongly recommended, but not required, that all prerequisite courses be taken within the last seven years. Students with prerequisite courses older than seven years are encouraged to audit or retake courses to refresh their understanding of the subject matter.
Patient Care Experience
A minimum of 1,000 hours of paid, direct, hands-on patient care.
- Examples include experiences in which you are directly responsible for patient care: prescribing medication, performing procedures, directing a course of treatment, work as an active nurse, EMT, etc.
- Positions may be paid.
- These hours must be completed no later than the CASPA deadline.
- Applicants are required to confirm their patient care experiences during application on our program Patient Care Experience Verification Form. Download the Patient Care Experience Verification Form.
Letters of Recommendation
Three (3) Letters of Recommendation are required and should include the following:
- At least two of the three letters are required from experienced health care professionals who observed or supervised you in a clinical setting.
- At least one letter is required from a practicing Physician Assistant.
- No personal recommendations are accepted.
- It is strongly recommended that letters of recommendation are from references who have known you for at least one year.
Technical Standards
Students must meet technical standards for admission, progression, and graduation from the PA program.
General Admissions
Where do I send my application materials?Each admission cycle’s application submissions vary year to year. On average we receive approximately 700-800 completed applications.
We admit 20 students each year in January.
Applicants applying for the January 2025 admissions cycle: We expect to finalize admission decisions in Spring 2024.
Applicants applying for the January 2026 admissions cycle: We expect to finalize admission decision in early October 2025.
Accepted applicants will receive a phone call invitation with a follow-up formal email letter of invitation.
Yes. A $1,000 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your seat in the program. Your deposit will be used towards your first semester tuition bill.
Yes, waitlisted applicants will be notified in their decisions letters indicating their position on the waitlist. We do not give specific waitlist positions as we utilize a holistic admissions process for waitlisted applicants. We cannot guarantee or estimate probability of acceptance based on an applicant’s position on the waitlist. Acceptance offers extended to applicants on the waitlist are distributed according to holistic review by the Admissions Committee and may be extended up until the first day of classes in January.
No.
No, the cycle of admission runs annually. Anyone wishing to defer acceptance will have to reapply to the program.
No. The PA program does not waive curriculum requirements or accept transfer of credit from other PA programs or other graduate degree programs. Admitted students, regardless of level of education, are required to complete all curriculum requirements. All relevant coursework required for graduation must be completed in the UNC-Chapel Hill PA program.
The UNC PA program admits only full-time students. The program strongly discourages employment while enrolled. It is very difficult to maintain even part-time employment while enrolled in the PA program. Students must comply with the program’s academic schedule, and employment responsibilities are not a justification to miss scheduled learning activities or an explanation for poor performance.
All applicants, including graduates from foreign institutions, must hold either U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status at the time of application. Candidates with pending citizenship or permanent residency will not be considered. All applicants for whom English is not their first language must submit test scores to demonstrate their English proficiency. We accept TOEFL. Our TOEFL code is C182. Strong applicants typically score 100 or higher.
Applicants are required to self-disclose any misdemeanors or felony convictions, other than minor traffic violations, including deferred adjudications, with the understanding that non-disclosure/falsification may lead to dismissal and disclosure may prevent enrollment. Additionally, in response to requirements in the professional practice environment stating that facilities providing care to patients must minimize the risk to patients that may be presented by persons with prior criminal activity, a criminal background check will be completed on all accepted applicants prior to matriculation and again prior to clinical rotations.
Bachelor’s Degree
Do I need to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the health sciences to apply?No; however, a baccalaureate or graduate degree earned at a regionally accredited U.S. institution is required (regardless of major), as well as the required prerequisites.
Regional accreditation means courses approved by one of the six regional accreditation organizations. Please see this link for a listing of the six organizations. Be aware that many for-profit institutions do not have regional accreditation, but only national accreditation.
If you have a baccalaureate or graduate degree from a non-U.S. regionally accredited institution you can apply for admission if your prerequisite courses were completed at a regionally accredited U.S. institution. There are no waivers of this policy.
Prerequisite Coursework
Can substitutions be made for required prerequisites?No, we do not accept substitutions for our required prerequisites, no matter your work experience or education level. We do not waive them for students who are already working in health care or who have already completed graduate education. There is a general level of knowledge that we want all students to have when starting our program.
No. Courses taken at a community college are accepted and are considered equally. Taking them at a four-year college does not help or hinder your application. The institution should be regionally accredited. Online courses taken at regionally accredited institutions will also be accepted.
Courses can be taken at regionally accredited four-year institutions or community colleges (online or in-person) and are considered equally.
No. We do not require labs for our prerequisite courses.
If you retake a prerequisite course, we will use the higher of the two grades to calculate your prerequisite GPA. For example, if you originally earned a “D” in a prerequisite course and retake it and earn a “B”, we will use the “B” grade in your prerequisite GPA calculation. You can retake the course at a different educational institution. Please note, however, that all of your courses (including courses that are retaken) will be used to calculate your overall cumulative GPA.
No. Pass/Fail courses will only be accepted for the Spring and Summer sessions of 2020 due to the impacts of COVID-19.
Due to the impacts of COVID-19, prerequisite coursework submitted during the Spring and Summer sessions of 2020 receiving Pass/Fail, Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading are eligible for prerequisite fulfillment. Pass/Fail and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grades will not be included within your GPA calculations. Additionally, the program reserves the right to request a letter be submitted from the Dean verifying your completion of the course and numeric/letter grade traditionally received for credit.
No, we do not accept survey level coursework (i.e. Survey of Organic Chemistry) towards the fulfilment of our prerequisite requirements.
Completion of SOCM course or equivalent are accepted with appropriate JST or equivalent transcript records towards the fulfillment of our Anatomy and Physiology prerequisite requirements.
Applicants should be able to reasonably match most of the required courses with ones that they have taken or plan to take as posted on our website. For example, a “General Statistics” course may be also named “Introductory to Statistics”. Additionally, applicants can review the list of previously accepted coursework for course equivalencies from other NC institutions here.
The program will not accept transfer credit from other physician assistant programs.
Patient Care Experiences
What does your program consider as acceptable patient care experience?We look for patient care experiences where applicants are directly responsible and paid for assessing a patient’s condition or providing a form of treatment. We do not accept shadowing hours, experience received during training, for academic credit, or administrative/clerical positions.
Examples of acceptable hands-on patient care experience include:
- Clinical nutritionist/dietitian
- Clinical research assistant
- Emergency medical technician/paramedic
- Military medic, including Special Forces Medics
- Radiological or laboratory technologist (with patient involvement)
- Certified nursing assistant
- Licensed practical nurse; registered nurse
- Physical therapist
- Physical therapy assistant
- Respiratory therapist
- Ophthalmic technician
- Hospital pharmacy technician
- Radiology technician
- Surgery technician
- Scribe
Examples that do NOT qualify as hands-on patient care experience include:
- Clerical positions
- Medical transcriptionist
- Medical translator
- Patient transporter
- Ski patroller
- Lifeguard
- Aerobics instructor
- Unit clerk
- Insurance clerk
- Medical secretary, or other clerical/administrative positions
Seek a job in a setting that provides direct clinical patient contact. Check with local practices in your area and through personal connections for opportunities.
Yes. We will continue to accept experience hours until the CASPA application deadline.
Human Resource personnel may substitute for a manager/supervisor to verify your experience. Applicants are required to provide verification forms for at least 1,000 hours. It is in the best interest of the applicant to provide as many verified hours as possible.
GRE
Is the GRE still required?No. The GRE is no longer required for any upcoming admissions cycles.
We do not require nor recommend submission of any standardized testing. The Admissions Committee will not utilize standardize testing scores in the CASPA application review process. If you wish to submit standardize testing scores, the scores must be officially verified prior to CASPA application closure.
Official GRE scores must be reported to UNC CASPA code 6945. Scores sent to other UNC codes or categorical designations are non-transferable.