Admission Information

CASPA Application

Domestic applicants should first complete the CASPA application. It must be received and verified by the deadline date of August 1, of the year prior to spring matriculation. Please send all transcripts directly to CASPA. International applicants - please see "International Applicants" below.

K-State PA Program Supplemental Application

Upon completion of the CASPA application, applicant must complete the K-State PA program supplemental application, and submit the $75 non-refundable fee. The purpose of the supplemental application is to collect additional information not provided in the CASPA application. Again, please send all transcripts directly to CASPA.

K-State Graduate School Application

Finally, applicants who are invited to interview must complete an application for graduate study at K-State and pay the $65 non-refundable fee.

• Three letters of recommendation submitted by faculty, coaches, employers, patients or health care providers with whom the applicant has a shadow or work history. The program will only evaluate the first three letters submitted if more than three letters are received.
• A letter from a PA or physician is not required.
• Letters from immediate family members or friends will not be accepted.

• Minimum undergraduate GPA (last 60 credit hours): 3.0 on a scale of 4.0 as calculated on the CASPA application.
• Minimum prerequisite GPA: 3.0
• Graduate GPA will replace undergraduate GPA for applicants who have earned a graduate degree.

The Physician Assistant Studies Program is a post-baccalaureate health professions program.

• Applicants must provide evidence of an earned bachelor’s degree from a college or university accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education prior to enrollment.
• Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended are required, and must be sent directly to CASPA for review and verification.
• Applicants may apply before the bachelor’s degree is completed, but the degree must be earned by August 1 of the year prior to matriculation, and the undergraduate GPA (last 60 credit hours) must reflect the required minimum 3.0 or better.

• Successful completion of all prerequisite courses by the time of application with a grade of C or above from a college or university accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education
• Any courses completed at an institution using a quarter credit system, must be converted to semester credit hours using the following formula: one semester credit hour is equivalent to .67 quarter credit hours; 1 quarter credit hour/1.5=.67 credit hours
• Prerequisites greater than ten years from the date of application will not be accepted, unless the applicant has provided at least 4,000 hours of direct patient care during that timeframe.
• Genetics must have been completed within five years of the application date and cannot be plant genetics.
• Although CASPA averages retaken courses, the highest grade will be utilized for prerequisite GPA calculation, if a prerequisite course has been retaken.
• One course cannot be used to satisfy multiple prerequisites.
• No prerequisite course may be taken on a “pass/fail”, or “credit/non-credit” basis, therefore all courses must have a letter grade.
• The Anatomy and Physiology requirements may be met by taking either one semester of Anatomy and one semester of Physiology, or two semesters of Anatomy and Physiology combined, or a one semester combined Anatomy and Physiology course of at least 8 semester hours.

• Biochemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Biostatistics
• Pharmacology
• Introductory Statistics or Critical Thinking

Direct patient care experience is not required for application, but the program gives preference to applicants with patient care experience in high or moderate categories, and additional preference for those with more than 750 hours of direct patient care experience within any category. Criteria for categorizing patient care experience includes:

• Hands-on care
• Period of training required for patient care
• License required for patient care
• Exposure to different patient types
• Independence in providing patient care
• Applicants whose direct patient care experience is not listed below may use the patient care experience petition form (pdf) to have their direct patient care experience categorized by the program for admission purposes. Applicants MAY NOT petition to have the listed direct patient care roles reclassified (e.g., medical interpreter to be upgraded from minimal to moderate). The program decision may not be appealed.

High:
Physician (M.D./D.O.), Chiropractor, Foreign Medical Graduate, Registered Nurse (RN), Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Paramedic, Pharmacist, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Respiratory Therapist, Exercise Physiologist, Athletic Trainer, Veterinarian, Corpsman (Navy), Independent Duty Corpsman (Navy), Medic (Army), Independent Medical Technician (Air Force)

Moderate:
Dietician, Personal/Fitness Trainer, EMT, Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), Certified Medication Aide (CMA), Dental Hygienist, Home Health Aide, Scribe, Medical Assistant, Clinical Research Coordinator.

Technicians/Technologists: Anesthesia, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Clinical Lab Specialist, ICU, Lab, Medical Lab, Newborn Hearing Screen, Occupational Therapist Assistant, Ophthalmic, Optometrist, Oncology, Orthopedic, Patient Care, Pharmacy, Physical Therapist Assistant, Polysomnographic, Pulmonary, Radiology, Respiratory, Telemetry, Veterinary

Minimal:
Medical Interpreter, Medical Volunteer, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Volunteer, Patient Transporter, Patient Coordinator/Unit Secretary/Unit Clerk, Chiropractic Assistant, Dental Assistant, Health Professions Student (practicum), Lactation Specialist, Social Worker, Mental Health Counselor, Phlebotomist, Living Assistant, Medical Mission Work, Personal/Fitness Trainer

• Physician assistant observation or shadowing is not required for application. However, competitive applicants will have observed one or more PAs for as many hours as necessary, to demonstrate their knowledge of the PA role on the healthcare team. PA observation/shadowing experiences are evaluated during the interview.
• Observation of a PA does not qualify as direct patient care experience.

The following qualify as leadership experiences: (This is not an exhaustive list; if there are activities or events applicants believe should be included within the leadership/maturity category, they should list them on the application.)

• Intercollegiate athlete of any type — one year for each season (includes dance, cheer and/or athletic trainer/manager for team)
• Leadership role in fraternity/sorority or other professional organization/club or student government (must be an executive leadership position such as president, vice president or committee chair — being a member of a club does not count as leadership)
• Worked at least 15 hours per week while attending college as a full-time student
• Service in the military — one year for one year of service
• Other non-college related leadership roles within the community or at one’s place of employment such as serving on city council or filling the role of manager — one year for one year of service

• The PA program does not offer advanced placement for students with prior graduate or doctoral work.
• The program does not accept transfer students or provide credit for experiential learning.
• The program does not give credit for prior student experience working in the health care field.
• All incoming PA students must complete the entire program’s course of study as outlined in the curriculum at Kansas State University.

K-State's Graduate School requires each applicant whose native language is not English to demonstrate competence in the English language. Applicants must achieve a satisfactory score (defined below) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or the Pearson Test of English (PTE). TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE is required to ensure language barriers do not jeopardize students' progress toward a degree.

TOEFL is offered several times a year throughout the world by the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey (K-State’s TOEFL school code is 6334). International applicants should take the TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE as early as possible to avoid delays in processing their applications. However, the test date should be no older than eighteen months from the application deadline.

An applicant who has earned a degree from a regionally or nationally accredited United States college or university in the last two years is exempt from this requirement. The PA program may, however, require a demonstration of English language proficiency during the admissions process.

Score requirements

An individual interview is required for admission, and will be offered to the most qualified applicants. The PA Program Admissions subcommittee coordinates interviews. Program faculty will lead the interview teams that include community health care providers, health professions alumni, and K-State College of Health Sciences faculty. Notification of an interview will be sent at least two weeks before the interview date to the applicant's e-mail submitted on the CASPA WebAdMIT system.

After application review, the K-State Program Admissions Committee will select applicants for an interview. The program will offer interviews based on a rolling admission basis. The K-State PA program plans to admit up to 44 students for each matriculating class. Due to the high number of applications typically received by programs, it is anticipated many applicants who meet the minimum admission requirements will not be selected for an interview. The admission cycle interviews will be in June, July, August, and September.

• An interview is required for admission.
• Applicants are selected for an interview based on the strength of their CASPA application, including a review of their academic preparation and the program's preferred criteria.
• During the interview process, applicants will be provided with and asked to acknowledge their agreement to follow the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) Code of Ethics and the PA program’s social media and professionalism policies.
• Applicants will be provided with the PA Program’s technical standards at the time of interview, and must meet these standards upon enrollment.
• Each interview will be conducted over one day, typically on a Saturday.
• Professional dress is expected.
• The program will interview 100-120 applicants.
• Applicants are responsible for all travel related expenses (flight, lodging, local travel and off-campus meals), and there are no grants or scholarships available to offset interview expenses.

After each interview session, interview teams will review all candidate materials and interview performances, complete required documentation from the day's interview, and add their recommendations to the form. The admissions committee will make a final selection decision for the final cohort and the alternates will also be selected.

Typically, applicants will be informed of their acceptance status via e-mail within two weeks of their admission interview, and will receive written confirmation of their acceptance and any conditional requirements via a Letter of Acceptance for the Graduate School, either by standard mail or by e-mail.

The remaining applicants will fall into two categories:

• Alternate List – applicants qualifying for the alternate list will be informed by e-mail, and asked to confirm their interest in being added to the list.
• No Offer List – applicants who are not accepted will be informed by e-mail, and asked to review the program’s form letter on CASPA for possible reasons for non-acceptance.

Each applicant accepted into the program will be charged a $1000 non-refundable deposit to reserve their seat. This fee is due within seven business days of notification and acceptance of the offer and will be applied to the first semester's tuition upon enrollment.

Technical standards attestation

• All students must meet the minimum technical standards necessary to achieve the knowledge, skills, and competencies required of an entry-level physician assistant.
• All conditionally accepted applicants who are offered a seat in the program will be required to sign a statement attesting to their ability to meet the K-State PA program's Technical Standards (pdf).

Once accepted into the K-State PA program, students must provide the following information and complete required processes before enrollment, but no later than Dec 10th. Each requirement and the associated program policies are described below. Details for providing the information and completing the on-boarding processes are included in the Letter of Acceptance.

All conditionally accepted applicants must demonstrate compliance with the K-State PA Program Student Health Policy by submitting the following information on the Health Information and Immunization Form:

• Verification of immunizations. Required immunizations will be published annually and updated based on the CDC recommendations for health care workers, and the individual requirements of the clinical sites the program uses for clinical experiences.
• Verification of completion of a physical examination, which includes the health care provider's acknowledgment that the applicant meets the technical standards for admission.
• Health insurance status – All K-State PA students must provide proof of health insurance upon matriculation and annually. Students must maintain health insurance coverage and it must be carried through the entirety of the program.
• Background Check and Drug Screening