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Major · Health Professions

An undergraduate ramp into Physician Associate practice — not the license itself

Physician Associate/Assistant at the bachelor’s level prepares you to apply to an ARC-PA-accredited master’s program — the graduate degree the NCCPA certifies and every state licenses. The 311 completions across 26 colleges in this packet sit upstream of clinical practice. The licensed PA role earns a $133,260 median wage but requires a master’s plus PANCE certification.

Schools offering
26
Annual completions
311
Typical degree level
Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$67k

About this major

Physician Associate/Assistant as a major prepares students to enter ARC-PA-accredited graduate programs that train clinicians who diagnose and treat patients under physician supervision. The CIP definition covers the full medical-clinical foundation — basic medical sciences plus specialty exposure across family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, psychiatry, and behavioral medicine — alongside community health and care delivery to homebound, rural, and underserved populations. At the bachelor’s level, coursework concentrates on the prerequisite stack PA programs require: human anatomy, physiology, microbiology, biochemistry, statistics, and psychology, supplemented by clinical-experience requirements students typically meet through scribing, EMT or paramedic work, CNA or MA roles, phlebotomy, or PT-tech positions during the degree.

The major fits students drawn to a clinical practitioner role with broader scope than nursing and a shorter training arc than medical school. Useful preparation includes strong biology and chemistry fluency, comfort with high-volume coursework across multiple sciences simultaneously, the discipline to log 1,000+ hands-on patient-contact hours alongside academics, and the patience to navigate a competitive multi-cycle PA school application. The work rewards methodical learners who can hold a wide differential in their head and execute under physician supervision.

Roughly 311 students complete this CIP nationally each year across 26 colleges, all at the bachelor’s level. The tracked Physician Assistants role reports a $133,260 median wage and 20.4% projected growth driven by primary-care shortages and team-based care models, but that wage applies after the ARC-PA master’s and PANCE certification — not at the bachelor’s exit. A second BLS line item, Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary, reports $105,620 with 17.3% growth, though it requires a doctoral or professional degree and represents a long-tail academic path rather than the typical PA career.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary $106k +17.3% Doctoral or professional degree
Physician assistants $133k +20.4% Master's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$67k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$65k

Bachelor's

$71k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if you already know you’re committed to PA school and the 6 to 7 years of training that licensed PA practice requires, if hands-on diagnostic and procedural medicine — suturing, prescribing, ordering imaging, managing chronic conditions under physician supervision — pulls you more than nursing’s patient-management focus or medicine’s longer training arc, if you’re prepared to log the 1,000+ patient-contact hours competitive PA programs expect from scribing, EMT, paramedic, CNA, or MA roles during undergrad, and if the projected 20.4% growth and $133,260 median wage feels worth the master’s-level commitment plus PANCE certification.

Think twice if you’re assuming the bachelor’s alone qualifies you to practice — the PA profession is master’s-only, with no bachelor’s-level pathway to the PA-C credential anywhere in the country. Reconsider if your real interest is direct clinical work without graduate school, because Nursing (BSN, CIP 51.3801) reaches an RN role at the bachelor’s level, and shorter clinical paths like Respiratory Care (51.0908) or Diagnostic Medical Sonography (51.0910) credential graduates without a master’s. Also reconsider if PA school’s roughly 30% acceptance rate or the financial picture of a 27-month master’s on top of the bachelor’s doesn’t pencil out, since the $67,139 five-year bachelor’s median reflects patient-contact-hour roles ($35-45K) plus students still in PA school, not the licensed PA wage.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Physician Associate/Assistant

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 0 45 45
D'Youville University Buffalo, NY 0 43 43
Saint Francis University Loretto, PA 0 36 36
Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY 0 35 35
Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA 0 34 34
Cleveland State University Cleveland, OH 0 33 33
Springfield College Springfield, MA 0 30 30
Wagner College Staten Island, NY 0 23 23
Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 0 18 18
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Winona, MN 0 14 14
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiographer

9,572 completions/yr

Respiratory Care Therapy/Therapist

6,344 completions/yr

Diagnostic Medical Sonography/Sonographer and Ultrasound Technician

5,766 completions/yr

Surgical Technology/Technologist

5,490 completions/yr

Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic)

3,988 completions/yr

Medical Radiologic Technology/Science - Radiation Therapist

3,612 completions/yr

Cardiovascular Technology/Technologist

1,133 completions/yr

Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions, Other

869 completions/yr
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

Can I work as a Physician Associate with just a bachelor’s degree?
No. The Physician Associate profession is a master’s-only credential — there is no bachelor’s-level PA practice in the United States. To sit for the PANCE (the national certification exam administered by NCCPA) and earn the PA-C credential required for state licensure, you need to complete an ARC-PA-accredited master’s program, which typically runs about 27 months. The 311 bachelor’s completions in this packet represent pre-professional students preparing to apply to PA school, not graduates eligible to practice.
If the bachelor’s doesn’t lead to licensure, what does it actually lead to?
It functions as a pre-PA undergraduate ramp focused on prerequisite coursework and patient-contact hours. The most direct next step is a 2- to 3-year ARC-PA-accredited Master of Physician Assistant Studies, which leads to the PANCE and state licensure. A small number of accredited 5-year combined BS-MS PA programs exist at schools like Quinnipiac, Pace, and MCPHS, where the bachelor’s and the PA master’s are bundled into one application. Students who decide PA school isn’t the right fit commonly pivot toward Pre-Medicine, Pre-Nursing, Physical Therapy, or stay in the patient-contact role they used to build their application.
What do the BLS earnings figures actually mean for this major?
The tracked Physician Assistants role reports a $133,260 median wage and 20.4% projected growth, but BLS lists its typical entry-level education as a master’s degree. The five-year median earnings for this major’s undergraduate completers is about $67,139 — a figure that mostly reflects students still in PA school, working as medical scribes, EMTs, paramedics, CNAs, medical assistants, phlebotomists, or PT-techs while accumulating the patient-contact hours needed for a competitive PA-school application. The licensed PA wage shows up in earnings data only after the master’s and PANCE certification.
How competitive is PA school admission?
Acceptance to PA school runs roughly 30% per applicant cycle based on PAEA central application data, and the median matriculant brings 1,000 to 3,000 hours of hands-on patient-contact experience on top of the prerequisite coursework. Required prerequisites at most programs include anatomy, physiology, microbiology, biochemistry, statistics, and psychology, with strong grades expected in each. The patient-contact hours commonly come from working as a scribe, EMT, paramedic, CNA, MA, phlebotomist, or PT-tech during or after the bachelor’s. Plan for the bachelor’s to be a full multi-year build of grades, hours, and recommendations rather than a credential that hands you a PA seat.
Which schools dominate this major, and what does that tell me?
Hofstra University (45 bachelor’s completions) leads, followed by D’Youville University (43), Saint Francis University (36), Rochester Institute of Technology (35), Duquesne University (34), and Cleveland State University (33). Several of these — including Saint Francis, D’Youville, RIT, and Duquesne — operate or partner with their own ARC-PA-accredited master’s programs, often as 5-year combined BS-MS pathways that lock in a graduate seat at admission. Verify at any specific school whether the bachelor’s is structured as a guaranteed-graduate-seat 3+2 or 4+1 program, an open-application pre-PA track, or a general health-sciences degree that requires reapplying to PA programs nationwide.
What if I finish the bachelor’s but don’t go to PA school?
You won’t be eligible to sit for the PANCE, so practicing as a PA is off the table. Realistic landing spots are the same patient-contact roles students typically work during undergrad to build hours: medical scribe, EMT, paramedic, CNA, medical assistant, phlebotomist, surgical tech, or PT-tech. Pay in those roles typically lands in the $35,000-$45,000 range, well below the $67,139 five-year bachelor’s median (which is pulled up by students currently in PA school) and far below the $133,260 licensed PA wage. Common pivots include reapplying after another year of hours, redirecting toward Nursing (BSN) or Respiratory Care for shorter clinical paths, or applying to medical school via the Pre-Medicine route.