Admission Requirements & Deadlines

Physician Assistant Studies (M.S.)

Application Deadline

The application verification deadline is August 1 for the class that will matriculate the following June. The most successful applicants are those individuals who submit a completed application to CASPA as early as possible in the application cycle, have competitive GPAs and grades in science courses, and strong clinical experience in patient care.

Applications must be verified in CASPA by August 1. Please allow sufficient time for verification as it can take up to 4-weeks from the date of submission.

Admission Criteria 

  • No GRE scores are required. 
  • A baccalaureate or master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university with a GPA of 3.00 or higher. The baccalaureate or master’s degree must be completed by May 31 of the applicant year and prior to the application being submitted in CASPA.
  • An undergraduate science GPA of 3.00 or higher. This GPA is cumulative and counts all undergraduate science course work completed at regionally accredited colleges or universities.
  • The most competitive applicants will be invited by the program director for an interview. This interview is a compulsory part of the application process.

Prerequisites*

Completion of prerequisite courses and labs with a grade of “B” or better and taken within the last 10-years at a regionally accredited college or university. Online courses and labs are acceptable provided they meet the above requirements. There are currently six* prerequisite courses:

  • Anatomy (or Anatomy and Physiology I) with lab** (4)
  • Physiology (or Anatomy and Physiology II) with lab** (4)
  • Microbiology with lab** (4)
  • Biochemistry (3) Note: Organic Chemistry is not a substitute for Biochemistry
  • Medical terminology (minimum 2 units, 3 preferred)
  • College-level Statistics in any discipline (3)

*Beginning the 2025/2026 application cycle, which opens on April 24, 2025, Health Care in the United States is no longer a prerequisite. Please note, the prerequisite is still required for all applications submitted for the current application cycle for 2024/2025.
**Note Lab Requirement 

Patient Contact Experience Hours

Applicants need a minimum of 800 patient contact hours completed in a health care setting prior to applying, but the more competitive applicants have 1600 or more high quality hours. Patient contact hours cannot be updated after the application is submitted in CASPA.

The program is looking for applicants with hands on patient contact experience that involve interacting with patients directly. Experience hours must be from paid employment through a company. Hours that are from self-employment, volunteer work, or obtained as a part of another academic program are not accepted. Patient contact hours are currently evaluated at very high, high, moderate and low levels. Below is a non-exhaustive list of some examples of how experience hours are evaluated:

  • very high:
    • paramedic, physical therapist, RN, CRNP, dentist, pharmacist
  • high:
    • EMT, physical therapy aide, medical assistant (MA), CNA, certified scribe, pharmacy tech
  • moderate:
    • physical therapist tech, OT tech, phlebotomist, registered behavior technician (RBT), home health aide
  • low:
    • medical billing, medical/dental/ophthal receptionist, medical referral coordinator

Application Requirements

  • Submit an application through CASPA. The verification deadline is August 1. Please allow sufficient time for verification as it can take up to 4-weeks from the date of submission.
  • If extended an invitation for an interview, complete the Towson application by the given deadline. 

Additional Requirements for International Applicants

U.S. Immigration requires F1 and J1 students to be enrolled full-time with the majority of their classes taken in-person and on campus.

English Proficiency: The TOEFL iBT is the only exam accepted for this program on which a minimum score of 25 is required for the speaking section and a minimum score of 20 for all other sections (listening, reading, and writing).

International Credential Evaluation: World Education Services (WES) is the only credential evaluation accepted for this program. A course-by-course evaluation with GPA is required. 

Please see admission requirements for international students for more information. 

Program Preferences

Two program preferences for admission are given as follows:

  • veteran/active-duty military; and/or
  • Towson University alumni or Maryland resident