At Towson University, we're training the next generation of physician assistants - one of the fastest-growing professions - through one of the nation’s most established master’s programs of its kind.
The Physician Assistant Studies master’s program is part of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies.
Many factors contribute to a growing need for more licensed health care providers to treat patients. Physician Assistants (Associates) are highly skilled health care providers and are one of the fastest-growing professions in this country with continued high demand for PA graduates. PA program admissions and matriculation and the PA job market are all highly competitive.
Our program is the first established in the State of Maryland and one of the older programs in the USA. We have evolved as the profession has matured and are now exclusively housed here at Towson University, College of Health Professions.
On this page:
The Physician Assistant Studies Program revised its Mission, Vision and Goals for
2021-2022 as of November 4th, 2021. Outcomes from the prior 2019-2020 goals included
integrating interprofessional educational experiences into the PA curriculum.
For additional information on our achievements, please see the updated Mission, Vision
and Goals (PDF).
Our PA Program educates and empowers resilient graduates to practice collaborative, evidence-based medicine in the ever-changing and diverse health care environment.
Our PA Program is renowned for excellence in PA education, leadership, and innovative approaches to interprofessional practice.
Our PA Program values are:
Our program trains professionals in:
Full-time, continuous enrollment is required throughout the 98-credit, 26-month program.
Additional university fees are set for each semester. Learn more about financial aid and expenses.
The application for summer 2025 opened on April 25, 2024. All applicants 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.
Learn more about Admission requirements and deadlines.
In compliance with the ARC-PA Accreditation Standards (5th Edition), the program will provide the most current annual attrition information.
The program is accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant Inc. (ARC-PA).
At its September 2023 meeting, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) placed the Towson University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Towson University on Accreditation-Probation status until its next review in September 2025.
Probation accreditation is a temporary accreditation status initially of not less than two years. However, that period may be extended by the ARC-PA for up to an additional two years if the ARC-PA finds that the program is making substantial progress toward meeting all applicable standards but requires additional time to come into full compliance. Probation accreditation status is granted, at the sole discretion of the ARC-PA, when a program holding an accreditation status of Accreditation — Provisional or Accreditation — Continued does not, in the judgment of the ARC-PA, meet the Standards or when the capability of the program to provide an acceptable educational experience for its students is threatened. Once placed on probation, a program that fails to comply with accreditation requirements in a timely manner, as specified by the ARC-PA, may be scheduled for a focused site visit and is subject to having its accreditation withdrawn.
Specific questions regarding the Program and its plans should be directed to the Program
Director and/or the appropriate institutional official(s).
The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website.
Individuals who successfully complete the program are eligible for certification by the National Commission on the Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Graduates of the program have consistently scored well on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE), and have achieved a 100% first time pass rate for the class of 2020, surpassing the national exam pass rate average.
For more information please view the NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report.
Lauren Castellana reports that, "Towson University has been named the best public university in Maryland and the No. 15 public university in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. The publication’s 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. rankings heavily featured TU for its record of inclusive student success."
Join a strong network of successful alumni around the country. More than 1,000 program graduates are employed in a wide variety of medical settings in regional, national and international locations.
The oldest and most established program in Maryland, the physician assistant program began in 1972 as a cooperative effort with the Johns Hopkins University and Franklin Square Hospital. The program has undergone a dynamic evolution in its 50-year history.
Make a direct impact on patients and their families. Working as part of the medical team, physician assistants practice medicine by performing patient histories and physical examination, ordering or performing laboratory tests, and analyzing medical data to formulate diagnoses and develop care management plans.