CASPA
| Industry | University and College Admissions |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | USA |
| Website | https://portal.caspaonline.org/ |
CASPA or the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants is an application service for graduate-level PA programs. Similar to the Common Application used by some undergraduate institutions and the American Medical College Application Service used by medical schools, CASPA allows students to submit one application to multiple schools. The CASPA application platform is a service offered by the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA).[1]
History
The CASPA application service launched in 2001 with 68 participating physician assistant programs, and mailed over 16,000 applications to its member schools. The original service consisted of the CASPA Applicant Portal, which interfaced with students, and the CASPA Admissions Portal, or PA Admit, an admissions software which interfaced directly with PA schools. Completed applications were printed and mailed to programs via postal mail. In 2011, CASPA moved from the PA AdMIT admissions software to WebADMIT, a web-based admissions application which allows schools to receive and review applications online rather than receiving them by mail. Today, over 180 PA programs utilize CASPA, which accounts for 90% of ARC-PA accredited physician assistant programs in the United States. CASPA annually processes over 100,000 applications.[2]
Member Programs
PA Programs must be accredited by ARC-PA and be a member of PAEA in order to participate in CASPA as full-fledged programs. New PA programs who have applied for, but not yet received accreditation from ARC-PA may participate for one application cycle as a "developing program." All programs which participate in CASPA are graduate-level programs which require that students have completed at least some college-level coursework prior to applying. The small number of bachelor's degree-level PA programs which accept students straight from high school study, such as Stanford University in California, do not utilize the CASPA application. Applicants may determine whether or not the programs they are interested in applying to utilize CASPA by searching the PA Program Directory.[3]
Features
CASPA is open for applicants to apply to PA programs for roughly eleven months each year. Its open period, called an "application cycle," runs annually from mid-April through March 1.[4] The PA programs themselves have varying deadlines which occur during each application cycle. Those deadlines also have varying requirements based upon the individual PA program, which the applicants must research and adhere to in order to be considered by the school. Applying to PA programs via CASPA costs $175 for an application to be submitted to one school, and an additional $45 for each subsequent school.[5] In addition, some PA programs charge supplemental application fees or require applicants to submit supplemental documentation.
External links
- CASPA Application
- The Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA)
- CASPA on the PA Forum
- PA Focus for PA Applicants