Physician assistant · Master's

University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus PA program: PANCE pass rate, cost and admission

At University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus, 93% of the PA class of 2025 passed the PANCE on the first attempt, against 91% nationally. The program reports a class size of 67. IPEDS counts 152 PA degrees conferred by the institution in 2024-25.

Pittsburgh, PA ARC-PA: Accreditation-Continued, next review April 2028 Checked Oct 2026

Listed by ARC-PA as: University of Pittsburgh

PANCE score report, first-time takers

Source: NCCPA report posted by the program
Class of 2025
93%
Above national 1 of 5
First-time takers
59
National, class of 2025
91%
Classes shown
5
This programNational first-time rate
70%80%90%100%Class of 2021: 92%, national 93%, 60 takers92%2021Class of 2022: 88%, national 92%, 57 takers88%2022Class of 2023: 75%, national 92%, 61 takers75%2023Class of 2024: 88%, national 92%, 59 takers88%2024Class of 2025: 93%, national 91%, 59 takers93%2025
Table view
ClassProgramNationalTakers
202192%93%60
202288%92%57
202375%92%61
202488%92%59
202593%91%59

Cost, size and outcomes

  • Tuition and fees, whole programProgram page, 2025-26, Pennsylvania residents$108,808
  • Class sizeProgram page, incoming class67
  • PA degrees conferred by the institutionIPEDS completions, 2024-25 (provisional), CIP 51.0912152
  • Median earnings, 1 year after completionCollege Scorecard, Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions, master's degree, graduates of 2020-21 and 2021-22$112,610
  • Median earnings, 4 years after completionCollege Scorecard, Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions, master's degree, graduates of 2017-18 and 2018-19$123,128
  • Median federal loan debtCollege Scorecard, Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions, master's degreeNot published
  • Physician assistants, median wage, PennsylvaniaBLS OEWS, May 2025, context only$127,070

What it asks of applicants

  • Application service and deadlineAs the program states it, 2026-27 cycleCASPA · December 1, 2026
  • Minimum overall GPA3.0
  • Patient care hours500 required
  • Program length2 years
  • Program startsJanuary
  • Prerequisite coursesAs the program states it, 2026-27 cycleChemistry with lab (2 semesters), Microbiology with lab, Anatomy with lab and Physiology, Statistics, Medical Terminology, English Composition (2 semesters), Psychology

Accreditation

  • StatusARC-PA list, fetched 2026-10-28Accreditation-Continued
  • First accreditedSeptember 2009
  • Next accreditation reviewApril 2028
  • Program websiteVisit

Nearby PA programs

Attrition by class, as the program posts it

ARC-PA attrition table from the program's own page, with the entering and graduating counts it prints. A table that prints attrition as a fraction (0.20) shows here as a percent (20%).
ClassEnteredGraduatedAttrition
202360591.7%
202460591.7%
202560591.7%

What the numbers say

The University of Pittsburgh's residential PA program passed 93% of its class of 2025 on the first PANCE attempt, 2 points above the national rate of 91%. At 93%, 2025 was the best result of the last 5 classes and the only year of the window above the national figure. The class of 2023 passed at 75%, the lowest rate in the window, against 92% nationally. From 2023 to 2025 the rate rose by 18 points. The classes of 2022 and 2024 both passed at 88%, below the 92% national rate in each of those years. Between 57 and 61 graduates took the exam for the first time each year. The program lists an incoming class size of 67, and IPEDS counts 152 PA degrees conferred by the university in 2024-25 across all its PA programs, including the hybrid track that ARC-PA lists separately. Pitt asks for an overall GPA of 3.0 in all college coursework, and applications go through CASPA. The final deadline of the 2026-27 cycle is December 1, 2026, and classes start in the spring term, in January. ARC-PA first accredited this program in 2009; it is listed as Accreditation-Continued, with a review expected in April 2028. For graduates of the allied health diagnostic, intervention and treatment field at the university who completed in 2020-21 and 2021-22, College Scorecard shows median earnings of $112,610 1 year after completion.

Sources

  1. Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA): Entry Level Accredited Programs, fetched 28 Oct 2026
  2. www.shrs.pitt.edu: Physician Assistant Studies On-Campus Program Admissions | Pitt SHRS, fetched 28 Oct 2026
  3. www.shrs.pitt.edu: Physician Assistant Studies On-Campus Program Outcomes | Pitt SHRS, fetched 29 Oct 2026
  4. www.shrs.pitt.edu: Physician Assistant Studies On-Campus Program | Pitt SHRS, fetched 28 Oct 2026
  5. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): IPEDS Completions, awards by program and award level, 2024-25 (provisional release), 21 Jul 2026, fetched 26 Oct 2026
  6. U.S. Department of Education: College Scorecard, Most Recent Field of Study Data, 15 Oct 2026, fetched 26 Oct 2026
  7. www.shrs.pitt.edu: The program's own page (PDF), fetched 29 Oct 2026
  8. National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), posted by the program: PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report for University of Pittsburgh (program 1198), printed 4/28/2026, fetched 28 Oct 2026
  9. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, state estimates, May 2025, 15 May 2026, fetched 26 Oct 2026