Tuition + fees $83,430 / $99,189 nonresident
Fall 2027 locked cohort full-program cost
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A closer look
A 28-month Virginia PA program requiring six one-semester prerequisites and 1,000 direct patient-care hours by matriculation; GRE is waived for applicants with a completed graduate degree.
Mission & approach
To provide educational opportunities and to foster a culture of wellness for students to develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and resiliency necessary to function as primary care physician assistants, serving the medical needs of the Commonwealth of Virginia and society in general including rural and medically underserved areas.
Admissions insights
What this program looks for in applicants
Weighted on academic preparation (overall/science GPA, recent and prerequisite coursework, GRE scores, full-time science workload capacity), communication skills, professionalism/ethics/empathy, critical thinking/adaptability, quantity and quality of direct patient contact, and fit with program mission (service to underserved/rural Virginia, altruism/leadership). Top candidates ranked after…
Summarized from the program’s admissions information. Confirm current selection criteria with the program.
Program admissions informationHow this program interviews
JMU invites selected applicants who completed both the CASPA and Graduate School applications to on-campus interviews, typically held June through January. No other details of the interview format are published.
Source checked Sep 24, 2026. Interview formats and dates can change between cycles.
Program interview informationAdmissions & prerequisites
Admission requirements
Prerequisite coursework
Course lengths are published, but credits per course are not.Review each course, its lab, and the program’s policies. Your links are planning records; the program decides equivalency.
Courses shown as alternatives in the table are not all required. Confirm the accepted route with the program.
- Anatomy and Physiology route: Human or mammalian Anatomy + Human or mammalian Physiology OR Combined Anatomy & Physiology I and II
| Course | Credits | Lab | Min grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human or mammalian Anatomy1 course(s) One semester. Anatomy lab required; online lab acceptable and in-person preferred. Can be paired with separate Physiology or satisfied through the complete combined A&P I and II route. Credit units are not published. | Not publishedCourse lengths are published, but credits per course are not. | Required | B |
| Human or mammalian Physiology1 course(s) One semester; separate lab not required. Can be satisfied by separate Physiology or through the complete combined A&P I and II route. Credit units are not published. | Not publishedCourse lengths are published, but credits per course are not. | Not required | B |
| Combined Anatomy & Physiology I and II2 course(s) Alternative to separate Anatomy and Physiology: complete A&P I and II at one college, covering all body systems and regions. Requires at least 6 semester credits total, an anatomy lab, and a grade of B (3.0) or better in each course. Check with the program, since this route is not automatically accepted. | 6semester credits minimum, total sequence | Required | B in each course |
Biochemistry1 course(s)Course notes & alternativesOne semester; completed within seven years before matriculation. Organic Chemistry does not substitute. Credit units are not published. | Not publishedCourse lengths are published, but credits per course are not. | Not required | C |
Genetics1 course(s)Course notes & alternativesOne semester; completed within seven years before matriculation. Credit units are not published. | Not publishedCourse lengths are published, but credits per course are not. | Not required | C |
Microbiology1 course(s)Course notes & alternativesOne semester; completed within seven years before matriculation. Immunology and Cellular & Molecular Biology are not substitutes. Credit units are not published. | Not publishedCourse lengths are published, but credits per course are not. | Not required | C |
Medical Terminology1 course(s)Course notes & alternativesOne semester, for academic credit with an official transcript; certificate-only courses do not qualify. No expiration. Credit units are not published. | Not publishedCourse lengths are published, but credits per course are not. | Not required | C |
Policies that can change your plan
- Anatomy and Physiology alternative route
- Satisfy Anatomy and Physiology with either one semester of each as separate courses, or the complete combined Anatomy & Physiology I and II sequence at a single college. The combined sequence must cover all body systems and regions, total at least 6 semester credits, include anatomy laboratory work, and earn at least a B (3.0) in each course. The anatomy lab may be online; in-person is preferred, not required.
- Prerequisite course policies
- Courses must be from an accredited institution, for credit, transcripted, and graded with a letter grade (not pass/fail). Online and U.S. community-college courses are accepted. Online/virtual courses must use proctored assessments; JMU may request syllabi. Course title may differ if content matches. Courses need not be complete at application but must be finished before the first day of the Fall curriculum. Repeated course grades are averaged; separately graded lecture/lab grades are averaged. JMU does not waive prerequisites.
- Seven-year prerequisite recency exception
- The seven-year window is measured from course completion to matriculation. An applicant whose occupation required them to maintain current knowledge may ask the Admissions Committee for an exception with a letter and supporting documentation. The committee decides; exceptions are rare and typically granted to applicants who taught the course in a collegiate setting.
Dates & application steps
Both JMU Graduate School and CASPA applications were due June 15, 2026.
CASPA verification deadline for the Fall 2027 entering cohort.
Mandatory on-campus orientation is two days before classes; exact day not published.
Know what the total includes
Published cost estimate
Fall 2027 locked cohort full-program costTuition for the Fall 2027 cohort includes program items valued at $2,041 per student; they aren't an extra charge. Other variable costs are estimated separately. Confirm the figures apply to your cohort.
For the Fall 2027 cohort, JMU lists full-program tuition of $83,430 for Virginia residents and $99,189 for nonresidents, covering 103 credits over 28 months. Tuition includes $2,041 per student in course, lab, insurance, technology, certification, software, membership and supply items, so those aren't extra. Other variable costs are estimated separately, and pricing for later cohorts isn't published. Some headings on the program's cost page refer to older cohorts, so confirm the figures apply to yours.
Curriculum & clinical training
Didactic education
Primarily campus-based classroom study includes limited patient-care experiences.
Clinical education
Supervised experiences are mainly in Virginia and adjacent states; travel and relocation are expected.
The program is a 28-month sequence, with periodic callback assessments on campus during clinical training.
The admitted class
2026 entry–2028 graduation
Published class statisticsThese averages are for undergraduate overall and undergraduate science GPA only, not GPA across all coursework. Earlier figures of 3.55 and 3.51 were for the 2023 entry–2025 graduation class.
Compare published cohorts
| Class | Published GPA | Published science-related GPA | Published experience hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 entry–2028 graduation | 3.72Mean undergraduate overall GPA | 3.62Mean undergraduate science GPA | 5,816Mean direct patient-care hours |
Published class statistics describe the named cohort or population. They are not admission minimums or acceptance probabilities.
The program’s track record
Graduate outcomes
PANCE pass rates
See first-time program performance with clearly dated national context.
- First-time PANCE pass rate: 93%
- Five-year first-time PANCE pass rate: 96%
Accreditation history
ContinuedSources you can open
Links to the program’s own pages and the official directories we use.
- ARC-PA currently accredited programs — sponsoring-institution directory
- JMU PA application FAQ
- JMU PA admission
- Program program page for final data cleanup
- James Madison University program page-qualified class profile
- JMU PA expenses
- JMU PA foreign medical graduate admissions
- James Madison University curriculum and clinical training
- JMU PA prerequisite FAQ
- James Madison University program page
- JMU PA selection process
- James Madison University program page
- JMU Graduate School international applicants
About the U.S. News rank
The U.S. News PA rank uses the 2025 PA edition, matched to the listed program and campus. It reflects peer-assessed reputation, not admissions odds or a personal fit score. Programs without a separate entry are labeled “Unranked.”
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