PA school is one of the best returns on investment in medicine — but the sticker price varies wildly from program to program, and the difference can add up to six figures for the same credential. If cost is a factor in your school list (it should be), start here: every accredited PA program with published tuition, ranked cheapest first.
Live snapshot (Jul 18, 2026): 333 PA programs publish total resident tuition — median $103,740, ranging from $21,360 to $221,361 (plus the tuition-free military Interservice program).
What counts as “tuition” here
The figures above are each program’s total resident (in-state) program tuition, as published on its own cost page — not per-year rates, and not our estimates. Mandatory fees, equipment, and living costs come on top, and nonresident tuition often runs meaningfully higher (where a program publishes a different nonresident total, you’ll see it in the row). A public program that’s a bargain in-state can be mid-pack for out-of-state applicants, so always check the number that applies to you.
Cheap doesn’t mean lesser: several of the most affordable programs in the country post excellent PANCE pass rates. Click through to any program’s profile to weigh cost against outcomes before you decide.
This list updates itself
Most “cheapest/best/lowest” PA school posts were true the day they were written and quietly wrong a year later. This one is different: the list above is generated live from the PA School Finder directory every time the page loads. Program details are verified from each program’s own official pages and CASPA, and accreditation status is checked against the ARC-PA weekly — so the rankings, counts, and figures you see are current as of today, not the day this post was published.
Build your full school list
One data point never makes a school list. Combine this with state, GPA, patient care hours, deadlines, and PANCE pass rates using the free PA Program Match tool — or paste your stats into PA Program Match AI for a free competitiveness score and a personalized read on where you stand.
