Mississippi State University – Meridian Physician Assistant Program
Meridian, Mississippi · Masters
Tuition + fees $85,050 / $146,300 nonresident
Projected 7-term tuition and required fees
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A closer look
A 29-month Meridian PA program with a 30-student cohort, January matriculation, and 80 required direct-patient-care hours.
Mission & approach
The program strives to recruit and accept students dedicated to increasing access to care and addressing health care disparities in Mississippi and similar populations.
Admissions insights
What this program looks for in applicants
Holistic review; preference given to Mississippi residents. Academic strength, emotional intelligence, cultural competence, teamwork, professionalism, ethics, resilience, critical thinking, community service, and knowledge of the profession weigh strongly. Standard rubric rewards rigorous coursework, leadership, extracurriculars, and PCE hours.
Summarized from the program’s admissions information. Confirm current selection criteria with the program.
Program admissions informationAdmissions & prerequisites
Admission requirements
Overall GPA exception pathway
The program accepts a 3.0 overall GPA or a 3.0 GPA in the most recent 60 credits.
Prerequisite coursework
Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent acceptedReview 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 Anatomy with lab + Human Physiology with lab OR Human A&P I and Human A&P II
- Organic chemistry alternative: Organic Chemistry (lab if offered) OR Biochemistry (lab if offered)
| Course | Credits | Lab | Min grade |
|---|---|---|---|
Upper-division science category (6 total credits across courses)Course notes & alternatives6 semester hours; examples include Immunology, Virology, Histology, Embryology, Parasitology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology; human-focused courses preferred; survey courses excluded. This is a category total, not one 6-credit class. | 6Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
Microbiology or Bacteriology for science majors (lab if offered)Course notes & alternatives3–4 semester hours; lab required if offered. Credit range is variable. | Not publishedSemester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
Chemistry I and II with labs2 course(s)Course notes & alternatives8 semester hours total across Chemistry I and II; both with labs. | 8Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Required | C |
| Human Anatomy with lab 4 semester hours; human anatomy only; comparative anatomy not accepted. Alternative route uses both Human A&P I and II. | 4Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Required | C |
| Human Physiology with lab 4 semester hours; human physiology only. Alternative route uses both Human A&P I and II. | 4Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Required | C |
| Human A&P I and Human A&P II2 course(s) Both courses required to satisfy the separate Anatomy and Physiology requirements; 8 semester hours total and labs required. | 8Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Required | C |
StatisticsCourse notes & alternatives3 semester hours; no lab requirement is stated. | 3Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
Genetics (lab if offered)Course notes & alternatives3–4 semester hours; lab required if offered. Credit range is variable. | Not publishedSemester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
| Organic Chemistry (lab if offered) 3–4 semester hours; lab required if offered. Alternative to Biochemistry. | Not publishedSemester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
| Biochemistry (lab if offered) 3–4 semester hours; lab required if offered. Alternative to Organic Chemistry. | Not publishedSemester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
Behavioral SciencesCourse notes & alternatives6 semester hours in a listed category; no individual subjects are specified. | 6Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
College AlgebraCourse notes & alternatives3 semester hours. | 3Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
General BiologyCourse notes & alternatives6 semester hours; no lab requirement is stated. | 6Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
HumanitiesCourse notes & alternatives6 semester hours; a separate category that is reviewed manually. | 6Semester hours; quarter-hour equivalent accepted | Not specified | C |
Policies that can change your plan
- Labs are conditional.
- Microbiology/Bacteriology, Genetics, Organic Chemistry, and Biochemistry require a lab if offered (conditional requirement).
- Statistics lab requirement is unclear
- One source says a Statistics lab is required, but the program lists Statistics (3 credits) with no lab. Confirm with the program.
- Course age
- The program recommends completing prerequisites within the past 10 years, but this is not a hard cutoff.
- International eligibility is unclear
- The program does not state whether international students are accepted. Confirm with the program before applying.
All science courses must be designed for science majors and completed at a regionally accredited U.S. two- or four-year college. AP credit cannot substitute for science courses, and a single course cannot meet more than one prerequisite. Up to two courses may still be outstanding on August 1 of your application year. Completing prerequisites within the past 10 years is recommended, not required.
When courses must be complete: By Aug 1 of application year, no more than two prerequisite courses may be outstanding, including planned/in-progress courses.
Dates & application steps
Prior cycle deadline 2026-08-01 has passed; next cycle date is not published. Confirm with program.
This is the expected start of the entering class.
Know what the total includes
Published cost estimate
Projected 7-term tuition and required fees$19,740 term × 7 documented semesters · Projected full-program tuition at current published rates
Estimated direct cost across seven terms at current rates: $85,050 for residents and $146,300 for nonresidents. This combines 2026–2027 tuition and required fees with program, capital, insurance, and supply charges. Future rates may change.
Curriculum & clinical training
Didactic education
68 credits cover medical sciences, patient assessment, clinical medicine, research and transition to clinical practice.
Clinical education
Nine clinical rotations include family medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, surgery, internal medicine, behavioral medicine, emergency medicine, an elective and a preceptorship. Family medicine lasts 10 weeks; other rotations last five weeks. Seminars, capstone and summative assessment accompany rotations.
The Meridian curriculum totals 108 credits. The clinical year has nine rotations, but the sample schedule shows ten blocks because family medicine takes two. The clinical coordinator sets rotation scheduling.
The admitted class
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: 100%
No 5-year average yet - only THREE graduating cohorts (2023-2025); 84% first-time across all three (53/63)
- Five-year first-time PANCE pass rate: Not available yet
Five-year first-time results are not yet available.
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
- Current PA tuition and required-fee table
- Mississippi State–Meridian PA admissions prerequisites
- Mississippi State University – Meridian curriculum/program page
- Program contact page
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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