Brand-new PA programs open every year — and every one of them starts with the same ARC-PA status: Accreditation-Provisional. This page tracks every program currently holding provisional status, live from the ARC-PA via our verified directory, so you never have to wonder whether an older article’s list is still true.
Live snapshot (Aug 31, 2026): 59 PA programs currently hold ARC-PA provisional accreditation, 266 hold continued accreditation, and 31 are on probation.
What provisional accreditation means (and doesn’t)
Provisional is not probation. Accreditation-Provisional is the normal starting status the ARC-PA grants a new program that has demonstrated — before enrolling its first student — that its plans meet the accreditation standards. Graduates of provisionally accredited programs sit for the PANCE like everyone else. Probation, by contrast, is a warning status for established programs that have fallen out of compliance; we badge those loudly across this site.
Should you apply to a new PA program?
There are real advantages: early cohorts often face lighter applicant competition, newer facilities, and a genuine voice in shaping the program. There are real unknowns too — no PANCE pass-rate history (no data is not bad data, but it is a question mark), unproven rotation pipelines, and faculty teams still finding their rhythm. If you apply, ask pointed questions about clinical site contracts and faculty experience, and verify the program’s current status directly at arc-pa.org.
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.
