PA Program Accreditation Information

At its March 2024 meeting, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) placed the Central Michigan University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Central Michigan University on Accreditation-Probation status until its next review in March 2026.

Probation accreditation is a temporary accreditation status initially of not less than two years. However, that period may be extended by the ARC-PA for up to an additional two years if the ARC-PA finds that the program is making substantial progress toward meeting all applicable standards but requires additional time to come into full compliance. Probation accreditation status is granted, at the sole discretion of the ARC-PA, when a program holding an accreditation status of Accreditation-Provisional or Accreditation-Continued does not, in the judgment of the ARC-PA, meet the Standards or when the capability of the program to provide an acceptable educational experience for its students is threatened.

Once placed on probation, a program that fails to comply with accreditation requirements in a timely manner, as specified by the ARC-PA, may be scheduled for a focused site visit and is subject to having its accreditation withdrawn.

Specific questions regarding the program and its plans should be directed to the program director and/or the appropriate institutional official(s).

The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website.

Student attrition

Student attrition is the percentage of students entering a cohort that do not complete the program with the rest of the cohort, either due to leave of absence, deceleration, dismissal, or withdrawal. The graduation rate is calculated as the number of cohort graduates divided by the entering class size. The ARC-PA student attrition table shows data for 2021-2023.  

Graduated ClassesClass of 2023Class of 2022Class of 2021
Maximum entering class size (as approved by ARC-PA)404040
Entering class size404040
Graduates373839
*Attrition rate0.0750.050.025
**Graduation rate0.9250.950.975

*Attrition rate calculation: number of students who attritted from cohort divided by the entering class size.
**Graduation rate: number of cohort graduates divided by the entering class size.

National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) report

The Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) performance summary report provides information on our test takers and their outcomes.

View the Five Year NCCPA Performance Report