Bachelor's Degree
GPA
Prerequisite Courses
Prerequisite courses must be completed at an agency nationally recognized by the US Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Under each requirement the credit hours and approved courses, where applicable, are listed.
General Chemistry I & II with labs
Additional Chemistry
Microbiology with lab
Human Anatomy and Physiology with labs
Math
General Psychology
Psychology elective
Medical Terminology
Upper-Level Biology
More Info
General Coursework Requirements
Coursework Rigor
Coursework Timelines
Coursework Substitutions
Coursework Evaluations
At times, it may be necessary to update academic coursework in CASPA. To ensure the Program is aware of these updates, notify the Program via email (pa-admissions@harding.edu) after they are made. The Program will let you know if a new transcript is required. Refer to CASPA for instructions regarding updating coursework.
It is believed that HCE is an indicator of an individual's desire and commitment to engage in health care service. This experience should be sufficient to recognize the physical and psychological demands of dealing with patients and to appreciate the challenges of being a health care professional.
When the program is reviewing this work, consideration is given to the following:
Examples of Health Care Experience (not all-inclusive):
Shadowing
The technical standards for admission to the Harding University Physician Assistant Program establish the expectations for proficiency in essential abilities necessary for students admitted to this program. This curriculum requires demonstrated aptitude in diverse skills and abilities related to observation, intellect, physical manipulation, communication and interpersonal skills. Therefore, the following abilities and characteristics must be possessed, with or without reasonable accommodation, by all students admitted in the program.
General:
Observation:
Communication:
Interpersonal Skills:
Candidates are urged to ask questions about the program’s technical standards for clarification and to determine whether they can meet the requirements with or without reasonable accommodations. Questions may be directed to the program director. Revealing a disability is voluntary; however, such disclosure is necessary before any accommodations may be made in the learning environment or in the program’s procedures. Information about disabilities is handled in a confidential manner. Reasonable accommodations will be made to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. These require program and institutional approval. Requests for accommodations must be submitted in writing to the program director, allowing sufficient time prior to matriculation for action on these requests. Candidates who feel that they may not meet the technical standards are encouraged to contact the program director to discuss and identify what accommodations, if any, can be made by Harding University so that the candidate might be able to meet the standards.
All applicants must meet all general requirements for admission to, and agree to abide by all policies and procedures for, graduate programs at Harding University. Graduate students at Harding University are expected to maintain the highest standards of morality, integrity, orderliness and personal honor. Harding University reserves the right to refuse admittance or dismiss any student whose lifestyle is not consistent with the Christian principles that this University represents. This is from the Graduate & Professional Handbook pdf Section 3. Any questions concerning this handbook should be directed to Dr. Michael McGalliard (mmcgalliard@harding.edu). Other program-related admissions questions should be directed to PA-Admissions@harding.edu.
The 2024-2025 CASPA application cycle will open April 25, 2024. By November 1, 2024, 11:59 PM EST, your application status must be changed from In Progress/Received to Verified, and CASPA must mark your application as having been received. This can take several weeks, so submit your application sufficiently in advance of November 1.
Applications are available through CASPA (Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants).
Helpful CASPA sites:
You should immediately receive an email from CASPA (caspainfo@caspaonline.org) when you open your account. If you do not, contact CASPA. For more information on checking your application status, you can look on CASPA under Submitting and Monitoring Your Application. It is the applicant's responsibility to check the status often to ensure that CASPA has received and processed the information in a timely manner. This is an extremely busy time for CASPA; do not anticipate CASPA posting your transcripts or references on the same day or next day as when they are received. CASPA has a faster turnaround earlier in the admissions cycle, and your application is available to HUPA for more consideration when submitted early.
Our Admissions Team will send from donotreply@webadmit.org and/or @sendgrid.me. Set these as safe senders so they do not go to spam. This will save you many missed emails from PA programs.
All verified applications are carefully reviewed by the Program Admissions Committee and evaluated for completion of required coursework as well as characteristics that show promise of successful completion of the program and professional achievement.
Because admission information is updated regularly, applicants should verify current requirements on the program website. The most current admissions information will always be posted on this site.
The Admissions Committee reviews applications as they are received, meaning early application is strongly encouraged. However, the program does operate under rolling admissions, so some student positions will remain available through the last interview date to allow for applications submitted up until our deadline.
The program is seeking applicants who are well prepared for the rigors of the academic curriculum and clinical training of PA school. Applications progress through the following stages of evaluation depending on the successful completion of requirements and qualifications:
Prerequisite Review: The Program first reviews transcripts, prerequisite coursework and patient care experience to assess academic capability and to verify the successful minimum completion of our admissions requirements as outlined on the PA Program website. Updated transcripts may be requested as needed during this step.
Alignment Review: The Admissions Committee, using the application along with the Supplemental Application, evaluates candidate alignment with program mission and goals, looking for personal and professional aspirations that can both be reasonably met at Harding University and continue to uphold the program's mission and goals.
Holistic Review: The Admissions Committee evaluates the whole applicant with consideration of the following: overall academic performance, rigor, and timeline, including any applicable graduate, post-baccalaureate or repeated coursework that demonstrates improvement; professionalism; external circumstances as they impact academic performance, course load and timeline; personal alignment with the program mission and goals; writing content and quality; letters of recommendation; GRE test scores (if submitted by the applicant to CASPA); required and auxiliary GPAs; infractions when applicable; reapplicant status; and healthcare and shadowing experiences.
While applicants may take many paths to PA school, the holistic review uses rubrics that give more weight to some factors within requirements such as GPAs, health care experience, and shadowing hours. Within these categories, science GPA is weighted higher than other GPAs, PA shadowing is preferred to non-PA shadowing, and some experience in primary care or a non-specialized field is valued. Additionally, applicants will score higher by achieving the following: fewer gaps in educational and work experience; increased shadowing and health care experience; a significant majority of coursework taken in an in-person, university setting; and success in multiple upper-level biology courses.
Favorable Consideration
Harding University’s Physician Assistant Program has put into place measures necessary to bring the program’s admissions policies into compliance with the majority decision in SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC. This means the program no longer applies favorable consideration to qualified candidates who demonstrate HRSA diversity factors such as first-generation college students, economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and underrepresented gender, race, age and ethnic minorities.
While the program does not necessarily agree with the outcome of this case, we strive to remain compliant with the law. We will continue to explore efforts and ideas attempted by the industry and in education to promote racial and ethnic parity and equitable representation in an effort to better serve the diverse environments referred to in our Program’s mission; and when potentially superior means to accomplish those ends are identified, those means should also be employed, provided they are capable of passing the strict scrutiny of judicial review. We will continue to consider an applicant’s discussion of how race affected their life to further determine their alignment with the mission and goals of our program, as is permitted by SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC.
Applicants who have satisfied the minimum prerequisites will receive a supplemental application via email. Once applicants have completed the supplemental application and paid the $50.00 fee, the Admissions Committee will perform the alignment review.
A fee waiver is available to those who:
Our 2024-2025 CASPA interview cycle will run from July 2024 to February 2025.
Qualified applicants will be invited to attend a virtual interview. The Admission Committee will use this interview to select highly qualified candidates for an on-campus interview with the faculty and staff.
The callback interview affords the program an opportunity to further review the applicant's credentials. Applicants are expected to demonstrate maturity, personal initiative, an understanding of the PA role and excellent communication skills. Applicants will also be evaluated for alignment with the program's missions and goals. The callback interview will be held on-campus and will enable applicants to become acquainted with the program's facilities, faculty, staff, and students.
All applicants will receive notification via email by the end of January if they have not been selected for an interview.
The number of applicants recommended for acceptance will be determined annually by the Admissions Committee. All interviewed applicants will receive notification via email by mid-March at the latest concerning their status in the program.
After interviewing, interviewees will be informed about their status via email. Based on review of the applications and interview materials, the Admissions Committee will recommend one of the following statuses:
All program decisions are final.
For Harding University undergraduates, we offer an Early Assurance of Interview (EAI). This program is intended to guarantee highly qualified Harding students an interview for a student position with our PA program upon completion of all admission requirements and maintenance of certain academic and healthcare criteria.
This information can be found near the bottom of the General Info in the Harding Catalog.
At Harding University, you'll have the opportunity to be transformed academically, relationally and spiritually so you're prepared to change the world.