Program Accreditation
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the St. Catherine University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by St. Catherine University. Accreditation-Continued is an accreditation status granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with the ARC-PA Standards.
Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the Standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be September 2025. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the Accreditation Standards and ARC-PA policy.
Per ARC-PA Standards, 5th edition, standard A3.12a, the PA program makes accessible the ARC-PA published accreditation history of the program.
View ARC-PA accreditation history
ARC-PA Student Attrition
| Graduated Classes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class of 2018 | Class of 2019 | Class of 2020 | Class of 2021 | |
| Maximum entering class size (as approved by ARC-PA) | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Enter Class Size | 32 | 34 | 32 | 32 |
| Graduates | 31 | 34 | 31 | 31 |
| *Attrition rate | .063 | .029 | .063 | .063 |
| **Graduation rate | .938 | 1.0 | .938 | .938 |
*Attrition rate calculation: Number of students who attrited from cohort divided by the entering class size.
**Graduation rate: Number of cohort graduates divided by the entering class size.
MPAS National Certification Exam (PANCE) Scores
See below for the first-time taker pass rate and score information for physician assistant students who graduated in 2017–2021. Once PANCE first-time taker pass rates are available for future classes they will be displayed for public information.
Five Year First Time Taker Summary
Five Year First Time Taker Summary Report
| CLASS | NUMBER OF FIRST-TIME TAKERS | PROGRAM FIRST TIME TAKER PASS RATE | NATIONAL FIRST-TIME TEST TAKER PASS RATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 30 | 100% | 97% |
| 2018 | 31 | 100% | 98% |
| 2019 | 33 | 97% | 93% |
| 2020 | 31 | 97% | 95% |
| 2021 | 31 | 100% | 93% |
Five-Year First Time Taker Average Pass Rate for Program: 99%
Five-Year National First Time Taker Average: 95%
NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary
NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report Last 5 years
| CLASS | CLASS GRADUATION YEAR | GROUP | NUMBER OF CANDIDATES WHO TOOK PANCE | NUMBER OF EXAM ATTEMPTS | NUMBER OF EXAMS PASSED | PROGRAM EXAM PASS RATE | NATIONAL EXAM PASS RATE | % OF CANDIDATES WHO ULTIMATELY PASSED PANCE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class of 2017 | 2017 | All Takers | 30 | 30 | 30 | 100% | 95% | 100% |
| First Time Takers | 30 | 30 | 30 | 100% | 97% | 100% | ||
| Class of 2018 | 2018 | All Takers | 31 | 31 | 31 | 100% | 97% | 100% |
| First Time Takers | 31 | 31 | 31 | 100% | 98% | 100% | ||
| Class of 2019 | 2019 | All Takers | 33 | 34 | 32 | 94% | 91% | 97% |
| First Time Takers | 33 | 33 | 32 | 97% | 93% | 97% | ||
| Class of 2020 | 2020 | All Takers | 31 | 32 | 31 | 97% | 93% | 100% |
| First Time Takers | 31 | 31 | 30 | 97% | 95% | 100% | ||
| Class of 2021 | 2022 | All Takers | 31 | 31 | 31 | 100% | Available 01/01/2023 | 100% |
| First Time Takers | 31 | 31 | 31 | 100% | Available 01/01/2023 | 100% |
Program Goals
The MPAS program measures the success of meeting the program's goals through evaluations made by our graduates.