Concordia University, St. Paul, Launching Physician Assistant Graduate Degree Program

Concordia University, St. Paul, is excited to announce the launch of a Physician Assistant (PA) graduate degree program in May 2026. This new program will offer pathways into a dynamic field in healthcare for prospective students. Offered through the university’s CSP Global academic division, recruiting for the new PA program is expected to begin in early 2025. 

Physician Assistants serve an increasingly integral role in direct patient care within hospitals, clinics, and other medical settings as licensed medical professionals. They are frequently a lead point of contact for patients, able to diagnose and treat many common illnesses, perform certain minor procedures, and provide patient advisory and education. 

CSP Global is adding the PA program to the university’s proven catalog of healthcare and medical science-related programming, including nursing, healthcare administration, Doctorate of Physical Therapy, Doctorate in Kinesiology, Orthotics & Prosthetics, and Diagnostic Medical Sonography. 

Upon graduation from the accredited PA program (now in development), students will be eligible to apply to take the PANCE certification exam. Ideal candidates will be eager to work as licensed medical providers alongside MDs, nurses, and other exceptionally skilled healthcare professionals. Applicants need a bachelor’s degree, preferably in a science field, and a commitment to be a patient-focused, empathetic professional who is driven to help people address a wide range of medical conditions and live their healthiest lives.  

“The Physician Assistant program is an exciting addition to our career-propelling degree offerings in the healthcare field,” noted Eric Van Hecke, founding PA program director for CSP Global. “Students will have the opportunity to advance into a remarkably human-facing career where they can have a profound impact on their future patients, their families, and the local healthcare communities they will serve. Our program will go beyond covering the required clinical competencies of becoming a PA to focus also on the one-to-one human side of medical care, which will set our graduates apart.” 

Designed to help individuals complete their degrees in an efficient, effective, and affordable manner, students will participate in four semesters of classroom-based medical and science instruction, followed by three semesters of clinical rotations. The clinical rotations will cover nine specific areas of medical care focus, including two electives, to help students gain clinical practice experience and apply their medical knowledge in supervised settings. 

There are currently five institutions in Minnesota that offer PA degree programs. CSP Global developed its new PA program based on the university’s extensive and proven background in healthcare and clinical degree offerings as well as best practices and industry requirements. The PA program at Concordia University, -St. Paul PA Program is currently seeking ARC-PA Provisional Accreditation and is not currently an accredited PA program*. 

More information about the upcoming PA program can be found at https://www.csp.edu/program/physician-assistant/

*The Concordia University-St. Paul PA Program has applied for Accreditation – Provisional from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The CSP PA Program anticipates matriculating its first class in May 2026, pending achieving Accreditation – Provisional status at the September 2025 ARC-PA meeting. Accreditation – Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding accreditation-provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students.