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pre-physician assistant

A program that prepares individuals for admission to a professional physician assistant program.

Types of Degrees pre-physician assistant Majors Are Earning

People majoring in pre-physician assistant may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Associate’s Degree	8
Bachelor’s Degree	113
Master’s Degree	6

Who Is Earning a Degree in pre-physician assistant?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 77.2% of pre-physician assistant degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	98	77.2%
Men	29	22.8%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of pre-physician assistant graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	95	74.8%
Asian	6	4.7%
Hispanic or Latino	9	7.1%
Black or African American	5	3.9%
Two or More Races	4	3.1%
Race Unknown	8	6.3%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do pre-physician assistant Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of pre-physician assistant graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$36,983
4 years	$51,835
5 years	$63,167

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $63,167 — roughly 71% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online pre-physician assistant Programs

Distance learning are documented by IPEDS for pre-physician assistant. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	1	0
Bachelor’s	1	0

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in pre-physician assistant Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, pre-physician assistant graduates earn a median of $51,835 four years after completion — roughly 36% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs	8,993
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs, Other	3,744
Pre-Nursing Studies	2,731
Pre-Medicine/Pre-Medical Studies	1,739
Pre-Physical Therapy Studies	256
Pre-Pharmacy Studies	207
Pre-Occupational Therapy Studies	113
Pre-Dentistry Studies	53
Pre-Optometry Studies	7
Pre-Art Therapy	—
Pre-Chiropractic Studies	—
Pre-Veterinary Studies	—

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.