About the program
The Albany Medical College PA program is described in PAEA's published program data; full curriculum details, faculty, and admissions cycle specifics are maintained on the program's own website.
From the program's mission statement: "The Center for Physician Assistant Studies, in support of the Albany Med Health System's mission as an academic medical system, has a responsibility to educate physician assistant students from demographically diverse backgrounds to meet the future primary and specialty health care needs of the region and the country by providing highly skilled, cost-effective, patient-centered care in a variety of settings. This mission will be advanced through commitment to the values of Quality and Excellence, Collaboration, Confidentiality, Respect and Compassion, Integrity, Responsibility, Diversity, and Community Service."
Albany Medical College Physician Assistant Program is a small Upstate NY medical school that is attached to the area's Level 1 Trauma Center. Our facility has an innovative simulation center, standardized patients, student dissection anatomy labs, and a ten to one student to faculty ratio.
Matriculant data
Actual stats for students who enrolled in the most recently reported cohort, sourced from PAEA's published program data.
Admission policies
Out-of-state applicants are accepted. International applicants: no. DACA status applicants are not considered. Distance learning is not offered. Part-time enrollment is not available.
Prerequisite coursework
Recency: 5 Years · up to 4 outstanding at application
Program overview
Albany Medical College offers a 28-month Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies based in Albany, New York, with an incoming cohort beginning January 2027. The program holds ARC-PA continued accreditation, accepts out-of-state applicants, and does not admit international students. It is a full-time, on-site program with no part-time or distance learning options.
The program sits within Albany Medical College, a small upstate New York medical school directly affiliated with a Level 1 Trauma Center. That clinical environment gives students early and ongoing exposure to high-acuity care across a range of specialties. On the educational infrastructure side, the program offers a simulation center, standardized patient encounters, and student dissection anatomy labs, with a ten-to-one student-to-faculty ratio that keeps instructional contact close. The curriculum blends traditional and case-based learning with an organ- and systems-based framework, which tends to suit students who learn well when pathophysiology is organized around clinical presentations rather than isolated disciplines. The incoming class is capped at 42 students, reinforcing the small-cohort environment.
The mission is explicitly tied to training clinicians for both primary and specialty care in the region and across the country, with an emphasis on demographic diversity, cost-effective care, and community service. Applicants who are drawn to regional academic medical centers and who have meaningful ties to underserved or diverse communities will find the stated priorities aligned with those backgrounds.
Academically, this program draws competitive applicants: matriculants average a 3.9 overall GPA and a 3.8 science GPA. Applicants should treat those figures as honest benchmarks rather than soft targets. Healthcare experience is required, though paid direct patient care is recommended but not mandated - a meaningful distinction for applicants whose hands-on hours come from volunteer or unpaid roles. All prerequisites must have been completed within the past five years, and applicants may enter with up to four outstanding coursework requirements. Required science prerequisites include general chemistry with lab (8 credits), general biology with lab (8 credits), human anatomy with lab (4 credits), human physiology (4 credits), microbiology (4 credits), and statistics (3 credits).
Applications are reviewed on a rolling, first-come, first-served basis with a final deadline of October 1, 2026, so submitting early carries real strategic weight. At least three letters of reference are required. Interviews include both a traditional format and a group interview component, and attendance is not required to be onsite. The seat deposit is $750, and total tuition runs $90,000 with no separate rate structure for in-state versus out-of-state students.
Applicants should honestly assess whether their GPA, science coursework, and healthcare hours are genuinely competitive against a matriculant profile averaging a 3.9, and whether the January start, upstate New York location, and academic medical center environment match where they want to train.