Which PA schools rank highest in 2026?
In the 2025 U.S. News peer-assessment ranking shown below, Duke University and the University of Iowa tie for No. 1 with scores of 4.1. Rutgers, the University of Colorado, and the University of Utah tie for No. 3 at 3.8.
But a ranking can only tell you so much. U.S. News measures academic reputation, based on how PA educators rate other programs. It does not directly compare tuition, PANCE pass rates, attrition, clinical rotations, or student support. A lower-ranked school may be a much better fit for your goals and budget.
Use this 206-program table as one part of your research. Check current accreditation and outcomes, compare costs, and make sure each school's prerequisites fit your transcript before you apply.
Jump to the complete U.S. News PA school rankings table
Want to compare exam outcomes, too? See our PA school rankings by PANCE pass rates.
Best physician assistant programs: U.S. News rankings
About this list: The table reproduces the 2025 U.S. News PA rankings, published for the 2025-2026 Best Graduate Schools edition. The year in this article's title does not mean these programs were ranked again in 2026. See the U.S. News source list and the University of Iowa's announcement.
Respondents rated academic quality from 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). The score reflects reputation among PA educators; it is not a direct measure of clinical training or student outcomes.
How many accredited PA programs are there today?
The PA School Finder published directory lists 362 accredited PA program locations: 268 with Accreditation-Continued, 60 with Accreditation-Provisional, and 34 with Accreditation-Probation. We count separately listed campuses and exclude closed and developing, unaccredited programs. These are directory counts, not the number missing from U.S. News. Data checked November 7, 2026.
A ranked list and an accreditation directory use different dates, names, and campus groupings. Subtracting 206 from today's directory total would not give a reliable count of schools missing from U.S. News. A program can be absent from the ranking and still be accredited.
Rankings and peer-assessment scores are reproduced from the 2025 U.S. News Best Physician Assistant Programs table. Program links point to the corresponding PA School Finder profile.
How much should PA school rankings matter?
A high ranking tells you that a program is well known among PA educators. It does not tell you whether the school is affordable, whether its prerequisites fit your transcript, or whether you will be happy living there for two or three years.
Start with the program's current ARC-PA accreditation status. Then compare costs, PANCE performance, attrition, clinical rotations, class size, location, and student support. If two programs still look equally good after that, reputation can be a useful tiebreaker.
Build a school list around your stats and goals. Start with the free planning preview in PA Program Match AI to compare your recorded GPA, experience, and coursework with published requirements. The full ranked report is an optional paid upgrade. Results help you plan; they do not predict admission. Confirm requirements with each program before applying.
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I didn’t see UNM which I graduated from an 05 and it was a fantastic program. Yes we had a cadaver and yes, we got to hear all the medical school lectures in the morning before doing the PA program in the afternoon. It was rigorous comprehensive and I just didn’t see its ranking.
Hi Lois,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! The University of New Mexico definitely has a fantastic and rigorous program. It is actually ranked #75 (tie) in the latest U.S. News Physician Assistant rankings. Sounds like it should have ranked higher!
Best,
Stephen
Where is slipperry Rock on this list?
I feel like these rankings are worthless. Quinnipiac is on probationary status now, and yet it’s still ranked #16? I feel like they need to take into consideration additional criteria if they’re going to put out a ranking of these programs.
University of Washington is also on probation and still #20. What a joke
Hello, where does Marist PA Program rank on this list?
#169 https://www.thepalife.com/what-are-the-best-pa-schools-physician-assistant-school-rankings/#:~:text=169%20(tie)-,Marist%20College,-NY
I know nothing specific about these PA school rankings but if the ranking methodology is similar to the undergrad rankings, the schools can, and will, game them. Case study Northeastern- made a concerted effort to drive up undergrad applications to drive their acceptance rate down and therefore raise their ranking – other case studies are the safety schools behind Ivies – will put top tier candidates on the waiting list because they know these students aren’t likely to choose them without serious money thrown into the mix – keeps the ratio of accept/offer high and therefore higher ranking. Objective measures of outcomes should be the primary criteria.
It is always fascinating to me that this popularity contest between schools is taken seriously. These rankings are performed by survey to programs not by objective measures.
To me, the best PA school is the one that gets you a license to practice least expensively. The most important aspect of any PA school is the student. It is all up to you. Schools that have above average pass rates demonstrate that they work to ensure success. So, the objective measures of a good school are PANCE pass rates and average student debt.
I tend to agree with you Dan, I am not sure if anybody has ever applied rigorous study to the current ranking system. I am not even sure PANCE pass rates are a good measure of a PA school’s quality. To top it off you are starting to see PA programs skirt around this issue in interesting ways that tend to hurt students with an end goal of trying to making the program look better. You are right about debt being a huge factor that should weigh heavily in everyone’s decision!
Stephen
There was a study pulished in the Journal of Physician Assistant Education in 2012 that proposed a ranking system that used faculty:student ratios along with PANCE pass rates.
Well now I feel dumb for going to une.
Northwestern University has had 100% pass rate for the past 6 years.