The CASPA application is the single online form most physician assistant (PA) programs use to take applications. CASPA stands for the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants. PAEA’s CASPA page says the service is “sponsored and administered exclusively by PAEA” and represents “95 percent of currently accredited PA programs.” You complete one application, choose your programs, and CASPA verifies it before sending it to each of them.
Each cycle is named by two years, and this guide covers 2026-2027. Duke’s PA program lists its prerequisites “for the 2026-2027 application cycle” and ties them to “the class entering August 2027.” Other programs start in other months, as the deadline section shows. All dates and fees here come from pages read on October 14, 2026 and, unless the text says otherwise, belong to the 2026-2027 cycle.
How the CASPA Application Works
The help center’s quick start guide describes the process in three steps. You select your programs, “then you submit one application that includes all necessary materials.” CASPA verifies the application and materials “before being transmitted to all of your selected programs.”
CASPA runs the application, but it does not decide who may apply. PAEA’s page states that “PAEA does not regulate any PA program’s admissions requirements nor determine an applicant’s eligibility to apply to any PA program.” Prerequisite courses and patient care hours are therefore set program by program.
The CASPA Application Timeline for 2026-2027
The help center’s cycle dates page sets the frame for the PA school application cycle. These are its milestones for 2026-2027:
| Milestone | Date (2026-2027 cycle) |
|---|---|
| CASPA application cycle opens | April 30, 2026 |
| Last day to create an account, submit, request evaluations or order Professional Transcript Entry | April 1, 2027, 11:59 PM ET |
| Last day transcripts and official test scores are matched to your application | April 5, 2027, 5 PM ET |
| Last day evaluators can submit evaluations | April 5, 2027, 11:59 PM ET |
| Last day to approve Professional Transcript Entry | April 7, 2027, 11:59 PM ET |
| Last day to re-submit an Undelivered application | April 8, 2027, 11:59 PM ET |
| Last day to be verified; cycle closes; all processing ends | April 9, 2027, 5 PM ET |
PAEA’s version is shorter: “The CASPA cycle opens on the last Thursday in April and concludes on April 1 of the following year.” April 30, 2026 was that Thursday. The help center’s table puts “The CASPA application cycle closes” beside April 9, 2027, but the same page explains the gap: “While the cycle close date is the final date you can submit your CASPA application, CASPA has additional final application processing dates for managing your application.” So April 1 ends submissions, as PAEA says, and April 9 ends processing.
Plan around each program’s deadline instead. The cycle dates page warns that “the individual program’s deadline may differ from the application’s cycle dates.” In the four programs we read for this guide, it fell between August 1 and October 1.
The PA school application timeline, counted back from your deadline
The quick start guide suggests a schedule that counts backward from each program’s deadline:
- Before you start: research each program’s deadlines, fees, evaluation rules and minimum requirements, contact likely evaluators, and “Begin drafting your personal essay.”
- At least 3 months before the deadline: create your account and complete the Colleges Attended and Evaluations sections.
- At least 10-12 weeks before: have each college send official transcripts to CASPA and start entering your coursework.
- At least 6-8 weeks before: “Submit and complete your application.”
- At least 4-6 weeks before: keep checking until your status reads Verified.
Against an August 1 verified-by deadline, that means an account by about May 1 and submission by mid-June, by our arithmetic. The guide’s own advice is to “apply as early as possible.”
What the CASPA Application Asks For
CASPA organizes the form into “four core sections: Personal Information, Academic History, Supporting Information, and Program Materials.” Beyond your personal details, these are the PA school application requirements that CASPA itself sets.
Transcripts and coursework
You report every college you attended and send official transcripts from each one to CASPA. The quick start guide says this applies even when transfer credits already appear on your main transcript. You also enter all your US and English Canadian coursework yourself, or pay for the Professional Transcript Entry service to do it. CASPA’s GPAs “factor in all coursework taken, regardless of the college or university and any academic forgiveness policies.”
Letters of evaluation
CASPA’s evaluations page says you must request “at least 2 and may request a maximum of 5 evaluations.” Evaluators submit them through Liaison Letters, and you cannot submit one on their behalf. A committee letter counts as one evaluation. Check each program’s rules on who may write before you list anyone, because “completed evaluations cannot be removed or replaced.”
Before you request a letter, you also decide whether to waive your right under FERPA to read it; the page calls that decision “binding.”
Experiences
The Experiences section sorts your activities into types such as Patient Care Experience, Healthcare Experience, Shadowing, Research and Volunteer. Because definitions vary by program, “CASPA has no specific preference as to which category you choose.” It recommends “focusing on those experiences within the last 10 years and at the collegiate level and above.”
The personal statement
The PA school personal statement answers a one-line prompt. CASPA’s essay page asks for “a brief statement expressing why you are interested in being a Physician Assistant.” Spaces, carriage returns and punctuation all count, and “You cannot save your essay if it exceeds the 5,000 character limit.” The same essay goes to every program, and “Once you submit your application, the essay cannot be edited or changed.”
Test scores and program materials
You can self-report test scores, or tests you plan to take, in the Standardized Tests section. CASPA notes that “self-reporting your scores is not the same as providing official scores to your programs.” The Program Materials section holds each program’s own extras. These can include program questions, sometimes “an additional essay,” uploaded documents, a Kira Talent video assessment or a Prerequisites section where you assign your courses to the program’s list.
Getting Help With Your PA School Application
CASPA’s rule on outside help is in the 2026-2027 CASPA Applicant User Agreement and Release, which every applicant accepts in order to use CASPA: “I certify that all written content in my CASPA application is my own work. This includes, but is not limited to, personal statements, essays, and descriptions of work, educational activities, and events. While consulting personal and professional resources, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, for non-substantive changes such as correction of spelling and grammar is acceptable, my final submission accurately represents my own writing, work and experiences.” The essay page adds: “Use your own words: Plagiarizing any part of your essay is a violation of the code of conduct and may subject you to sanctions.”
ExceptionalGrad’s medical school application consulting page names PA school among the applications its advisors work on: “Whether you are aiming for medical school, PA school, dentistry, or applying to residency, our advisors understand the rigors and demands of the application process to get you through successfully.” Its Medical School and Residency Application Review page names CASPA: “Whether you are utilizing the AMCAS, ERAS, CASPA or a different application system, ensuring that your application is free of errors and gaining input regarding key experiences and how to highlight them can be crucial in helping your application stand out.” The review is of the application you write: it catches errors, and any input on your experiences is advice you act on yourself, in your own words.
CASPA Application Fees and the 2026-2027 Fee Waiver
CASPA’s fee depends on how many programs you choose. The help center’s fees page says: “CASPA charges $185 for the first program you apply to and $65 for each additional program.” PAEA’s page gives the same two figures in its note on the 2026-27 fee waiver. Programs can add a supplemental fee of their own.
| What you pay | 2026-2027 cycle |
|---|---|
| First program | $185 |
| Each additional program | $65 |
| Five programs (our arithmetic) | $445 |
| Ten programs (our arithmetic) | $770 |
| Program supplemental fee | Set by each program; GW's is $60 |
| Fee waiver, if approved | $250, covering the first two programs |
Fees are not refundable. CASPA’s submission page says “no refunds can be issued for any reason,” including missed deadlines. It also warns that programs fill seats during the cycle and “may not notify CASPA that their class is full,” so it suggests confirming open seats with each program before you apply.
The CASPA fee waiver
PAEA provides a limited number of waivers each cycle, awarded “on a first-come, first-served basis.” For 2026-2027, a waiver covers the first two programs, $250 in total; to use all of it you submit to two programs at once with Submit All, otherwise the remaining balance is forfeited. To qualify, you need a filed 2025 federal tax return with an adjusted gross income below CASPA’s low income level. If a parent or guardian claimed you as a dependent, their return counts instead.
Those income levels rest on “200 percent of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines.” Three timing rules then decide whether a waiver helps:
- You must request the waiver before you submit. “Requests received after an application has been submitted will not be honored.”
- A request “can take up to 10 business days to process,” and you cannot submit while it is pending.
- Once approved, you have 21 days, “including holidays and weekends,” to submit, or the waiver is void.
Waivers can run out before the cycle ends. The fees page reads: “As of September 2026, we are no longer accepting fee waiver requests for the 2026-2027 application cycle.” CASPA lets you request one “as soon as you create an application,” which is the early start a limited pool rewards.
PA School Application Deadlines Are Set by Each Program
CASPA’s participating programs page puts it in one sentence: “Deadlines are determined by each participating program, not CASPA.” Each program also picks one of three deadline types, which CASPA color-codes:
- Blue: your application must be submitted by 11:59 PM ET on the deadline date; program materials can arrive later.
- Orange: your application, payments, transcripts and “at least two letters of evaluation” must be received by then.
- Green: your application must be verified by then, which requires every payment, transcript and letter first. CASPA suggests completing it “at least four weeks before the deadline.”
Inside the application, each program’s deadline appears under Add Program. The four examples below come from the programs’ own pages, and none prints a year beside its deadline (read October 14, 2026).
| Program | Deadline | What the program's page says is due by then |
|---|---|---|
| Tufts University School of Medicine | August 1 | All application materials received and verified by CASPA |
| USC Keck School of Medicine | September 1 | CASPA application, USC Supplemental Application and a non-refundable supplemental fee |
| Wayne State University | September 1 | CASPA application "completed and submitted" by then |
| George Washington University (GW) | October 1 | CASPA application verified; GW supplemental application completed, paid and received |
Tufts says all materials “must be received and verified by CASPA by August 1st,” and it “welcomes new cohorts each January.” USC asks for a complete package “by September 1st” and “admits students on a rolling basis.” Wayne State refers to “the September 1 CASPA application deadline” for a program that “begins in May of each year.” GW requires the CASPA application to be “verified by October 1st” and says “we do operate on a rolling admissions basis.”
Tufts and GW tie their deadline to verification, so you would need to submit weeks earlier to leave time for it; USC and Wayne State tie theirs to submission. Three of the four (Tufts, USC and GW) describe rolling decisions; Wayne State’s FAQ does not say. In a cycle that opened April 30, 2026, an August 1 deadline means August 1, 2026, eight months before CASPA stops taking submissions.
Verification and What Happens After You Submit
Submitting does not have to wait for your documents. But the submission page says CASPA “will not review your application until all of your transcripts, payments, and evaluations are received.” Your application counts as complete once official transcripts have posted, at least two evaluations are in, any PTE work is approved and the fee is paid. Then it joins a queue: “Verifications occur in chronological order and can take up to 10 business days to complete.”
Verification standardizes your record so programs can compare applicants. CASPA places each course in a subject category, converts each grade to a CASPA grade value, calculates your GPAs and confirms any degrees. If it finds significant mistakes, the application is “undelivered, or returned to you for corrections.”
A program’s own timing can run longer. GW’s FAQ says it “generally takes between 3-4 weeks for the program to receive a completed/verified application from CASPA.”
After you submit
Most sections lock once you submit. CASPA’s updates page lists what you can still change:
- Add programs whose deadlines have not passed.
- Add evaluations up to the maximum, and edit requests that are still incomplete.
- Add new entries, such as achievements or optional documents, without editing old ones.
- Move in-progress or planned courses to completed once you are verified.
Updated coursework is not verified, so “new grades will not be factored into your existing CASPA GPA,” although your programs can see them.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does CASPA open?
CASPA’s 2026-2027 cycle opened on April 30, 2026. PAEA says each cycle “opens on the last Thursday in April,” which by our calendar points to April 29, 2027 for the 2027-2028 cycle. CASPA had not posted 2027-2028 dates on the pages we read on October 14, 2026, so confirm before planning around it.
How much does CASPA cost?
In the 2026-2027 cycle, CASPA costs $185 for the first program and $65 for each additional one, so eight programs come to $640 by our arithmetic. Program supplemental fees come on top. Professional Transcript Entry costs $85 to $160 by transcript count, and “Fee waivers and coupon codes are not available for PTE.”
Who qualifies for a CASPA fee waiver?
For 2026-2027 awards, you qualified if the adjusted gross income on a filed 2025 federal return fell below CASPA’s low income level: $31,920 for a family of one, $66,000 for a family of four. Dependents used the return of the parent or guardian who claimed them. CASPA stopped accepting 2026-2027 requests in September 2026.
How long does CASPA verification take?
Up to 10 business days once your application is complete, per CASPA’s help center (read October 14, 2026). With Professional Transcript Entry, CASPA allows itself up to 10 business days to start the work and up to 10 more to finish it before verification begins. Green-deadline programs need that margin.