CASPA Admissions Code of Cooperation

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Applicant Responsibilities

Applicants to the physician assistant profession are expected and required to take full responsibility for their application throughout the admissions process. Please review these responsibilities outlined below. Furthermore, all applicants to the physician assistant profession are expected and required to abide by the PAEA CASPA Policy Regarding Investigations and Violations.

CASPA applicants will:

Be responsible for researching the application procedures, admission requirements, and deadline requirements for each designated physician assistant program and adhering to those requirements.
Complete and submit their CASPA application, payments, and submit all supporting documentation to CASPA at least four weeks prior to the earliest deadline of the programs to which they are applying.
Use the Transcript Request Form (available to applicants on the CASPA portal after they have listed their colleges attended) to submit transcripts to CASPA. To allow for timely processing, it is recommended that transcripts arrive at CASPA at least four weeks prior to the deadline of the earliest program to which the applicant is applying.
Provide honest, accurate, and complete application information.
Report to CASPA any changes in contact information (mailing address, email, phone number) throughout the admissions cycle. It is recommended applicants provide the same updates directly to the programs to which they have applied.
Monitor their application's status and the submission and receipt of all application materials to CASPA, including all transcripts and letters of recommendation. The status of the application and supporting documents can be monitored at any time within the applicant portal.
Follow up on any incomplete or undelivered application statuses and/or missing materials, such as transcripts, letters of recommendation, or payments, with CASPA staff and facilitate the submission or re-submission of those materials to CASPA. If letters of recommendation are missing, the applicant should contact the individual reference to make sure the request was received and encourage timely submission. Please note that CASPA is not responsible for documents which are lost in the mail. These items must be re-submitted to CASPA in a timely manner.
Respond immediately to ALL notices and questions received from CASPA staff and physician assistant programs. Applicants are responsible for checking their CASPA application inbox available on the applicant portal, as well as their personal email and voicemail for these important notices and questions.
Print a hard copy of the completed CASPA application to save for their files.
Communicate and initiate all contact in a professional manner when interacting with CASPA staff and admissions staff of designated programs. CASPA will not communicate with parents, spouses, friends and or other individuals in regards to an application.
Accept or decline all interview invitations and offers of acceptance in a timely and considerate manner.
Log off the CASPA web application after the completion of each entry or review session to protect against unauthorized access of application information.

CASPA Responsibilities

CASPA will facilitate through each of its participating programs a professional and equitable application process. Established protocols will provide applicants with a fair and complete initial review process of all application materials and support each program's autonomy in further evaluating, selecting, and matriculating qualified students.

CASPA will:

Provide fair and equitable treatment throughout the application process.
Collect and collate all application materials submitted by applicants. CASPA is further responsible for verifying all academic transcripts and degrees and disseminating completed application files to all programs designated by applicants in a timely and efficient manner. A completed application includes an application submitted by a program's deadline, all fees paid, receipt of official transcripts for all schools reported as attended, and receipt of two of the three required references.
Provide quality customer service. CASPA's professional staff will maintain ongoing and responsive communications with programs and applicants, including training sessions and webcasts for new participating programs each year.
Ensure customer confidentiality and data integrity by maintaining a reliable and secure Internet service and program of quality assurance.
Report year-end data to each participating program and providing an annual report of aggregate applicant data to the Physician Assistant Education Association.
Support the Applicant Portal (web application), Admission Portal for participating programs, and Advisor Portal for health professions advisors via the web.

CASPA Program Responsibilities

In educating caring, compassionate, and knowledgeable health care providers, PA programs should conduct themselves and their admissions processes in a professional manner that promotes the ideals of the profession and the mission of each program. Programs will partner with CASPA in maintaining an admissions process that is fair, inclusive, and equitable.

CASPA programs will:

Establish and publish accurate admission requirements and deadlines. Each program will make such information easily accessible to potential applicants by maintaining a program website, which can be linked to CASPA. Programs will adhere to their own established and published admissions policies and procedures.
Adopt one of the following nine application deadlines: June 15, July 15, August 1, September 1, October 1, November 1, December 1, January 15, or March 1.
Be allowed to annually designate a deadline date and deadline definition, and are expected to adhere to the identified deadline throughout the application cycle.
Optimize efficiencies and maintain good communication. Each PA program should designate an individual to serve as the primary point of contact to CASPA, who will receive, and should respond to all CASPA-related requests.
Maintain ongoing communications with applicants. Programs should encourage applicants to monitor their application status and complete their applications promptly.
Maintain the confidentiality of applicant information and materials during all aspects of the application and interview process.
Conduct a fair, reasonable, and timely admissions process. Procedures should be established to regularly update applicants as to their status.
Make all admissions decisions based on complete and verified application information provided through CASPA.
Notify applicants of acceptance in a timely manner and allow applicants at least two weeks to reply for acceptance.
Consider setting a seat deposit at a reasonable amount so as not to financially burden the applicant, if requiring a deposit from selected applicants to hold a seat.
Notify CASPA of all matriculated students via the WebAdMIT admissions portal.
Abide by the Program Withdrawal and Loss of Accreditation policies outlined in the Policies and Procedures Manual.