CASPA and Annual Report Data Presented

CASPA Report

During the CASPA/Annual report session at the 2007 Annual Education Forum, CASPA Advisory Committee chair Ted Ruback presented the results of the 6-year CASPA trend data and compared applicant and matriculant profiles of the 2006-2007 cycle. The complete presentation can be accessed here. Highlights from Ruback’s report include:

• The number of CASPA participating programs continues to grow. In the 2006-07 cycle, CASPA added 4 new programs, bringing the total to 97 programs.
• The number of unique applicants in 2006-07 was 9,031, an 18.7% increase over the previous cycle.
• The number of program designations by each student increased from 4.79 to 5.06.
• The total number of applications — the number of applicants multiplied by the average number of designations — processed by CASPA increased to 45,664, a 25.2% increase over the previous cycle.
• The number of applicants per available seat in the 2006-2007 cycle was 2.43, up from 2.25 in the previous cycle.
• The demographic features of applicants have remained comparatively stable over the past 6 years. Female applicants make up around 70% of the pool. The average age of all applicants has held steady between 27 and 29, with female applicants 3 to 4 years younger than male applicants. About 70% of the applicants are white for all 6 years.
• Results from the program and applicant surveys show very high levels of satisfaction with the service. One hundred percent of responding programs indicated that CASPA was responsive or very responsive to both program and applicants concerns, while more than 80% of applicants agreed.

Annual Report

Project director Marie Link presented preliminary data from the most recent PAEA Annual Report cycle. The complete presentation is available here. Most data points did not change substantially. Highlights of Link's report included:

• The average length of the PA curriculum is now 26.8 months.
• 77% of responding programs award a master's as the highest degree awarded.
• 5% of faculty have tenure; 24% are on a tenure track.
• 14.4% of faculty hold a doctoral degree.
• Student demographics have remained relatively unchanged: 73% of incoming students are female, average applicant age is 26.7 years, and 23.4% of new enrollees are from underrepresented minority groups.
• 76% of enrollees already posses a bachelor's degree.
• The mean GPA of enrollees is 3.40; the mean number of months of health care experience is 30.3.
• 37.5% of 2006 graduates are employed in primary care; average starting salary is $68,886.