← All careers

Healthcare

Physician Assistant

PAs do much of what doctors do — examine, diagnose, prescribe — with a shorter training path. It's consistently rated among the best-paying, most secure healthcare careers.

Median salary (BLS)

$130,000

10th–90th percentile (BLS)

$95k – $170k

Job outlook

+27% (much faster than average)

AI exposure

Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $93,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.

Plan a path to Physician Assistant

Education

Typical entry: Master's degree

Master's from an accredited PA program plus certification.

Plan my path to this →

How to qualify

EstimateLicense required

Cost to qualify

$64,200–$231,000

Time to qualify

6.2 yr

Renewal

$75/yr

  1. 1

    Bachelor's degree

    Degree

    Four years at public in-state rates — average published tuition & fees ≈ $11,610/yr, plus books. Private and out-of-state run higher; grant aid lowers most students' actual net price.

    $40,000–$150,000 · 4 years source

  2. 2

    Master's degree

    Degree

    Typically two years; average graduate tuition ≈ $20,000/yr at public universities (NCES).

    $24,000–$80,000 · 2 years source

  3. 3

    National & state licensure

    License

    A national board/registry exam plus a state license application (the NCLEX pattern). Exact exam and fees depend on the role and state.

    $200–$1,000 · 2 months · varies by state · renews every 2 yr source

Estimated typical U.S. route for "Physician Assistant" — built from BLS education requirements and College Board 2024–25 average published prices (public, in-state tuition + fees + books). Not yet verified against a specific state's licensing rules — confirm with your state licensing board or program.

Typical progression

  1. Junior Physician Assistant

    Entry / Junior

    $95,000

    ~2 yrs to advance

  2. Physician Assistant

    Established

    $130,000

    ~3 yrs to advance

  3. Senior Physician Assistant

    Senior

    $150,000

Key skills

Clinical reasoningCommunicationAdaptabilityEmpathy

A typical day

  • Examine and diagnose patients
  • Prescribe treatment
  • Assist in procedures

Fields of study

Biology · Health Sciences · Pre-Med

Top colleges for Healthcare

Explore all

Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.

Related careers

Other careers from this field of study

Mapped by field-of-study code (Biology, Health Sciences, Pre-Med), not by job-title guessing.