Physician Assistant Education Association

What Physician Assistant Education Association does

The Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) is the sole national membership organization representing physician assistant (PA) educational programs in the United States, founded in 1972 and headquartered in Washington, DC. A 501(c)(6) non-profit, PAEA serves more than 300 accredited PA programs and their faculty, students, and applicants, functioning as the central infrastructure body for PA education. The association is governed by a board of directors and operates with a staff of 11-50 employees.

PAEA's core products are standardized assessments and the centralized application service for PA education. Its assessment portfolio includes PACKRAT (a benchmark exam with ~90% adoption among PA programs), End of Rotation exams (approximately 50,000 administrations annually), and the End of Curriculum exam. The association also operates CASPA (Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants), which processed applications from 34,625 applicants for 301 participating programs in the 2024-2025 cycle, up from 268 programs in 2020-2021. Additional offerings include the Pi Alpha honor society, the annual Education Forum conference, faculty development resources, and advocacy aligned with ARC-PA accreditation standards and NCCPA certification requirements.

Revenue is generated through institutional membership dues from PA programs, per-administration fees for assessments, CASPA application processing (delivered via a partnership with Liaison International's WebAdMIT platform), Education Forum registration fees, and Pi Alpha membership. PAEA maintains strategic partnerships with the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA), the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), and the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Technology infrastructure relies on third-party platforms including Liaison International, CareerEco, Zendesk, and Zoom.

Name

Physician Assistant Education Association

Legal name

PA Education Association (PAEA)

Website

https://paeaonline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) is a national non-profit membership organization serving 300+ accredited physician assistant educational programs, providing standardized assessments (PACKRAT, End of Rotation exams), the CASPA centralized application service, faculty development, and advocacy for the PA education profession.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Education Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Professionals (Teacher/Administrator CE, CPD) (EDAAALAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Continuing Education (CE/CPD) & Provider Accreditation Bodies (EDADACAF)

Keywords

• Physician assistant education
• Healthcare education membership
• Clinical assessment services
• Centralized admissions platform
• Medical education professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: PAEA generates revenue through membership fees from PA educational programs and individual faculty members. Membership provides access to resources, professional development, and member-only benefits.
2. Assessment Services: Revenue from administering PACKRAT, End of Rotation, and End of Curriculum exams to PA students. Used by the vast majority of PA programs nationwide.
3. CASPA Application Fees: Revenue from the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants, which charges programs for using the application platform.
4. Event Registration: Revenue from Education Forum, workshops, virtual admission fairs, and other professional development events. Registration fees vary by event type.
5. Pi Alpha Honor Society: Chapter application fees ($225) and inductee nomination fees ($35) for the national PA honor society.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

PAEA is the national membership organization representing physician assistant (PA) educational programs in the United States. It delivers standardized student assessments (PACKRAT, End of Rotation, End of Curriculum exams), operates the CASPA centralized application service, and provides faculty professional development, research grants, advocacy, and an annual Education Forum to support PA education programs nationwide.

Product overview

PAEA is a membership-driven national organization serving as the professional home for PA educators. Its product portfolio centers on three pillars: (1) Assessment Services—comprising PAEA Assessment, PACKRAT, End of Rotation Exams, and End of Curriculum Exam—that provide standardized evaluation of PA student competency; (2) Admissions Solutions—anchored by CASPA and CASPA Program Directory—that streamline applicant processing and program discovery; and (3) Professional Development—encompassing Digital Learning Hub, Journal of PA Education, Professional Learning Communities, research grants (Don Pedersen, STAR), fellowships (Student Health Policy, Future Educator), and the Education Forum. Supporting offerings include Pi Alpha Honor Society, PAEA Student Success, podcasts, virtual events, scholarships, and data reports. The organization is transitioning Pi Alpha to its Member Community platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CASPA: Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants - an application platform enabling applicants to share verified admissions information with multiple PA programs
• PACKRAT
• End of Rotation Exams
• End of Curriculum Exam
• Pi Alpha Honor Society
• Education Forum
• Journal of PA Education (JPAE)
• Student Health Policy Fellowship
• Future Educator Fellowship
• Don Pedersen Research Grants Program

Products and services

• PACKRAT A 225-question standardized assessment tool used by PA programs to mark important transition points for PA students, deliverable in proctored or unproctored environments with an adjustable testing window.
• End of Rotation Exams A set of 120-question (100 scored) examinations focused on seven core clinical areas, with all questions statistically validated by professional psychometricians. Administered 50,000 times each year.
• End of Curriculum Exam

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Circle the City: Healthcare Services for the HomelessminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCircle the City received the 2025 PAEA Partnership Award, recognizing their contribution to PA education through providing healthcare services for homeless populations and supporting PA student training opportunities.
• AAPA (American Academy of Physician Associates)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPAEA collaborates with AAPA on advocacy efforts, research initiatives including the AAPA-PAEA Research Fellowship, and joint publications on PA profession competencies. AAPA and PAEA jointly sued the Department of Education to protect PA students' access to federal student loans.
• ARC-PA (Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPAEA works with ARC-PA on accreditation standards and support for PA programs. Together with AAPA, PAEA published the Competencies for the Physician Assistant Profession in 2021.
• NCCPA (National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCCPA works with PAEA on competency standards and certification matters. The NCCPA REPRESENT Summit focuses on EDI efforts supported by PAEA scholarships.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC): National membership association for medical schools and teaching hospitals. Closely parallel structure to PAEA, providing centralized application services (AMCAS), assessment tools, advocacy, and professional development for medical educators.
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN): National membership association for nursing schools offering advocacy, centralized application services (NursingCAS), research support, and faculty development — a direct structural analog to PAEA serving nursing education programs.
• American Dental Education Association (ADEA): National membership association for dental schools and allied dental programs. Operates ADEA AADSAS centralized application, provides advocacy, faculty development, and assessment support — parallel to PAEA in dental education.
• American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA): National professional society for practicing PAs. Sister organization to PAEA with overlapping membership base, joint advocacy efforts (including federal student loan litigation), and the AAPA-PAEA Research Fellowship.
• National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA): Certifying body for PAs that partners with PAEA on competency standards. While focused on certification (PANCE) rather than education, it sits in the same PA ecosystem and collaborates on EDI initiatives.
• Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA): Accreditor for PA programs. PAEA works closely with ARC-PA on accreditation standards and program support, making it the most direct partner-comparable organization within the PA ecosystem.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA): National membership association for audiologists and speech-language pathologists. Comparable structure providing certification, professional development, advocacy, and member services for a health professions education community.

Broad incumbents

• Liaison International: Provider of centralized application services (including WebAdMIT that powers CASPA). Serves multiple health professions, making it a broader incumbent in the application services market PAEA depends on.
• National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME): Provider of standardized medical examinations and assessment services. Comparable to PAEA's assessment business in terms of product offering (psychometrically validated exams for health professions students), though broader in scope.
• American Medical Association (AMA): Largest US medical professional association providing advocacy, education resources, and member services. While broader than PAEA, AMA represents a comparable organizational model of professional society infrastructure for the medical community.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PAEAonline
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/PAEAonline
• Facebookfacebook.com/PAEAonline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/physician-assistant-education-association
• Instagraminstagram.com/paeaonline

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Physician Assistant Education Association