Best Physician Assistant programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician. Conduct complete physicals, provide treatment, and counsel patients. May, in some cases, prescribe medication.
19 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 728 people a year. The job pays a median of $165,650 in California across about 13,600 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.0912In California → | 728 | 100.0% | 19 | $53,520 | $20,250 |
Top 19 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 19 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 89 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 53 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 82% | $42,965 | 65% |
| 4 | Southern California University of Health Sciences Whittier, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 48 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 50% | $45,633 | — |
| 5 | West Coast University - Center for Graduate Studies Los Angeles, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | Samuel Merritt University Oakland, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | — | — | — |
| 7 | University of the Pacific Stockton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 69% | $23,964 | 71% |
| 8 | Keck Graduate Institute Claremont, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | — | — | — |
| 9 | Marshall B Ketchum University Fullerton, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Touro University California Vallejo, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | — | — | 0% |
| 11 | Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Physician Associate/Assistant | $92,363 | — | — | — |
| 12 | Dominican University of California San Rafael, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 78% | $48,448 | 83% |
| 13 | California Baptist University Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 62% | $26,940 | 85% |
| 14 | Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Physician Associate/Assistant | $29,523 | 77% | $48,795 | 84% |
| 15 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 16 | University of La Verne La Verne, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 63% | $45,461 | 71% |
| 17 | College of San Mateo San Mateo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 61% | — | — |
| 18 | Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Physician Associate/Assistant | $60,191 | 30% | $28,376 | 39% |
| 19 | Touro University Worldwide Los Alamitos, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Physician Associate/Assistant | — | 29% | $17,026 | — |
All 19 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western University of Health Sciences | Pomona | Private not-for-profit | 89 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 53 | 1 |
| Chapman University | Orange | Private not-for-profit | 50 | 1 |
| Southern California University of Health Sciences | Whittier | Private not-for-profit | 48 | 1 |
| West Coast University - Center for Graduate Studies | Los Angeles | Private for-profit | 46 | 1 |
| Samuel Merritt University | Oakland | Private not-for-profit | 45 | 1 |
| University of the Pacific | Stockton | Private not-for-profit | 44 | 1 |
| Keck Graduate Institute | Claremont | Private not-for-profit | 38 | 1 |
| Marshall B Ketchum University | Fullerton | Private not-for-profit | 38 | 1 |
| Touro University California | Vallejo | Private not-for-profit | 38 | 1 |
| Loma Linda University | Loma Linda | Private not-for-profit | 37 | 1 |
| Dominican University of California | San Rafael | Private not-for-profit | 34 | 1 |
| California Baptist University | Riverside | Private not-for-profit | 30 | 1 |
| Point Loma Nazarene University | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 30 | 1 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 28 | 1 |
What physician assistants earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $135,880. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Physician Assistants page.
How to become a Physician Assistant
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 22 majors mapped to Physician Assistants1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0912Physician Associate/Assistant
- 60.0901Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program, General(no graduates reported)
- 60.0902Combined Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0903Acute Care Medicine Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0904Acute Care Surgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0905Cardiology Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0906Cardiothoracic Surgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0907Critical Care Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0908Critical Care and Trauma Surgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0909Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0910ENT Surgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0911Family Medicine Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0912Geriatrics Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0913Hematology-Oncology Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0914Hepatobiliary Surgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0915Hospitalist Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0916Neurosurgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0917Orthopedic Surgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0918Pediatric Surgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0919Transplant Surgery Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0920Urology Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0999Physician Assistant Residency/Fellowship Program, Other(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing physician assistants programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Physician Assistant?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Physician Associate/Assistant, which awarded 728 degrees in California in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Physician Assistant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health Diagnostic. Together they graduate about 728 people a year in California.
How much do physician assistants earn in California?+
The median is $165,650 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.9% above the U.S. median of $135,880. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for physician assistants growing?+
BLS projects a +20.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 12,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
19 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do physician assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Anesthesia Assistant, Anesthesia Technician, Physician's Assistant, Physician Assistant (PA), Anesthesiologist Assistant, Family Practice Physician Assistant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1071.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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