PA · Baton Rouge, Louisiana · private
Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University Physician Assistant Program prerequisites
What FranU asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 10 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.
Coursework
- General chemistry with labnot required here
General chemistry does not appear in FranU's nine course prerequisite list, which goes straight to "Organic Chemistry I" and then "Organic Chemistry II (2000 level or higher) or Biochemistry (3000 level or higher)." In practice general chemistry is the standing prerequisite for organic at essentially every undergraduate institution, so most applicants will hold it regardless, but FranU does not require or check it as a prerequisite in its own right.
- Organic chemistry with labrequiredextra here
No published minimum
Required where the baseline names only biochemistry, and required twice over: "Organic Chemistry I" stands alone on the list, then "Organic Chemistry II (2000 level or higher) or Biochemistry (3000 level or higher)" fills a second slot. No laboratory is named for either, in contrast to the anatomy and physiology rows which say "with lab" outright. FranU publishes no credit hours for any prerequisite.
- Biochemistryrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Biochemistry is one of two ways to fill FranU's second organic chemistry slot, and if you take that route the course level is specified: "Organic Chemistry II (2000 level or higher) or Biochemistry (3000 level or higher)." A lower division biochemistry survey will not answer it. Organic Chemistry I is separately required regardless of which option you choose.
- English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English composition or writing course appears on the prerequisite list. The writing FranU does assess is the personal statement, "summarizing why you desire to be a Physician Assistant and what you feel you can contribute to the profession and the mission of" the university.
- Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"Statistics," with no credit hours published. Graduate level biostatistics has been accepted here under the substitution process: the published example accepts "her master's level Biostatistics course (taken in 2010) as satisfying the prerequisites."
- Psychologyrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
"General Psychology." One course, introductory level, no credit hours published. The program's own substitution example turns on this line: a licensed clinical social worker's Psychology 101 from 2005 was accepted despite the seven year window "because she has demonstrated evidence of continued knowledge and skills in those particular areas, despite the age of the courses."
- Geneticsrequiredextra here
No published minimum
A named, standalone prerequisite here, which is uncommon on this path: the list carries "Genetics" with no laboratory and no credit hours attached. It is not one option in an elective block, it is required by name.
- Anatomy and physiologyrequired
2 semesters · 8 credits · lab
"Human Anatomy with lab" and "Human Physiology (combined anatomy and physiology I and II with labs are acceptable alternatives)." The two course A&P sequence substitutes cleanly, but the labs come with it either way. No credit hour figure is published, so the baseline's eight credits should not be read as FranU's number.
- Microbiologyrequireddiffers
1 semester · 4 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
Listed as "General Microbiology," with no laboratory named, in contrast to the anatomy and physiology rows on the same list which specify theirs. No credit hours are published. Remember the general exclusion: "'Survey' courses do not meet admissions criteria."
- Medical terminologyrequireddiffers
1 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 credits and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended as in the baseline, and satisfiable without a graded college course: "Medical Terminology (certificate or other courses acceptable)."
Experience hours
- Patient care experiencerecommendeddiffers
500+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours and list it as required.
FranU publishes no patient care hour minimum. Patient care appears only among the factors weighed after eligibility is established, listed as "Hands-on patient care experience" with no number attached, alongside "Licensed healthcare worker." There is no floor to clear here, but the program states plainly that these factors decide competitiveness: "the higher the GPA and greater number of additional admissions considerations, the more competitive the applicant." The program directs applicants to its "PA Admissions Averages" document to gauge themselves against previous classes.
- Healthcare experiencerecommended
500+ hours
No healthcare experience figure is published either, and FranU does not split the two categories. It names "Licensed healthcare worker" and "Work/professional experience" as separate weighted factors from "Hands-on patient care experience," which is the closest the page comes to drawing the line, and attaches an hour count to none of them.
- PA shadowingrecommended
20+ hours
Named as a weighted factor with no number: "Shadowing one or more PAs." The plural in the program's own wording points at breadth across several PAs rather than depth of hours with one.
Letters
- Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
"Former professors" lead the list of writers FranU names as good choices, but no discipline is specified and no faculty letter is mandatory. Three letters in total, all through CASPA.
- PA letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No writer type is required. FranU asks only to "Submit three letters of recommendation" and then advises on choosing: "Letters should be from individuals who know you well; former professors, employers and healthcare/professional colleagues are good choices." A PA you have worked with falls under healthcare colleagues.
- Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Not required by title, though employers are one of the three writer types FranU names as good choices. What the letters must speak to is specified: "Recommenders should consider and attest to your academic success, work ethic, maturity, professionalism, interest in the healthcare field." All three must arrive through CASPA, "not mailed or emailed to program faculty or University administration," and the program warns off name-dropping: "While it may be tempting to ask 'high-profile' community members to provide a letter of recommendation, these are not generally helpful unless the above criteria are met; no extra consideration is provided for such letters."
Also on the school’s page
FranU publishes its prerequisites as a list of nine named courses with no credit hours attached to any of them, so this overlay records the courses and their laboratory and level conditions but cannot record credit counts the program does not publish. Three separate 3.0 floors apply: "Cumulative Undergraduate: 3.0, FranU Prerequisites: 3.0, Cumulative Undergraduate Science: 3.0." Grades are gated at C but the real bar is stated higher: "Applicants must make a minimum of C or higher in all prerequisite coursework," "B or higher in all prerequisite coursework is preferred," "Competitive applicants typically earn a grade of B or higher in all required prerequisite coursework," and, unusually bluntly, "Repeated coursework negatively impacts the applicant." Two exclusions to watch: "'Survey' courses do not meet admissions criteria," and no graduate, medical school or transfer credit is awarded as advanced placement. The recency window is seven years, shorter than most: "Completed all prerequisite courses within seven years of application." It is not absolute, though, and FranU is the rare program that publishes the escape route and a worked example of it: "While the program will not waive any prerequisite requirements, in some circumstances, the PA admissions committee may allow substitutions for equivalent or more rigorous previous graduate, medical school course work or professional experience(s) as satisfying prerequisite requirements ONLY. This may apply to prerequisite courses taken beyond seven years ago as well," via a prerequisite substitution form requested from pa@franu.edu, with decisions case by case and final. On exams, neither the GRE nor the PA-CAT is named anywhere, but a different assessment is mandatory and it is the one thing on this page that can end an application outright: "Completed the Casper assessment by the due date... Failure to complete the Casper assessment before the published deadline will result in ineligibility for an interview." Applicants schedule their own Casper date and pay the fee. CASPA closes August 1. Beyond academics the program names the factors it weighs, among them "Hands-on patient care experience," "Licensed healthcare worker," "Shadowing one or more PAs," "Military service," "Applicants from medically underserved areas," "Mission work/community service," and "Graduates from Catholic universities," and sums the arithmetic up as "the higher the GPA and greater number of additional admissions considerations, the more competitive the applicant."
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