PA · Naperville, Illinois · private

North Central College Physician Assistant Program prerequisites

What North Central asks for in the 2026-27 cycle, as read from the school's own admissions page. 13 lines differ from the standard PA school set, marked below.

Read from the school’s pageCheck it with the school

Coursework

General chemistry with labrequireddiffers
3 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
A single flexible chemistry line: "General or Organic Chemistry with lab," three semester hours. Either course answers it, and only one semester is needed, which is far lighter than the two semester general chemistry sequence most programs require. If you use organic here, you still need a different course from the upper level science list.
Biochemistryrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Three semester hours, no laboratory. Required in its own right and separate from the general or organic chemistry line.
English or writing-intensivenot required here
No English or composition course is required. The closest line is a three hour block of "Humanities , Fine Arts or, Foreign Language," which an English course could answer but does not require.
Statisticsrequired
1 semester · 3 credits
Statistics, not calculus. The exception is regional: several Oklahoma and Texas programs require college algebra instead and do not count statistics, so check those individually.
Psychologyrecommendeddiffers
1 semester · 3 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 3 credits and list it as required.
Psychology is not required on its own. It is one of three ways to answer a three hour block: "Psychology, Social Science, or Behavioral Science." A sociology or anthropology course clears the same line.
Advanced biologyrequiredextra here
1 semester · 3 credits
Three semester hours of "Science at the 200 level or above. The following classes will be accepted: Genetics, Immunology, Cell or Molecular Biology, Organic Chemistry, Neuroscience." The list is closed rather than open, and note that organic chemistry appears on it, so a single organic course cannot answer both this line and the general or organic chemistry line.
Anatomy and physiologyrequireddiffers
6 credits
Most PA programmes ask for 2 semesters · 8 credits · lab.
Two courses listed separately, "Human Anatomy and Physiology I" and "Human Anatomy and Physiology II," three semester hours each. North Central does not state a laboratory requirement on these lines, unlike its microbiology and chemistry lines which say "with lab" explicitly. The seven year recency window applies here as everywhere else.
Microbiologyrequireddiffers
3 credits · lab
Most PA programmes ask for 1 semester · 4 credits · lab.
"Microbiology with lab," three semester hours. The laboratory is named on this line, so it is part of the requirement.
Medical terminologynot required here
Not among the nine prerequisite courses.
Social sciences and humanitiesrequiredextra here
2 semesters · 6 credits
Six hours across two separate three hour lines, each with its own menu: "Psychology, Social Science, or Behavioral Science" and "Humanities , Fine Arts or, Foreign Language." One course from each block, not six hours from either.

Experience hours

Patient care experiencerequireddiffers
750+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 500+ hours.
"A minimum of 750 hours of direct, hands-on patient care is required." Hands-on is the operative phrase, and observation is excluded: shadowing hours cannot be counted toward this total. The hours are due by December 31, 2026 rather than at CASPA submission, so a fall of work still counts.
Healthcare experiencerecommended
500+ hours
North Central publishes no separate healthcare experience figure. The only number is the 750 hours of direct, hands-on patient care, and time in a healthcare setting without that hands-on responsibility does not count toward it.
PA shadowingrequireddiffers
15+ hours
Most PA programmes ask for 20+ hours and list it as recommended.
Required rather than recommended, and specific to the profession: "Applicants must obtain a minimum of 15 hours of direct observation of a PA's providing direct patient care." These 15 hours cannot also be counted as direct patient care hours, so they sit on top of the 750.

Letters

Science faculty letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
No science professor letter is named. A professor letter is one of the accepted kinds alongside a supervisor letter, with no discipline specified.
PA letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
"Three letters of recommendation are required," and "It is highly recommended that one letter come from a certified Physician Assistant (PA-C)." Strongly encouraged rather than mandated, and the required 15 shadowing hours are the natural place to earn it.
Supervisor letterrecommendeddiffers
1 letter
Most PA programmes publish no minimum.
Three letters are required but the writers are not prescribed line by line. Beyond the recommended PA letter, the remaining letters should come from professors or supervisors, and "Letters from friends or family members will not be accepted."

Also on the school’s page

North Central's list is nine courses and 27 minimum semester hours, unusually light in credit terms because almost every line is a single three hour course rather than a sequence. The offsetting constraints are recency and experience. There is a "7-year upper limit length-of-time passed since prerequisite coursework completion," with coursework completed before April 27, 2019 needing to be retaken, which is one of the tighter windows on this path. Every prerequisite needs a C or better, and only two prerequisite courses may still be outstanding when the CASPA application is submitted. Both GPA minimums are 3.00, overall cumulative and science. Testing is optional but not ignored: "GRE or PA-CAT scores are highly recommended, not required," with no minimum score for either test and scores accepted within five years of admission. Note the two stage calendar, because the second date is the one people miss: CASPA opens April 30, 2026 and closes September 1, 2026, but prerequisite coursework and healthcare hours are not due until December 31, 2026, which leaves a fall term to finish the last two courses or the last stretch of patient care hours after applying.

School

northcentralcollege.edu/master-physician-assistant

Check your transcript against this list

Cyclios keeps this list beside your coursework and tells you what North Central still needs from you.

See it for PA school

Also in Illinois

All PA programmes, compared