Building a New PA Program at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences
The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences was founded to develop healthcare practitioners through innovative, individualized education. When the university launched a new Physician Assistant program in Austin, Texas, leadership saw an opportunity to build something different from the start — a program where culture, professionalism, and social intelligence mattered as much as academic performance. With roughly 1,000 applicants competing for just 40 seats each year, the program needed an admissions approach that could identify applicants who aligned with its mission and values, not just those who met traditional academic thresholds.
Challenge
Designing an admissions process that prioritizes social intelligence and professionalism for a small cohort
Solution
Casper | Admissions Assessment
Results
A fair, structured admissions process that centers program culture, values alignment, and long-term student success
PROGRAM TYPE
Physician Assistant Education
PROGRAM SIZE
40 matriculants per cohort
REGION
North America – USA
Challenge
An admissions process for a new PA program shapes both who is admitted and the culture of the program.
The leaders of the PA program at St. Augustine faced several key challenges, including:
- Creating an admissions process that prioritized social intelligence and professionalism from day one
- Ensuring limited seats were offered to applicants whose values aligned with the program’s mission
- Avoiding over-reliance on cognitive markers that can overlook strong candidates
- Identifying applicants who would contribute meaningfully to the program rather than blend into the background
Like many programs, the admissions team recognized that rising GPA and test score cutoffs across PA education risk excluding applicants with exceptional interpersonal skills, ethical judgment, and commitment to patient-centred care.
The program needed a way to assess fit, values, and professionalism fairly and consistently at scale.
Solution
The PA program integrated Casper into its admissions process to support a holistic, mission-aligned approach to selection. The program designed its admissions framework around several core principles, including:
Assessing Social Intelligence and Professionalism Early
- Casper presents applicants with realistic, profession-relevant scenarios and asks them to respond
- Helps program evaluate how candidates reason through ethical challenges, communicate, and demonstrate professionalism before interviews begin
Aligning Applicants With Program Values
- Uses relevant scenarios to evaluate judgment, communication, and professionalism in real time
- Provides insight into applicant readiness before interviews begin
Balancing Fairness and Rigour
- Uses Casper scores alongside GPA and holistic application review to build a ranked list of applicants
- This supports fairness while ensuring decisions align with the program’s mission and desired outcomes
Supporting a Purposeful Interview Process
- Advances qualified applicants to a multiple mini interview (MMI)
- Ensures selection decisions reflect academic standards, faculty input, and community perspectives
Results
By building its admissions process around Casper, the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences has established a strong foundation for its new PA program.
The program has:
- Embedded social intelligence and professionalism into admissions from the outset
- Created a structured, mission-aligned approach to applicant evaluation
- Improved confidence that its students reflect the program’s values and culture
- Designed a process that supports fairness while identifying applicants most likely to succeed
The result is a Physician Assistant program designed to prepare graduates who are equipped with both clinical knowledge, and the judgment, empathy, and professionalism required to serve patients and communities effectively.