Community colleges (CC) are an important pathway to the physician assistant (PA) profession, with 3 of 4 matriculants having a CC background. However, lower matriculation rates among similarly qualified applicants who transferred from a CC to a 4-year university compared to applicants with no CC background suggest that PA programs are missing important opportunities for increasing student diversity and thereby the profession.

This article explores whether CC applicants were a significant contributor to the diversity of matriculants to PA programs and whether CC applicants were less likely to matriculate to PA programs than non-CC applicants.