Jul 21, 2025
St. Bonaventure University’s Physician Assistant Studies program has achieved a significant milestone.
The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) has granted Accreditation-Continued status to the PA program in the university’s Dennis R. DePerro School of Health Professions. Accreditation-Continued is granted when a currently accredited program complies with ARC-PA standards.
“This news validates what we’ve known all along — that we have an exceptional PA program,” said Dr. David Hilmey, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “Dr. Keith Young, PA-C, our program director, and his faculty colleagues have set high standards and that’s reflected in the quality of students who have come through our program.”
SBU’s Physician Assistant program, now in its fifth year, received in March 2020 Accreditation-Provisional status, granted when the plans and resource allocation of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet ARC-PA standards.
The 28-month program welcomed its first cohort of students in January 2021.
Accreditation remains in effect until the program closes or withdraws from the accreditation process or until accreditation is withdrawn for failure to comply with the standards. The approximate date for the next validation review of the program by the ARC-PA will be July 2035. The review date is contingent upon continued compliance with the accreditation standards and ARC-PA policy.
The program’s accreditation history can be viewed here on the ARC-PA website.
About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure is a community committed to transforming the lives of its students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a commitment to academic excellence and lifelong civic engagement. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #6 for value and #14 for innovation by U.S. News and World Report (2024).