What if a program has students decelerate? Does the program still need to maintain its maximum approved class size?

Yes, the program has to maintain its approved maximum class size. The ARC-PA does allow programs to temporarily increase class size without review by the ARC-PA when the increase is transient and required to accommodate a unique situation such as students that are decelerated in the program (the loss of a student from the entering cohort, who remains matriculated in the physician assistant program). However, programs making this accommodation must notify the ARC-PA via submission of the Explanation for Exceeding Class Size form.

This flexibility is not designed to encourage a program to recruit beyond its approved maximum entering class size. These increases DO NOT modify or reset the ARC-PA approved class size. They are not meant to be continually increased in successive years. The maximum entering class size is approved by the ARC-PA upon review of the program during a comprehensive review or after a change request from the program.

Forms related to reporting proposed changes to the ARC-PA are available in the Change Forms section of this site.