Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Physician Assistant (PA) Schools in North Carolina
By Julie Spero, Evan Galloway
May 23, 2019
- North Carolina has nine NP schools and eleven PA schools, with a twelfth PA program at Pfieffer University scheduled to open in January 2020.
- Including Pfieffer University, seven of the PA programs opened in 2011 or later.
- As part of their education, NP and PA students complete rotations at clinical sites with preceptors: experienced NPs, PAs, and physicians who supervise and mentor learners.
- The number of qualified preceptors has not kept pace with the rapid enrollment increases at NP and PA schools, creating a difficult situation for NP and PA programs across NC.
- For more information, see this NCMJ article and this brief.
Funding & Acknowledgements
The HPDS is maintained by the Program on Health Workforce Research and Policy at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in collaboration with the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers Program (AHEC), and the state’s independent health professional licensing boards. Ongoing financial support is provided by the NC AHEC Program Office. Although the NC HPDS maintains the data system, the data remain the property of their respective licensing board. This information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by NC AHEC. To learn more about NC AHEC please visit: https://www.ncahec.net.
