Concord University has been approved by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC) and its regional accreditor the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) to offer the Master in Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) program beginning in the Fall semester of 2025.
The program is scheduled for an accreditation visit by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) in August of 2024.
Initial funding for the MPAS program in the amount of $1.05 million was secured by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito through Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS).
Concord has been able to leverage the one-time federal money to secure a grant for $750,000 through a nonfederal match from the Office of Governor Jim Justice. Together with the CDS funding, the grants will help offset startup expenses of the MPAS program.
The MPAS program will join Concord’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and future health-related programs in the newly renovated Wooddell Hall. In addition to the $1.6 million secured for the MPAS startup, to date, more than $4.3 million has been raised for renovations to house the BSN and MPAS programs. The Wooddell Renovation funding includes $1.6 million in CDS funding secured through Senator Joe Manchin and $2.7 million in state funding through the West Virginia Deferred Maintenance funding program for fiscal year 2024. The university continues seeking to raise additional funding for the Wooddell project(s) to address the forecast growth in the BSN and MPAS programs and to provide space for additional health science programs.