CAA ADMISSIONS LAB ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT
2026–2027 CAA Admissions Report
Programs, Requirements & Application Trends
The CAA admissions landscape is growing quickly, and requirements are not standardized across programs.
CAA Admissions Lab reviewed publicly available admissions information for 18 institutions representing 30 current or announced campus/location tracks in the working 2026–2027 program directory.
This report brings the major differences together in one place: program locations, GPA expectations, GRE and MCAT policies, anesthesia shadowing, CASAA requirements, personal statements, interviews, and other factors applicants should consider when building a school list.
The goal is not to create an unofficial admissions ranking or predict who will be accepted. It is to make publicly available CAA admissions information easier for applicants, pre-health advisors, and student organizations to understand and compare.
Requirements change. Always verify current accreditation status with CAAHEP and current admissions requirements with the individual program before applying. Programs holding a Letter of Review may appear in CAAHEP’s directory, but a Letter of Review is not the same as CAAHEP accreditation.
Prefer a printable version? Download the complete 2026–2027 CAA Admissions Report as a PDF.
Last reviewed: October 2026
2026–2027 CAA Admissions Landscape at a Glance
Several themes stand out.
Minimum GPA is not the same as competitive GPA. Some programs publish minimums near 3.0 while recent admitted or matriculating cohorts at several schools average substantially higher.
Testing is fragmented. Depending on the school, applicants may encounter GRE-or-MCAT policies, an MCAT-only policy, score recommendations, minimum scores, or different score-validity periods.
Shadowing is not standardized. Some programs require a specific number of hours, while others strongly recommend anesthesia exposure or accept different anesthesia professionals for qualifying experiences.
CASAA does not make every application identical. Individual programs can establish their own deadlines, Program Materials, supplemental requirements, testing rules, and completion requirements. Liaison
Published minimums tell only part of the story. Programs may also evaluate healthcare experience, leadership, service, professionalism, communication, recommendations, personal statements, and interview performance.
CAA Programs & Locations in the 2026–2027 Research Directory
Multi-campus institutions can share a common admissions process, while individual campuses may still have different launch dates or administrative requirements. Developing and announced locations are identified separately from established programs.
This table is a planning directory, not an accreditation list. Use CAAHEP's official directory to verify current accreditation status.
| Institution | Location(s) | 2026–27 Note |
|---|---|---|
| Bluefield University / VCOM | Auburn, AL; Spartanburg, SC | Shared program admissions framework. |
| Bluefield University / VCOM – Virginia Expansion | Blacksburg, VA | Announced future location under the same institutional program. Verify current launch, admissions, and accreditation status. |
| Burrell College of Health Sciences | Melbourne, FL | Developing program. Verify current accreditation and admissions status before relying on published plans. |
| Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH; Houston, TX; Washington, DC; Austin, TX | Centralized admissions process across locations. |
| Emory University | Atlanta, GA | Established program. |
| Indiana University School of Medicine | Indianapolis, IN | Established program. |
| Kansas City University | Joplin, MO | Newer program; verify current cycle details. |
| Lipscomb University | Nashville, TN | Developing/new program. Verify current application and accreditation status. |
| Medical College of Wisconsin | Milwaukee, WI | Established program. |
| Northeast Ohio Medical University | Rootstown, OH | Current program. |
| Nova Southeastern University | Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay, FL; Denver, CO; Henderson/Las Vegas, NV | Multiple campuses with shared core requirements and some campus-specific differences. |
| Ohio Dominican University | Columbus, OH | Current program. |
| Saint Louis University | St. Louis, MO | Current program. |
| South University | Savannah, GA; Orlando, FL; West Palm Beach/Royal Palm Beach, FL | Multiple campuses using a shared admissions framework. |
| University of Colorado Anschutz | Aurora, CO | Established program. |
| University of Missouri–Kansas City | Kansas City, MO | Established program. |
| University of New Mexico | Albuquerque, NM | Current program. |
| UTHealth Houston | Houston, TX | Established program. |
| University of Mary Hardin–Baylor | Belton, TX | New program; verify current accreditation and cohort information. |
What the Published GPA Data Shows
One of the clearest findings from current CAA admissions information is the gap between minimum eligibility and the academic profiles programs frequently report for successful applicants.
A 3.0 GPA appears as a minimum at several programs, but recent published class or competitive figures at schools such as Case Western Reserve, Emory, Indiana University, Medical College of Wisconsin, Ohio Dominican, and UTHealth Houston often fall in the mid-to-upper 3s.
That does not mean applicants below those averages cannot be admitted. An average is not a cutoff.
It does mean applicants should avoid treating a published minimum as if it represents the typical admitted student.
| Program | Published Requirement | Published Competitive / Recent Context |
|---|---|---|
| Case Western Reserve | No specific minimum GPA published on the current requirements page. | 2025–2026 matriculants averaged 3.73 overall and 3.75 prerequisite GPA. |
| Emory | 3.1 overall and 3.1 science prerequisite GPA. | Emory currently reports accepted applicants at 3.5+ GPA; its 2026 applicant checklist cites recent matriculant averages of approximately 3.7 overall and 3.7 science GPA. |
| Indiana University | No absolute minimum GPA. | Approximately 3.7 in overall, science, and prerequisite GPA is identified as competitive. |
| Ohio Dominican | 3.0 overall and 3.0 science GPA. | Recent incoming cohort averages were approximately 3.70 overall and 3.67 science. |
| UTHealth Houston | 3.0 cumulative and 3.0 science GPA. | 2025–2026 matriculants averaged 3.78 cumulative and 3.71 science GPA. |
GRE & MCAT Requirements Are Not Standardized
CAA applicants cannot assume that one standardized-test strategy will work for every school.
Current programs include schools that accept the GRE or MCAT, schools with preferences between the exams, and programs with more restrictive testing policies. For example, the University of Colorado currently requires the MCAT and does not accept the GRE.
Programs also differ in minimum scores, recommended scores, percentile expectations, and how long scores remain valid.
The practical implication is simple: build your school list before deciding which exam to take.
CAA Shadowing Requirements Vary by Program
Anesthesia exposure is another area where requirements differ.
Current published examples range from minimum in-person shadowing requirements to programs that strongly recommend exposure without establishing the same numerical threshold.
Programs may also differ in who qualifies as an acceptable anesthesia professional to shadow, whether the experience must occur in an operating room, and whether applicants need a program-specific documentation form.
Applicants should therefore treat shadowing as a school-specific requirement rather than assuming one number of hours satisfies every program.
CASAA Is Centralized, but CAA Admissions Are Not
CASAA provides a centralized application for many CAA programs, but individual schools retain control over their own deadlines and additional admissions requirements.
For the 2026–2027 cycle, CASAA opened March 10, 2026 and closes February 26, 2027 at 11:59 PM ET. Individual program deadlines may be considerably earlier. Liaison
Programs may also require their own Program Materials, supplemental questions, test scores, prerequisite matching, documentation, secondary applications, or other materials.
That is why applicants should never treat the final CASAA closing date as their personal application deadline.
Personal Statements & Interviews Are Also Program-Specific
The common CASAA personal statement is sent to selected programs, but the application process does not necessarily end with one essay.
Current program examples include supplemental writing, secondary applications, literature assignments, Program Materials, and school-specific questions.
Interview structure also varies. Programs may use multiple individual interviews, panels, group sessions, virtual interviews, in-person interviews, or additional assessments.
Across publicly available admissions information, recurring qualities include communication, professionalism, maturity, leadership, motivation for the profession, interpersonal skills, critical thinking, and understanding of the anesthesia care team.
Applicants should prepare to explain not only why healthcare, but specifically why the CAA profession.
For Pre-Health Advisors & Student Organizations
This report is free to share.
Pre-health advisors, university faculty, student organizations, and prospective CAA applicants are welcome to link to this report or share it as an educational resource.
CAA Admissions Lab is an independent admissions education and coaching company and is not affiliated with CAAHEP, ARC-AA, CASAA, NCCAA, AAAA, or any individual CAA program.
The report summarizes publicly available information and is intended to help students identify questions to research—not replace official program guidance.
The report summarizes publicly available information and is intended to help students identify questions to research—not replace official program guidance.
How This Report Was Built
CAA Admissions Lab reviewed publicly available information from official university admissions pages, program FAQs, application instructions, technical standards, CASAA/Liaison guidance, and accreditation resources.
When programs publish numerical minimums, averages, recommendations, or requirements, this report distinguishes those categories rather than treating them as interchangeable.
Minimum means a program identifies a threshold for consideration or eligibility.
Competitive, preferred, or recommended means the program publishes a benchmark but does not necessarily describe it as an absolute admissions cutoff.
Average or matriculant data describes a group of admitted or entering students and should not be interpreted as a minimum.
Not publicly specified does not mean a requirement or admissions consideration does not exist. Some information may appear only inside current CASAA Program Materials or communications sent directly to applicants.
Accreditation status can change. CAAHEP's live program directory should always be used as the authoritative source for current CAAHEP accreditation information.
Important Research Limitations
CAA programs do not publish admissions information in a standardized format.
Some schools publish extensive incoming-class statistics, while others publish only minimum requirements. Programs also change policies between application cycles, and not every CASAA Program Materials question is visible on a public website.
For those reasons, this report does not attempt to calculate acceptance odds, create a numerical school ranking, or reverse-engineer unpublished admissions formulas.
Applicants should use the report to compare programs and identify what they need to verify directly.
Explore the Full CAA Admissions Research Library
Additional guides cover CASAA, personal statements, interviews, and the complete pathway to becoming a Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant.
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