USF Physician Assistant Program — Dismissal & Appeals

Written by Zachary Gaynor, attorney · The Florida Bar, admitted 2016 · court admissions. Reviewed 2 October 2026.

Who decides whether a USF PA student is dismissed?

At the University of South Florida’s physician assistant program, part of the Morsani College of Medicine, the Academic Performance and Professionalism Committee (APPC) decides deceleration and dismissal. You can ask the APPC to reconsider within 10 school days, and you must appear at that hearing in person. After that, a dismissal can be appealed to the Morsani College of Medicine Vice Dean of Education, again within 10 school days. The person who comes with you may support and advise you but, under the handbook, may not act as your attorney.

The standards

• A C or better in every didactic course and every clinical rotation.
• GPA. You cannot have two consecutive semesters with a GPA under 3.0, and you must stay in good standing under USF Regulation 3.009, which requires an overall 3.0 GPA and accepts no grade of C- or below.
• Advancing to the clinical year requires a C or better in all year-one courses, all course requirements met (including remediation assignments), and good standing.
• Graduating requires a C or better in every course and rotation, completing the program’s summative evaluation, and not failing two clinical rotations, or the same rotation twice, in the graduation year.
• The program runs 24 continuous months: 12 in the classroom and 12 in clinical rotations.

Students who do not meet the advancement or graduation criteria may be dismissed or decelerated.

What the APPC is, and what it can do

The APPC is made up of all the program’s principal faculty, with the program director or a designee as chair. Its proceedings are confidential, and its actions take a simple majority of the members present. It can require re-examination or re-evaluation, tutoring, a remediation plan, or repeating all or part of a year’s work. It also reviews petitions to return from a leave of absence, with notice of its decision at least a month before the return date.

On dismissal, the handbook is broad. A student whose file shows they will not succeed is dismissed. Other grounds include academic dishonesty, unprofessional conduct, and failing to show an attitude of professionalism or readiness to take on patient care. Repeated professionalism breaches, unreported incidents, and HIPAA violations reported by a clinical site all go to the APPC.

Reconsideration, then appeal

1. Reconsideration by the APPC. Submit a written petition to the program director within 10 school days of being told the APPC’s decision on deceleration or dismissal. You must appear at the reconsideration hearing, which addresses the evidence of your performance or professional behavior. You may bring people of your choice for support, advocacy, and counsel, but the handbook says they may not act as your attorney. The APPC decides within 10 school days of the hearing. Deceleration decisions are final after reconsideration.
2. Appeal to the Vice Dean of Education, for dismissal only. The written appeal must arrive within 10 school days of being told the reconsideration decision. Again, the people with you may not act as your attorney. The Vice Dean decides within 10 school days. If the dismissal is upheld, the recommendation goes to the PA program director.

Grade disputes run separately and faster. You have seven school days after receiving the grade to appeal in writing to the course director, then seven school days after that decision to appeal to the program director.

USF is a public university, so constitutional due process applies to disciplinary action, while courts give real deference to academic judgment. Because the reconsideration hearing is the one place the APPC hears from you directly, the written petition and your preparation for that hearing carry the case.

Where the governing documents are

The USF Physician Assistant Program Student and Clinical Handbook, Class of 2028 (Didactic & Clinical), linked from the program’s policies page, holds the APPC, reconsideration, Vice Dean appeal, advancement, and graduation rules. The program’s public policies page and USF Regulation 3.009 add the graduate standards. Ask for the handbook edition for your class.

The federal money on the line at USF

University of South Florida students and families took on $144.4 million in federal Direct Loans in the 2025–26 award year — $61.2 million of it borrowed unsubsidized by 3,354 graduate and professional students.

Every dollar of it rides on academic standing. A dismissal, a failed Satisfactory Academic Progress evaluation, or a mid-term withdrawal sets off federal rules that decide whether aid continues, whether money already disbursed has to go back, and — under the borrowing caps in effect since July 1, 2026 — whether a student who leaves can still finance a return. For health-professional students the timing rules bite hardest: remediation terms, leaves, and repeated courses all feed the federal pace-of-completion math. The academic fight and the financial aid fight are the same fight, and the windows are short. How those rules work: SAP appeals and academic dismissal.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid Data Center, Direct Loan volume by school, award year 2025–26 (cumulative through June 30, 2026). University-wide federal Direct Loan totals.

Other USF and Florida PA programs

These pages set out related procedures: the Florida physician assistant programs overview, USF Morsani College of Medicine, the UF School of Physician Assistant Studies, and the FSU School of Physician Assistant Practice.

Common questions

How long do I have to ask the APPC to reconsider a dismissal?

Ten school days from being told the decision, in writing to the program director. You must attend the reconsideration hearing.

Can my lawyer come to the APPC hearing or the Vice Dean appeal?

You may bring people for support, advocacy, and counsel, but the handbook says they may not act as your attorney at either stage. The written petition and your preparation are where outside help matters most.

Can I appeal a deceleration decision?

You can ask the APPC to reconsider it. After reconsideration, deceleration decisions are final. The further appeal to the Vice Dean is for dismissals.

What GPA do I need in USF’s PA program?

An overall 3.0 under USF Regulation 3.009, with no grade of C- or below, and never two consecutive semesters under 3.0.