Philly-area medical schools are enrolling more women and attracting more students, according to the latest trends

Competition at Philadelphia-area medical schools intensified in 2025, with programs seeing about 50 applicants for every open spot.

That’s the highest demand since 2022, with the number of applications bouncing back after a three-year decline, recently released data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) shows.

The annual report offers a look at the composition of the nation’s future doctors through the demographics of the applicants and enrollees at M.D. degree-granting medical schools across the United States and Canada.

It showed increased class sizes and strong female enrollment across the Philadelphia area’s five M.D. degree-granting schools: University of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson University, Temple University, Drexel University, and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University.

And the fraction of first-year medical students from Pennsylvania who identified as Black or African American, excluding the mixed-race student population, fell from 6.9% to 5.4% between 2023 and 2025.

The racial demographics of entering students are seeing increased scrutiny in light of the 2023 Supreme Court decision that effectively ended affirmative action, barring race from being used in higher education admissions.

The percentage of first-year medical students from Pa. who are Black is lower this year than the national average. Pennsylvania also lags behind the national average for first-year enrollment of Hispanic or Latino medical students.

This data reflects the results of the application cycle that concluded last spring. Next year’s prospective medical school students are currently in the thick of admissions season, awaiting interviews and offers.

Here’s a look at the key trends we’re seeing:

Demand for spots at Philadelphia area-medical schools is back up after a three-year decline. There were nearly 5,000 more applications last cycle, a 9.3% increase, with all schools except Cooper seeing a boost.

Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College helped drive growth the most, with a 16% increase in applications compared to the previous year.

Orientation icebreakers might take a bit longer to get through at area-medical schools as first-year classes continue to get bigger.

In 2025, Philadelphia-area schools enrolled 1,089 new medical students, compared to 991 in 2017. Drexel University College of Medicine contributed to half of that growth, adding 49 seats to its recent entering class compared to that of 2017.

Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine was the only school that did not increase its class size in 2025.

Medical schools around the country have committed to increasing class sizes to address projected shortages of doctors.

More female students have entered Philly-area medical schools over the last decade.

In 2025, 55.4% of first-year enrollees at Philly-area medical schools were female, compared to 47.7% in 2017.

Drexel saw the biggest rise, with 181 women entering in 2025, compared to 120 in 2017.