The New Orleans-based Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine can now review and accept enrollment applications after receiving preliminary accreditation ahead of its planned first class in summer 2027.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) directory lists the program as preliminary, with 2026 as its initial accreditation year and 2028–29 as its next survey window. Preliminary status is an early step in the LCME process, which continues through provisional and full accreditation.
Xavier University of Louisiana and Ochsner Health formed the college in 2024. According to Xavier and Ochsner, the college gained candidate status in October 2025, followed by an LCME survey visit in June 2026. They expect applications to become available through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) in the coming weeks.
Xavier describes the college as the only historically Black college or university (HBCU) college of medicine in the Gulf South and says it would be the fifth HBCU allopathic medical school in the United States. The four it identifies are Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) projects a U.S. shortage of 141,160 full-time-equivalent physicians in 2038. The partners cite workforce needs as context for the college’s planned opening.
Xavier and Ochsner project that the college’s operations will produce $152.5 million in economic impact across Louisiana by 2040, including $122 million in New Orleans, and support more than 1,185 jobs statewide. They also project that physicians trained by the college will contribute $2.9 billion to the U.S. economy by 2040.
Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine corrected its release on Oct. 15, revising the summary line and the closing sentence of the opening paragraph; PR Newswire carried the notice.
Applications are expected in the coming weeks, while the LCME directory lists the program’s next survey for 2028–29.
