The Pharmacy Student Population: Applications Received 2007-08, Degrees Conferred 2007-08, Fall 2008 Enrollments

INTRODUCTION

This report presents data that describe the 2007-08 pharmacy application pool, degrees conferred in 2007-08, and fall 2008 pharmacy program enrollments. Data for this report were requested from the one hundred and twelve (112) U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy recognized by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) using five separate survey instruments.

There were previously two professional education programs at U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy: one leading to a baccalaureate in pharmacy, and the other leading to the doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. However, June 30, 2005 marked the official expiration of the ACPE standards to the baccalaureate in pharmacy (B.S. Pharmacy) degree programs in accordance with the transition to the doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree as the sole professional degree program in the U.S. Some colleges and schools of pharmacy conferred degrees in the B.S. Pharmacy program until 2004-05.

For the purpose of this report, students in doctor of pharmacy programs are categorized under Pharm.D.1 when the program leads to a doctor of pharmacy degree conferred as the first professional degree. Students who have already received a baccalaureate in pharmacy and are enrolled in a doctor of pharmacy degree program are categorized under Pharm.D.2.

The following definitions refer to the race/ethnicity groups as used in this report. White, black or African American, and Hispanic or Latino refer to students of the respective race/ethnicity who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its territories. The Asian, native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander group includes students who are Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Asian Indian, Guamanian, Samoan, or Pacific Islanders who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its territories. The American Indian or Alaska native classification includes Native Americans, Eskimos, and Aleuts who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its territories. Students listed under Other are those who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its territories, but for whom race/ethnicity is unknown. Included in Foreign are all students who are foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S., regardless of race/ethnicity.

2007-08 APPLICATION POOL

The 2007-08 Application Pool Survey was conducted online in October 2008, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 112 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. After follow-up correspondence and telephone calls, one hundred and eleven (111) colleges and schools (99.1 percent) submitted the requested information. The Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) provided application data for the 46 full-participating colleges and schools of pharmacy. Included in the application pool are students who applied for admission and submitted all required application materials between September 2007 and August 2008 for the entering class of fall 2008. Numbers reported represent the number of applications, not applicants, and may represent multiple applications submitted by individual applicants.

During the period September 2007 through August 2008, the 111 reporting institutions received 103,747 applications for admission. When compared with entering class enrollment data for fall 2008 at these institutions, the resultant ratio was 8.0 applications received for every one entering student enrolled. The corresponding data for the 100 colleges and schools reporting for the same period in 2006-07 were 100,751 applications received; 7.9 applications for every one entering student enrolled in fall 2007. For the one hundred (100) colleges and schools reporting application data for both 2006-07 and 2007-08, there was a 3.1 percent increase in the number of applications received. This is the eighth annual increase after six consecutive decreases.

In 2007-08, females submitted 59.6 percent of the applications to pharmacy colleges and schools; males submitted 38.9 percent; gender unknown/not reported submitted 1.5 percent. White Americans submitted 36.0 percent of the applications, Asian Americans submitted 31.5 percent of the applications, and underrepresented minorities submitted 14.2 percent of the applications (black, 9.7 percent; Hispanic, 4.1 percent; American Indian, 0.5 percent). 5.3 percent of the applications to the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree pharmacy programs were submitted by foreign, nonpermanent residents [Table 1]. For the fifth consecutive year, colleges and schools of pharmacy received more applications from out-of-state residents (58.3 percent) compared to 41.7 percent from in-state residents. This increase in out-of-state applicants can be attributed to the ease of applying to colleges and schools of pharmacy in different states through PharmCAS.

Table 1.

Distribution of 2007-2008 Applications by Gender and Race/Ethnicity of Applicant^a

^aRepresents data, some incomplete, submitted by 109 schools.

^bU.S. citizen or permanent resident

^cIncludes students for whom ethnic origin is unknown

^dNonpermanent resident/citizen of a country other than the U.S

Almost 41 percent (40.7 percent) of the applications to the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs were submitted by individuals who had previously obtained a baccalaureate degree or higher (baccalaureate, 38.6 percent; master's, 1.8 percent; doctorate, 0.3 percent), down from 55.9 percent the previous year [Table 2]. More than 71 percent (71.1 percent) of the applications to colleges and schools of pharmacy were submitted by individuals who had 3 or more years of postsecondary experience.

Table 2.

Distribution of 2007-2008 Applications to First Professional Degree Programs by Gender and Previous Postsecondary Experience of Applicant^a

^aRepresents data, some incomplete, submitted by 105 schools.

2007-08 DEGREES CONFERRED

The 2007-08 Professional Degrees Conferred and Graduate Degrees Conferred surveys were conducted online in October 2008, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 112 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. Submission of the data was requested by December 2008. After follow-up correspondence and telephone calls, 111 colleges and schools (99.1 percent) submitted the requested information.

Professional Degrees Conferred

Numbers of degrees conferred by U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy from 1965 to 2008 are presented in Table 3.

Table 3.

Number of Pharmacy Degrees conferred 1965-2008 by Degree and Gender

^aIncludes B.Pharm. Degree.

^bPharm.D.1 refers to the doctor of pharmacy degree awarded as the first professional degree.

^cIncludes B.S. Pharmacy, B.Pharm., and Pharm.D.1.

^dPharm.D.2 refers to the doctor of pharmacy degree awarded as a postbaccalaureate degree.

First Professional Degrees Conferred.

In 2007-08, ninety-one (91) colleges and schools conferred the doctor of pharmacy as a first professional degree (Pharm.D.1). Graduating Pharm.D.1 class sizes ranged from 24 students to 324 students (median, 107 students). Twenty-one (21) of the 112 colleges and schools of pharmacy did not confer degrees in 2007-08. Most were new programs whose students had not yet progressed through the entire curriculum (Harding, California Northstate, Touro-California, Hawaii-Hilo, Chicago State, Southern Illinois, Sullivan, St. John Fisher, Touro-New York, Northeastern Ohio, Findlay, Pacific-Oregon, Thomas Jefferson, Belmont, East Tennessee State, Lipscomb, Union, Texas A&M, Incarnate Word, and Charleston). The Medical University of South Carolina and University of South Carolina merged to become the South Carolina College of Pharmacy, but still reported data for each institution separately.

In 2007-08 there were 10,500 first professional degrees conferred by colleges and schools of pharmacy compared to 9,812 in 2006-07. [Table 4]. The total number of first professional degrees conferred in 2007-08 represented a 7.0 percent increase from the total number of first professional degrees conferred in 2006-07 [Table 5].

Table 4.

Baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.1) Degrees as Percentages of Total First Professional Degrees Conferred 1981-2008

^aIncludes B.Pharm. degree.

^bPharm.D.1 refers to the doctor of pharmacy degree awarded as the first professional degree.

^cIncludes B.S. Pharmacy, B.Pharm., and Pharm.D.1.

Table 5.

Annual Percentage Change in Number of Pharmacy Degrees Conferred 1981-2008 Over Previous Year

^aIncludes B.S. Pharmacy, B.Pharm., and Pharm.D.l from 1981-2005. Includes only Pharm.D.l beginning in 2006.

^bPharm.D.2 refers to the doctor of pharmacy degree awarded as a postbaccalaureate degree.

In 1979-80, men received 59.5 percent of the first professional degrees conferred by colleges and schools of pharmacy and women received 40.5 percent. Over the past 30 years, these percentages have shifted dramatically and, in 2007-08, men received 34.0 percent of the first professional degrees conferred, and 66.0 percent of these degrees were received by women [Table 6].

Table 6.

Percentage of Pharmacy Degrees Conferred 1980-2008 by Gender

^aIncludes B.Pharm. degree.

^bPharm.D.l refers to the doctor of pharmacy degree awarded as the first professional degree.

^cIncludes B.S. Pharmacy, B.Pharm., and Pharm.D.l from 1981-2005. Includes only Pharm.D.l beginning in 2006.

^dPharm.D.2 refers to the doctor of pharmacy degree awarded as a postbaccalaureate degree.

White Americans received 62.5 percent of first professional degrees conferred in 2007-08. Underrepresented minorities received 11.2 percent of the first professional degrees conferred in 2007-08 (black, 6.7 percent; Hispanic, 3.9 percent; American Indian, 0.6 percent). Asian Americans received 20.1 percent of the first professional degrees. The percentage of first professional degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 2.3 percent. [Table 7].

Table 7.

Percentage of First Professional Degree (B.S. Pharmacy, B.Pharm., and Pharm.D. 1) Recipients 1980-2008 by Race/Ethnicity

^aU.S. citizen or permanent resident.

^bIncludes students for whom ethnic origin is unknown.

^cNonpermanent resident/citizen of a country other than the U.S.

^dIncludes only Pharm.D. 1 degrees from 2006 onward.

Doctor of Pharmacy Degrees Conferred to Postbaccalaureate Students.

Thirty-one (31) colleges and schools conferred the Pharm.D. degree to postbaccalaureate students in 2007-08. The number of graduates per institution ranged from 1 to 217 students (median, 8 students). The number of doctor of pharmacy degrees conferred as postbaccalaureate degrees (Pharm.D.2) increased by 33.4 percent to 627 in 2007-08 from 470 in 2006-07 [Table 5]. More women than men received Pharm.D.2 degrees in 2007-08 (women, 64.1 percent; men, 35.9 percent) [Table 6].

White Americans received 54.9 percent of Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred in 2007-08. Underrepresented minorities received 13.4 percent of the Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred (black, 9.7 percent; Hispanic, 3.5 percent; American Indian, 0.2 percent). Asian Americans received 16.4 percent of the Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred in 2007-08. The percentage of Pharm.D.2 degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 9.6 percent, up from 6.8 percent in 2006-07 [Table 8].

Table 8.

Percentage of Postbaccalaureate Doctor of Pharmacy Degree (Pharm.D.2) Recipients 1980-2008 by Race/Ethnicity

^aU.S. citizen or permanent resident.

^bIncludes students for whom ethnic origin is unknown.

^cNonpermanent resident/citizen of a country other than the United States.

Graduate Degrees Conferred

The number of master of science (M.S.) degrees conferred has shown annual fluctuations over the 44 years data have been consistently gathered and reported [Table 3]. The number of M.S. degrees conferred increased from 604 in 2006-07 to 732 in 2007-08, a 21.2 percent increase. The number of Ph.D. degrees conferred increased in 2007-08 to 468 from 412 in 2006-07 (13.6 percent increase) [Table 5].

The highest percentage of M.S. degrees awarded in 2007-08 (22.3 percent) was in pharmaceutics. The second highest percentage of M.S. degrees was in the social and administrative sciences (21.2 percent), followed by medicinal chemistry (19.8 percent), other discipline (biophysics, quality assurance and regulatory affairs, regulatory and quality compliance, and biomedical writing/bioinformatics) (16.0 percent), pharmacology (12.2 percent), and pharmacy practice (8.6 percent). The highest number of Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2007-08 was in the discipline of pharmaceutics (42.1 percent). The second highest number was in medicinal chemistry (22.2 percent), followed by pharmacology (16.9 percent), other discipline (biophysics/biological & medical informatics, pharmaceutical & biomedical science, and clinical and experimental therapeutics) (10.5 percent), social and administrative sciences (7.7 percent), and pharmacy practice (0.6 percent) [Table 9].

Table 9.

Summary of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees Conferred 2007-08 by Gender and Discipline

^aIncludes Biophysics, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs, Regulatory and Quality Compliance, and Biomedical Writing/Bioinformatics for M.S. Degree. Includes Biophysics/Biological & Medical Informatics, Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Science, and Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics for Ph.D. Degree.

More women than men earned M.S. degrees (women, 62.4 percent; men, 37.6 percent) in 2007-08, while men earned more Ph.D. degrees than women (men, 56.0 percent; women 44.0 percent). The percentage of women receiving Ph.D. degrees in 2007-08 decreased from 46.6 percent in 2006-07. The share of Ph.D. degrees received by women has grown substantially from 18.0 percent in 1979-80 [Table 6]. This increase can be attributed to an increase in the number of foreign females receiving Ph.D. degrees. Black, Hispanic, and American Indian women have a propensity to be underrepresented as Ph.D. recipients. In 2007-08, seven black women, five Hispanic women, and two American Indian women received Ph.D.s. From 1979-80 to 2007-08, 127 Ph.D. degrees were conferred to black women, 47 to Hispanic women, and 4 to American Indian women. Half of the total number of Ph.D. degrees conferred to American Indian women since 1979-80 occurred just in the past year. [Table 10].

Table 10.

Number of Doctor of Philosophy Degrees (Ph.D.) Conferred 1980-2008 by Gender and Race/Ethnicity

^aUS citizen or permanent resident.

^bIncludes students for whom ethnic origin is unknown.

^cNonpermanent resident/citizen of a country other than the United States.

Underrepresented minorities received 9.4 percent of the M.S. degrees conferred in 2007-08 (black, 4.8 percent; Hispanic, 4.5 percent; American Indian, 0.1 percent), a decrease from 10.4 percent in 2006-07. Asian Americans received 10.2 percent of the M.S. degrees conferred, down from 13.9 percent in 2006-07. The percentage of M.S. degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 28.1 percent, up from 21.2 percent in 2006-07 [Table 11].

Table 11.

Percentage of Master of Science (M.S.) Degree Recipients 1980-2008 by Race/Ethnicity

^aU.S. citizen or permanent resident.

^bIncludes students for whom ethnic origin is unknown.

^cNonpermanent resident/citizen of a country other than the United States.

Underrepresented minorities earned 4.7 percent of the Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2007-08 (black, 2.4 percent; Hispanic, 1.9 percent; American Indian, 0.4 percent), a decrease from 5.8 percent in 2006-07. Asian Americans earned 9.8 percent of the Ph.D. degrees awarded. The percentage of Ph.D. degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 47.2 percent, down from 53.4 percent in 2006-07 [Table 12].

Table 12.

Percentage of Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D.) Recipients 1980-2008 by Race/Ethnicity

^aU.S. citizen or permanent resident.

^bIncludes students for whom ethnic origin is unknown.

^cNonpermanent resident/citizen of a country other than the United States

FALL 2008 ENROLLMENTS

The 2008 Professional Degree Enrollment and Graduate Degree Enrollment Surveys were conducted online in October 2008, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 112 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. Submission of the data was requested by December 2008. Follow-up telephone calls were made to non-responding colleges and schools and to those submitting incomplete data. A 99.1 percent response rate for both surveys was achieved.

Professional Degree Programs

Fall 2008 enrollments in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs (n=52,685) represented a 3.9 percent increase from enrollments in fall 2007 (n=50,691) [Table 13]. In fall 2008, 62.2 percent of the students enrolled in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs were females and 37.8 percent were males [Table 14].

Table 13.

Summary of Enrollments in First Professional Degree Programs 1980-2008

^aIncludes second from last year for baccalaureate and third from last year for Pharm.D.l and does not include first year enrollees in accelerated programs from 1980-2005. Includes third from last year Pharm.D. 1 beginning in 2006.

^bIncludes the final three years only of all first professional degree programs for 1980-1991; includes all professional years for 1992-2008 (3 years for baccalaureate and 4 years for Pharm.D.)

^cNot able to calculate percent change due to change in how data are reported by select institutions

Table 14.

Summary of Enrollments in First Professional Degree Programs by Gender 1980-2008

^aNot able to calculate percent change due to change in how data is reported by select institutions.

^bIncludes only Pharm.D.l degrees beginning in 2006.

White Americans composed the majority (58.9 percent) of students enrolled in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs. Asian Americans accounted for 22.1 percent; black Americans, 6.4 percent; Hispanic Americans, 4.1 percent; American Indians, 0.5 percent; and foreign students, 2.6 percent. Over five percent (5.3 percent) of enrollees were listed as other/unknown. Enrollments of underrepresented minorities (black, Hispanic, American Indian) as a percentage of total enrollments in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs increased slightly from fall 2007 to fall 2008 (10.9 percent in fall 2007; 11.0 percent in fall 2008) [Table 15].

Table 15.

Summary of Enrollments in First Professional Degree Programs by Race/Ethnicity 1980-2008

^aU.S. citizen or permanent resident.

^bTotals for 1981 - 1984 are for enrollments in final three years of program only.

^cNot able to calculate percent change due to change in how data are reported by select institutions.

^dIncludes B.S. Pharmacy, B.Pharm., and Pharm.D. 1 from 1980-2005. Includes only Pharm.D. 1 beginning in 2006.

Thirty-three (33) colleges and schools reported 2,037 students who already held a baccalaureate in pharmacy enrolled in doctor of pharmacy degree programs (Pharm.D.2). This was a decrease of 13.9 percent from fall 2007. White Americans composed 44.3 percent; black Americans accounted for 10.4 percent of these students; Hispanic Americans, 5.9 percent; Asian Americans, 16.2 percent; American Indians, 0.9 percent; other/unknown, 8.2 percent; and foreign students, 14.0 percent.

Graduate Degree Programs

In fall 2008, the discipline of pharmaceutics had the highest number of full-time enrollees at both the M.S. and Ph.D. levels (29.9 percent and 38.5 percent, respectively). At the master's level, 19.9 percent of the students enrolled were in pharmacy practice programs, 19.4 percent in social and administrative sciences programs, 16.1 percent in pharmacology programs, 11.6 percent in medicinal chemistry programs, and 3.1 percent in the other discipline (chemical synthesis and drug discovery & design, pharmaceutical & biomedical science, and bioinformatics/biomedical writing). At the doctoral level, 28.1 percent of the students were enrolled in medicinal chemistry programs, 17.9 percent in pharmacology programs, 8.1 percent in social and administrative science programs, 4.6 percent in the other discipline (biophysics/biological & medical informatics and pharmaceutical & biomedical science), and 2.9 percent in pharmacy practice [Table 16].

Table 16.

Summary of Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Fall 2008 Full-Time Enrollments by Gender and Discipline

^aIncludes Chemical Synthesis and Drug Discovery & Design, Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Science, and Bioinformatics/Biomedical Writing for M.S. Degree. Includes Biophysics/ Biological & Medical Informatics and Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Science for Ph.D. degree.

In fall 2008, more females than males were enrolled in M.S. degree programs (females, 57.0 percent; males, 43.0 percent). Women accounted for 48.5 percent of the students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in 2008, down from 49.4 percent in 2007.

Of the 894 students enrolled full time in M.S. degree programs in fall 2008, 28.4 percent were white Americans. Foreign students were the largest group, accounting for 47.4 percent of the enrollees. Black Americans accounted for 5.3 percent of the enrollees; Asian Americans, 7.3 percent; Hispanic Americans, 5.4 percent; and American Indians, 0.0 percent.

Of the 2,909 students enrolled full time in Ph.D. degree programs in fall 2008, foreign students were the largest group, accounting for 51.3 percent of the enrollees. Over thirty-two percent (32.3 percent) were white Americans. Asian Americans accounted for 7.5 percent of the enrollees; black Americans, 4.9 percent; Hispanic Americans, 2.3 percent; and American Indians 0.1 percent. Over thirty-five percent (35.5 percent) of full-time and part-time students in Ph.D. programs held a professional pharmacy degree: 8.5 percent of Ph.D. students held a professional pharmacy degree from a U.S. college or school of pharmacy, and 27.0 percent held a pharmacy degree conferred by a non-U.S. institution [Table 17].

Table 17.

Fall 2008 Enrollments in Ph.D. Programs by Type of Enrollment (Full-Time, Part-Time), Discipline, and Source of Previous Degree Earned^a

^aIncludes only those students for whom source of degree was reported.