The Pharmacy Student Population: Applications Received 2008–09, Degrees Conferred 2008–09, Fall 2009 Enrollments

Danielle A. Taylor; Jennifer M. Patton

doi:10.5688/aj7410S2

INTRODUCTION

This report presents data that describe the 2008–09 pharmacy application pool, degrees conferred in 2008–09, and fall 2009 pharmacy program enrollments. Data for this report were requested from the one hundred and sixteen (116) 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.

2008–09 APPLICATION POOL

The 2008–09 Application Pool Survey was conducted online in October 2009, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 116 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. After follow-up correspondence and telephone calls, one hundred and sixteen (116) colleges and schools (100.0 percent) submitted the requested information. The Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) provided application data for the 59 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 2008 and August 2009 for the entering class of fall 2009. Numbers reported represent the number of applications, not applicants, and may represent multiple applications submitted by individual applicants.

During the period September 2008 through August 2009, the 116 reporting institutions received 108,396 applications for admission. The Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina merged to become the South Carolina College of Pharmacy and only accepted applications to the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. Therefore, 114 of the 116 reporting institutions received applications. When compared with entering class enrollment data for fall 2009 at these institutions, the resultant ratio was 8.1 applications received for every one entering student enrolled. The corresponding data for the 109 colleges and schools reporting for the same period in 2007–08 were 103,747 applications received; 8.0 applications for every one entering student enrolled in fall 2008. For the one hundred and nine (109) colleges and schools reporting application data for both 2007–08 and 2008–09, there was a 1.9 percent increase in the number of applications received. This is the ninth annual increase after six consecutive decreases.

In 2008–09, females submitted 58.3 percent of the applications to pharmacy colleges and schools; males submitted 39.6 percent; gender unknown/not reported submitted 2.1 percent. White Americans submitted 33.9 percent of the applications, Asian Americans submitted 31.9 percent of the applications, and underrepresented minorities submitted 14.4 percent of the applications (black, 10.1 percent; Hispanic, 4.0 percent; American Indian, 0.3 percent). 4.3 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 sixth consecutive year, colleges and schools of pharmacy received more applications from out-of-state residents (59.9 percent) compared to 40.1 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 2008–2009 Applications by Gender and Race/Ethnicity of Applicant ^a

Twenty-nine percent (29.0 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, 27.2 percent; master's, 1.5 percent; doctorate, 0.3 percent), down from 40.7 percent the previous year [Table 2]. Nearly 72 percent (71.7 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 2008–2009 Applications to First Professional Degree Programs by Gender and Previous Postsecondary Experience of Applicant ^a

2008–09 DEGREES CONFERRED

The 2008–09 Professional Degrees Conferred and Graduate Degrees Conferred surveys were conducted online in October 2009, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 116 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. Submission of the data was requested by December 2009. After follow-up correspondence and telephone calls, 116 colleges and schools (100.0 percent) submitted the requested information.

Professional Degrees Conferred

Numbers of degrees conferred by U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy from 1965 to 2009 are presented in Table 3.

Table 3.

Number of Pharmacy Degrees Conferred 1965–2009 by Degree and Gender

First Professional Degrees Conferred.

In 2008–09, ninety-four (94) colleges and schools conferred the doctor of pharmacy as a first professional degree (Pharm.D.1). Graduating Pharm.D.1 class sizes ranged from 26 students to 302 students (median, 113 students). Twenty-two (22) of the 116 colleges and schools of pharmacy did not confer degrees in 2008–09. Most were new programs whose students had not yet progressed through the entire curriculum (Harding, California Northstate, Regis, Hawaii-Hilo, Chicago State, Sullivan, Husson, New England, Notre Dame, St. John Fisher, Touro-New York, Northeastern Ohio, Findlay, 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 2008–09 there were 10,988 first professional degrees conferred by colleges and schools of pharmacy compared to 10,500 in 2007–08. [Table 4]. The total number of first professional degrees conferred in 2008–09 represented a 4.6 percent increase from the total number of first professional degrees conferred in 2007–08 [Table 5].

Table 4.

Baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.1) Degrees as Percentages of Total First Professional Degrees Conferred 1981–2009

Table 5.

Annual Percentage Change in Number of Pharmacy Degrees Conferred 1981–2009 Over Previous Year

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 2008–09, men received 35.6 percent of the first professional degrees conferred, and 64.4 percent of these degrees were received by women [Table 6].

Table 6.

Percentage of Pharmacy Degrees Conferred 1980–2009 by Gender

White Americans received 60.6 percent of first professional degrees conferred in 2008–09. Underrepresented minorities received 11.0 percent of the first professional degrees conferred in 2008–09 (black, 6.3 percent; Hispanic, 4.1 percent; American Indian, 0.6 percent). Asian Americans received 21.2 percent of the first professional degrees. The percentage of first professional degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 2.7 percent. [Table 7].

Table 7.

Percentage of First Professional Degree (B.S. Pharmacy, B.Pharm., and Pharm.D.1) Recipients 1980–2009 by Race/Ethnicity

Doctor of Pharmacy Degrees Conferred to Postbaccalaureate Students.

Twenty-nine (29) colleges and schools conferred the Pharm.D. degree to postbaccalaureate students in 2008–09. The number of graduates per institution ranged from 1 to 156 students (median, 7 students). The number of doctor of pharmacy degrees conferred as postbaccalaureate degrees (Pharm.D.2) decreased by 15.8 percent to 528 in 2008–09 from 627 in 2007–08 [Table 5]. More women than men received Pharm.D.2 degrees in 2008–09 (women, 66.1 percent; men, 33.9 percent) [Table 6].

White Americans received 48.1 percent of Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred in 2008–09. Underrepresented minorities received 13.5 percent of the Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred (black, 8.7 percent; Hispanic, 3.4 percent; American Indian, 0.4 percent). Asian Americans received 18.4 percent of the Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred in 2008–09. The percentage of Pharm.D.2 degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 13.4 percent, up from 9.6 percent in 2007–08 [Table 8].

Table 8.

Percentage of Postbaccalaureate Doctor of Pharmacy Degree (Pharm.D.2) Recipients 1980–2009 by Race/Ethnicity

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 732 in 2007–08 to 767 in 2008–09, a 4.8 percent increase. The number of Ph.D. degrees conferred decreased in 2008–09 to 458 from 468 in 2007–08 (2.1 percent decrease) [Table 5].

The highest percentage of M.S. degrees awarded in 2008–09 (34.7 percent) was in pharmaceutics. The second highest percentage of M.S. degrees was in pharmacology (19.6 percent), followed by other discipline (pharmaceutical and biomedical regulatory affairs, quality assurance and regulatory affairs, drug regulatory affairs, anatomy, and biomedical writing/bioinformatics) (15.0 percent), social and administrative sciences (14.1 percent), pharmacy practice (9.4 percent), and medicinal chemistry (7.3 percent). The highest number of Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2008–09 was in the discipline of pharmaceutics (41.9 percent). The second highest number was in medicinal chemistry (24.2 percent), followed by pharmacology (15.1 percent), social and administrative sciences (9.4 percent), other discipline (biophysics/biomedical & medical informatics, pharmaceutical & biomedical science, and health outcomes and policy research) (5.0 percent), and pharmacy practice (4.4 percent) [Table 9].

Table 9.

Summary of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees Conferred 2008–09 by Gender and Discipline

More women than men earned M.S. degrees (women, 51.6 percent; men, 48.4 percent) in 2008–09, and Ph.D. degrees (women, 50.2 percent; men, 49.8 percent). This is the first year that women received more Ph.D. degrees than men. The percentage of women receiving Ph.D. degrees in 2008–09 increased from 44.0 percent in 2007–08. 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 2008–09, eleven black women, seven Hispanic women, and zero American Indian women received Ph.D.s. From 1979–80 to 2008–09, 138 Ph.D. degrees were conferred to black women, 54 to Hispanic women, and 4 to American Indian women. [Table 10].

Table 10.

Number of Doctor of Philosophy Degrees (Ph.D.) Conferred 1980–2009 by Gender and Race/Ethnicity

Underrepresented minorities received 5.3 percent of the M.S. degrees conferred in 2008–09 (black, 3.9 percent; Hispanic, 1.4 percent; American Indian, 0.0 percent), a decrease from 9.4 percent in 2007–08. Asian Americans received 11.1 percent of the M.S. degrees conferred, up from 10.2 percent in 2007–08. The percentage of M.S. degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 49.5 percent, up from 28.1 percent in 2007–08 [Table 11].

Table 11.

Percentage of Master of Science (M.S.) Degree Recipients 1980–2009 by Race/Ethnicity

Underrepresented minorities earned 6.1 percent of the Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2008–09 (black, 3.9 percent; Hispanic, 2.2 percent; American Indian, 0.0 percent), an increase from 4.7 percent in 2007–08. Asian Americans earned 11.8 percent of the Ph.D. degrees awarded. The percentage of Ph.D. degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 46.1 percent, down from 47.2 percent in 2007–08 [Table 12].

Table 12.

Percentage of Doctor of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D.) Recipients 1980–2009 by Race/Ethnicity

FALL 2009 ENROLLMENTS

The 2009 Professional Degree Enrollment and Graduate Degree Enrollment Surveys were conducted online in October 2009, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 116 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. Submission of the data was requested by December 2009. Follow-up telephone calls were made to non-responding colleges and schools and to those submitting incomplete data. A 100.0 percent response rate for both surveys was achieved.

Professional Degree Programs

Fall 2009 enrollments in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs (n=54,710) represented a 3.8 percent increase from enrollments in fall 2008 (n=52,685) [Table 13]. In fall 2009, 61.3 percent of the students enrolled in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs were females and 38.7 percent were males [Table 14].

Table 13.

Summary of Enrollments in First Professional Degree Programs 1980–2009

Table 14.

Summary of Enrollments in First Professional Degree Programs by Gender 1980–2009

White Americans composed the majority (58.0 percent) of students enrolled in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs. Asian Americans accounted for 22.8 percent; black Americans, 6.5 percent; Hispanic Americans, 4.2 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 2008 to fall 2009 (11.1 percent in fall 2008; 11.2 percent in fall 2009) [Table 15].

Table 15.

Summary of Enrollments in First Professional Degree Programs by Race/Ethnicity 1980–2009

Twenty-seven (27) colleges and schools reported 1,931 students who already held a baccalaureate in pharmacy enrolled in doctor of pharmacy degree programs (Pharm.D.2). This was a decrease of 5.2 percent from fall 2008. White Americans composed 40.5 percent; black Americans accounted for 10.9 percent of these students; Hispanic Americans, 4.6 percent; Asian Americans, 20.5 percent; American Indians, 0.3 percent; other/unknown, 9.9 percent; and foreign students, 13.3 percent.

Graduate Degree Programs

In fall 2009, the discipline of pharmaceutics had the highest number of full-time enrollees at both the M.S. and Ph.D. levels (26.5 percent and 38.1 percent, respectively). At the master's level, 25.5 percent of the students enrolled were in pharmacy practice programs, 22.0 percent in social and administrative sciences programs, 14.5 percent in pharmacology programs, 10.0 percent in medicinal chemistry programs, and 1.4 percent in the other discipline (bioinformatics/biomedical writing and health outcomes and policy research). At the doctoral level, 26.6 percent of the students were enrolled in medicinal chemistry programs, 18.2 percent in pharmacology programs, 8.9 percent in social and administrative science programs, 4.5 percent in the other discipline (biophysics/biological & medical informatics pharmaceutical & biomedical science, translational science, and health outcomes and policy research), and 3.6 percent in pharmacy practice [Table 16].

Table 16.

Summary of Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Fall 2009 Full-Time Enrollments by Gender and Discipline

In fall 2009, more females than males were enrolled full-time in M.S. degree programs (females, 55.5 percent; males, 44.5 percent). Women accounted for 49.5 percent of the students enrolled full-time in Ph.D. programs in 2009, up from 48.5 percent in 2008.

Of the 1,117 students enrolled full-time in M.S. degree programs in fall 2009, 30.0 percent were white Americans. Foreign students were the largest group, accounting for 46.9 percent of the enrollees. Black Americans accounted for 4.6 percent of the enrollees; Asian Americans, 7.5 percent; Hispanic Americans, 4.3 percent; and American Indians, 0.6 percent.

Of the 2,929 students enrolled full-time in Ph.D. degree programs in fall 2009, foreign students were the largest group, accounting for 51.1 percent of the enrollees. Nearly thirty-two percent (31.5 percent) were white Americans. Asian Americans accounted for 6.9 percent of the enrollees; black Americans, 5.0 percent; Hispanic Americans, 2.8 percent; and American Indians, 0.3 percent. Over thirty-nine percent (39.1 percent) of full-time and part-time students in Ph.D. programs held a professional pharmacy degree: 9.8 percent of Ph.D. students held a professional pharmacy degree from a U.S. college or school of pharmacy, and 29.2 percent held a pharmacy degree conferred by a non-U.S. institution [Table 16].

Table 17.

Fall 2009 Enrollments in Ph.D. Programs by Type of Enrollment (Full-Time, Part-Time), Discipline, and Source of Previous Degree Earned^a

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy wishes to express its appreciation to the deans of its member institutions and members of their faculty and staff who devoted their valuable time to complete the surveys that led to this report.

This report is an excerpt from the Profile of Pharmacy Students—Fall 2009, published by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (2010).