The Pharmacy Student Population: Applications Received 2018-19, Degrees Conferred 2018-19, Fall 2019 Enrollments

2018-19 Application Pool

The 2018-19 Application Pool Survey was conducted online in October 2019 with an announcement and request for participation sent to the survey coordinator at each of the 144 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. After follow-up correspondence, 144 colleges and schools (100%) submitted the requested information. Included in the application pool are applicants who applied for admission and submitted all required application materials as defined by the Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) between September 2018 and August 2019 for the entering class of fall 2019. Numbers reported represent the number of applications, not applicants, and may represent multiple applications submitted by individual applicants.

During the period September 2018 through August 2019, 143 institutions reported received 50,842 applications for admission. This total represents the total number of applications reported by race/ethnicity and gender of the applicant.

In 2018-19, females submitted 63.3% of the applications to pharmacy colleges and schools; males submitted 36.6%; gender unknown/not reported submitted 0.1%. The two largest applicant groups by race/ethnicity were White Americans, submitting 37.4% and Asian Americans representing 28.6% of the total applications. Underrepresented minorities submitted 22.9% of total applications (Black or African American, 13.5%; Hispanic or Latino, 9.2%; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 0.1%; American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.1%). Applications submitted from students that identified as two or more races totaled 3.1 % and 5.5 % of the applications were submitted by foreign, nonpermanent residents [Table 1]. Applications were split between in-state and out of state residents where 49.6 applications came from in-state residents and 50.4 % came from out-of-state residents.

Over 77 % (77.5 %) of the applications to colleges and schools of pharmacy were submitted by individuals who had 3 or more years of postsecondary experience (3 or more years of college/no degree, 36.6 %; baccalaureate, 38.1 %; master’s, 2.4 %; doctoral degree, 0.4 %), [Table 2].

2018-19 Degrees Conferred

The 2018-19 Undergraduate and Professional Pharmacy Degrees Conferred and Graduate Pharmacy Degrees Conferred surveys were conducted online in October 2019, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the survey coordinator at each of the 144 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. Submission of the data was requested by December 2019. After follow-up correspondence, 144 colleges and schools (100 %) submitted the Undergraduate and Professional Degrees Conferred Survey and the Graduate Degrees Conferred Survey.

Professional Degrees Conferred

Numbers of degrees conferred by U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy from 1965 to 2019 are presented in Table 3.

First Professional Degrees Conferred

In 2018-19, 137 colleges and schools of pharmacy reported conferring the Doctor of Pharmacy as a first professional degree (Pharm.D.1). Graduating Pharm.D.1 class sizes ranged from 34 students to 310 students (median, 94.5 students). Seven of the 143 colleges and schools with Pharm.D.1 enrollments did not confer degrees in 2018-19. These schools were new programs whose students had not yet progressed through the entire curriculum (American, Marshall B. Ketchum, William Carey, Binghamton, High Point, Texas at El Paso, and Medical College of WI). Lebanese American reclassified their enrollments beginning in 2018-19 as Pharm.D.2 students; therefore, they are no longer included in these counts.

In 2018-19 there were 14,800 first professional degrees conferred by colleges and schools compared to 14,905 in 2017-18 [Table 4], representing a 0.7 % decrease from the number of degrees conferred the prior year [Table 5].

In 1979-80, men received 59.5 % of the first professional degrees conferred by colleges and schools and women received 40.5 %. Over the past 35 years, these %ages have shifted dramatically where women now receive the majority of first professional Doctor of Pharmacy degrees. In 2018-19 women received 62.0 % of the first professional degrees conferred and 37.3 % were received by men. Individuals with Unknown/Other Gender received 0.6 % of the degrees conferred. Women received the highest %age of degrees conferred in 2005-06 (68.2 %) [Table 6].

White Americans received 49.8 % of first professional degrees conferred in 2018-19. Asian Americans received 25.6 % of the first professional degrees. Nearly 15 % (14.8 %) of graduates in 2018-19 were underrepresented minorities (Black or African American, 8.5 %; Hispanic or Latino, 5.7 %; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 0.3 %; American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.3 %). The %age of first professional degree recipients who were of two or more races was 3.0 % and the %age of recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 2.6 % [Table 7].

Doctor of Pharmacy Degrees Conferred to Post Baccalaureate Students

Seven colleges and schools conferred the Pharm.D. degree to post baccalaureate students in 2018-19. The number of graduates per institution ranged from 8 to 145 students (median, 32 students). The number of Doctor of Pharmacy degrees conferred as postbaccalaureate degrees (Pharm.D.2) increased 52.2 % to 312 in 2018-19 from 205 in 2017-18 [Table 5]. More women than men received Pharm.D.2 degrees in 2018-19 (women, 67.9 %; men, 32.1 %) [Table 6].

White Americans received 29.8 % of Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred in 2018-19. Asian Americans received 18.6 % of the Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred. Underrepresented minorities received 20.8 % of the Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred (Black or African American, 17.9 %; Hispanic or Latino, 2.9 %; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 0.0 %; American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.0 %). Students of two or more races received 1.3 of Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred in 2018-19. The %age of Pharm.D.2-degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 14.1 %, down slightly from 14.6 % in 2017-18 [Table 8].

Graduate Degrees Conferred

The number of graduate degrees (M.S. and Ph.D.) conferred has shown annual fluctuations over the 50 years data have been consistently gathered and reported [Table 3]. The number of M.S. degrees conferred increased to 1,128 in 2018-19 from 1,047 in 2017-18, a 7.7% increase. The number of Ph.D. degrees conferred remained flat at 600 in 2018-19 [Table 5].

The highest percentage of M.S. degrees awarded in 2018-19 (37.9%) was in social and administrative sciences. The second highest percentage of M.S. degrees was in pharmaceutics (27.7%); followed by medicinal chemistry (16.4%); pharmacology (8.2%); pharmacy practice (8.0%), and other disciplines (1.9%). The highest number of Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2018-19 was in the discipline of pharmaceutics (39.3 %). The second highest number was in medicinal chemistry (19.3%); followed by pharmacology (17.2%); pharmacy practice (10.8%), social and administrative sciences (9.8%); and other disciplines (3.5%) [Table 9].

More women than men earned M.S. degrees (women, 63.8%; men, 35.9%; Unknown/Other Gender 0.3%); however, more men than women earned Ph.D. degrees (women, 45.2%; men, 52.5%) in 2018-19. There have only been two years (2012-13 and 2008-09) since AACP began collecting data that women received more Ph.D. degrees than men. The percentage of women receiving Ph.D. degrees has grown substantially to almost half of Ph.D. degrees from only 18.0% in 1979-80 [Table 6].

Underrepresented minorities received 11.3% of M.S. degrees in 2018-19 (Black or African American, 5.9%; Hispanic or Latino, 5.0%; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 0.1%; American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.4%), slightly up from 11.1% in 2017-18. Asian Americans received 12.1% of the M.S. degrees conferred, an increase from 10.9% in 2017-18. The percentage of M.S. degree recipients who were of two or more races was 1.4% and the percent of degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 33.2%, down from 38.9% in 2017-18 [Table 11].

Underrepresented minorities earned 6.0% of the Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2018-19 (Black or African American, 2.8%; Hispanic or Latino, 2.3%; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 0.0%; American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.8%), an increase from 4.8% in 2017-18. Asian Americans earned 10.8% of the Ph.D. degrees awarded. The percentage of Ph.D. degree recipients who were of two or more races was 0.8% and the percentage of degree recipients that were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 49.5, a decrease from 57.2% in 2017-18 [Table 12].

Fall 2019 Enrollments

The 2019 Undergraduate and Professional Pharmacy Degree Enrollment Survey and Graduate Degree Enrollment Survey were conducted online in October 2019, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the survey coordinator at each of the 144 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. Submission of the data was requested by December 2019. After follow-up correspondence, 144 colleges and schools (100 %) submitted the requested information.

Professional Degree Programs

Fall 2019 enrollments in Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs (n=60,594) represented a 3.1% decrease from enrollments in fall 2018 (n=62,504) [Table 13]. In fall 2019, 63.6% of the students enrolled in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs were females and 35.9% were males [Table 14].

White Americans nearly comprised the majority (48.1%) of students enrolled in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs. Asian Americans accounted for 24.0%; Black or African Americans, 9.3%; Hispanic or Latino, 7.2%; Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders 0.2%; American Indians/Alaska Natives, 0.4%; and international/foreign students, 3.1%. Students where race/ethnicity was unknown accounted for 4.2% of enrollees and students that identified as two or more races accounted for 3.1% of all first professional degree enrollments. Students whose race/ethnicity and gender were unknown accounted for 0.5% of enrollments. Enrollments of underrepresented minorities (Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native) as a percentage of total enrollments in the Pharm.D. as a first professional degree programs increased to 17.0% in fall 2019 from 16.2% in fall 2018 [Table 15].

Eight colleges and schools reported 622 students who already held a baccalaureate in pharmacy enrolled in full-time and non-traditional Doctor of Pharmacy degree programs (Pharm.D.2). This was a decrease of 18.6% from fall 2018. Underrepresented minorities accounted for 21.5% of these students (Black or African American, 19.9%; Hispanic or Latino, 1.6%; Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islander, 0.0%; American Indians/Alaska Native, 0.0%). White Americans comprised 37.5%; Asian Americans, 18.8%; students of two or more races, 0.5%; unknown, 8.5%; international/foreign students, 13.2%; and students of unknown race/ethnicity and gender, 0.0%.

Graduate Degree Programs

In fall 2019, the discipline of pharmaceutics had the highest percentage of full-time enrollees at both the M.S. and Ph.D. levels (39.8% and 38.2%, respectively). At the master's level, 19.7% of the students were in enrolled in social and administrative sciences programs; 13.3% in pharmacology programs; 12.3% in pharmacy practice programs; 7.9% in other disciplines; and 7.0% in medicinal chemistry programs. At the doctoral level, 23.0% of the students were enrolled in medicinal chemistry programs; 16.0% in pharmacology programs; 12.4% in social and administrative science programs; 6.5% in other disciplines; and 3.8% in pharmacy practice [Table 16].

In fall 2019, more females than males were enrolled full-time in both M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs. This is the second year in a row that more women than men were enrolled in Ph.D. programs. In M.S. programs females accounted for 64.5% of enrollments and males, 35.4%. Women accounted for 51.5% of Ph.D. full-time enrollments, a slight increase from 51.0% in fall 2018.

Of the 1,193 students enrolled full-time in M.S. degree programs in fall 2019, nearly half (47.9%) were international/foreign students. The next largest group were White Americans, comprising 25.6% of enrollees and Asian Americans accounted for 11.0%. Underrepresented minorities accounted for 11.1% of M.S. enrollees (Black or African American, 3.9%; Hispanic or Latino, 6.9%; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 0.1%; American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.3%). Americans of two or more races made up 1.7% of enrollees and 2.6% of all full-time M.S. degree enrollees were reported as race/ethnicity unknown.

Of the 3,217 students enrolled full-time in Ph.D. degree programs in fall 2019, international/foreign students were also the largest group, accounting for 48.6% of the enrollees. White Americans were the next largest group at 30.4% of full-time enrollments, followed by Asian Americans at 9.6%. Underrepresented minorities accounted for 8.8% of Ph.D. enrollees (Black or African American, 4.4%; Hispanic or Latino, 4.0%; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 0.1%; American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.3%). Americans of two or more races accounted for 1.7%, 0.8% of all full-time Ph.D. degree enrollees had unknown race/ethnicity. For graduate students whose source of degree was reported, nearly 42% (41.8) of full-time and part-time students in Ph.D. programs held a professional pharmacy degree, 12.2% of Ph.D. students held a professional pharmacy degree from a U.S. college or school of pharmacy and 29.5% held a pharmacy degree conferred by a non-U.S. institution [Table 17].