This report presents data that describe the 2005-06 pharmacy application pool, degrees conferred in 2005-06, and fall 2006 pharmacy program enrollments. Data for this report were requested from the 99 U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy recognized by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) using five separate survey instruments.

There were 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 for the baccalaureate in pharmacy (B.S. Pharmacy) degree programs in accordance with the transition of 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.

The 2005-06 Application Pool Survey was conducted online in October 2006, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 99 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. After follow-up correspondence and telephone calls, 98 colleges and schools (99.0 percent) submitted the requested information. The Pharmacy College Application Service (PharmCAS) provided application data for the 28 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 2005 and August 2006 for the entering class of fall 2006. Numbers reported represent the number of applications, not applicants, and may represent multiple applications submitted by individual applicants.

During the period September 2005 through August 2006, the 98 reporting institutions received 92,463 applications for admission. When compared with entering class enrollment data for fall 2006 at these institutions, the resultant ratio was 8.4 applications received for every one entering student enrolled. The corresponding data for the 91 colleges and schools reporting for the same period in 2004-05 were 80,082 applications received; 7.6 applications for every one entering student enrolled in fall 2005. For the 90 colleges and schools reporting application data for both 2004-05 and 2005-06, there was a 11.4 percent increase in the number of applications received. This is the sixth annual increase after six consecutive decreases.

In 2005-06, females submitted 59.5 percent of the applications to pharmacy colleges and schools; males submitted 38.7 percent; gender unknown/not reported submitted 1.9 percent. White Americans submitted 38.5 percent of the applications. Asian Americans submitted 30.5 percent of the applications. Underrepresented minorities submitted 13.3 percent of the applications (black, 8.9 percent; Hispanic, 3.9 percent; American Indian, 0.5 percent). Nearly five percent (4.9 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 third consecutive year, colleges and schools of pharmacy received more applications from out-of-state residents (57.6 percent) compared to 42.4 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.

Over 53 percent (53.7 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, 50.3 percent; master's, 2.7 percent; doctorate, 0.8 percent), up from 46.2 percent the previous year [Table 2]. Over 75 percent (75.5 percent) of the applications to colleges and schools of pharmacy were submitted by individuals who had 3 or more years of postsecondary experience.

The 2005-06 Professional Degrees Conferred and Graduate Degrees Conferred surveys were conducted online in October 2006, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 99 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. Submission of the data was requested by December 2006. After follow-up correspondence and telephone calls, 98 colleges and schools (99.0 percent) submitted the requested information.

Numbers of degrees conferred by U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy from 1965 to 2006 are presented in Table 3.

In 2005-06, 87 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 247 students (median, 99 students). Ten of the 99 colleges and schools of pharmacy did not confer degrees in 2005-06: all were new programs whose students had not yet progressed through the entire curriculum (Touro, Southern Illinois, St. John Fisher, Wingate, Findlay, Pacific-Oregon, Texas A&M, Incarnate Word, Appalachia and Charleston).

In 2005-06 there were 9,040 first professional degrees conferred by colleges and schools of pharmacy compared to 8,268 in 2004-05. [Table 4]. The total number of first professional degrees conferred in 2005-06 represented a 9.3 percent increase from the total number of first professional degrees conferred in 2004-05 [Table 5].

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 2005-06, men received 31.8 percent of the first professional degrees conferred, and 68.2 percent of these degrees were received by women [Table 6].

White Americans received 62.5 percent of first professional degrees conferred in 2005-06. Underrepresented minorities received 12.0 percent of the first professional degrees conferred in 2005-06 (black, 7.4 percent; Hispanic, 4.2 percent; American Indian, 0.4 percent). Asian Americans received 20.2 percent of the first professional degrees. The percentage of first professional degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 2.4 percent. [Table 7].

Thirty-four (34) colleges and schools conferred the Pharm.D. degree to postbaccalaureate students in 2005-06. The number of graduates per institution ranged from 1 to 158 students. The number of doctor of pharmacy degrees conferred as postbaccalaureate degrees (Pharm.D.2) decreased by 22.9 percent to 515 in 2005-06 from 668 in 2004-05 [Table 5]. More women than men received Pharm.D.2 degrees in 2005-06 (women, 60.8 percent; men, 39.2 percent) [Table 6].

White Americans received 55.1 percent of Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred in 2005-06. Underrepresented minorities received 13.8 percent of the Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred (black, 8.2 percent; Hispanic, 5.6 percent; American Indian, 0.0 percent). Asian Americans received 13.2 percent of the Pharm.D.2 degrees conferred in 2005-06. The percentage of Pharm.D.2 degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 7.4 percent, up from 5.4 percent in 2004-05 [Table 8].

The number of master of science (M.S.) degrees conferred has shown annual fluctuations over the 43 years data have been consistently gathered and reported [Table 3]. The number of M.S. degrees conferred increased from 626 in 2004-05 to 644 in 2005-06, a 2.9 percent increase. The number of Ph.D. degrees conferred increased in 2005-06 to 442 from 429 in 2004-05 (3.0 percent increase) [Table 5].

The highest percentage of M.S. degrees awarded in 2005-06 (25.8 percent) was in the other discipline (quality assurance & regulatory affairs, biomedical writing/bioinformatics, public health, pharmaceutical & biomedical science, interdisciplinary studies and industrial & physical pharmacy). The next highest percentage of M.S. degrees was in social and administrative sciences (22.0 percent), followed by pharmacology (20.3 percent), pharmaceutics (16.3 percent), pharmacy practice (9.2 percent), and medicinal chemistry (6.4 percent). The highest number of Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2005-06 was in the discipline of pharmaceutics (38.5 percent). The next highest number was in medicinal chemistry (26.5 percent), followed by pharmacology (15.8 percent), social and administrative sciences (10.9 percent), other: biological & medical informatics, pharmaceutical & biomedical science, biophysics, cellular & biological chemistry and interdisciplinary studies (6.1 percent), and pharmacy practice (2.3 percent) [Table 9].

More women than men earned M.S. degrees (women, 62.5 percent; men, 37.5 percent) in 2005-06, while men earned more Ph.D. degrees than women (men, 57.0 percent; women 43.0 percent). The percentage of women receiving Ph.D. degrees in 2005-06 decreased from 49.9 percent in 2004-05. The share of Ph.D. degrees received by women has grown 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 tended to be poorly represented as Ph.D. recipients. In 2005-06, twelve black women and three Hispanic women received Ph.D.s. From 1979-80 to 2005-06, 109 Ph.D. degrees were conferred to black women, 38 to Hispanic women, and two to American Indian women [Table 10].

Underrepresented minorities received 12.7 percent of the M.S. degrees conferred in 2005-06 (black, 8.1 percent; Hispanic, 4.3 percent; American Indian, 0.3 percent), an increase from 10.1 percent in 2004-05. Asian Americans received 7.6 percent of the M.S. degrees conferred, down from 12.8 percent in 2004-05. The percentage of M.S. degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 28.3 percent, up from 23.0 percent in 2004-05 [Table 11].

Underrepresented minorities earned 5.7 percent of the Ph.D. degrees awarded in 2005-06 (black, 3.8 percent; Hispanic, 1.8 percent; American Indian, 0.0 percent), a decrease from 6.8 percent in 2004-05. Asian Americans earned 7.7 percent of the Ph.D. degrees awarded. The percentage of Ph.D. degree recipients who were foreign, nonpermanent residents of the U.S. was 57.5 percent, down from 58.3 percent in 2004-05 [Table 12].

The 2006 Professional Degree Enrollment and Graduate Degree Enrollment Surveys were conducted online in October 2006, with an announcement and request for participation sent to the dean at each of the 99 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. recognized by ACPE. Submission of the data was requested by December 2006. Follow-up telephone calls were made to non-responding colleges and schools and to those submitting incomplete data. A 99 percent response rate for both surveys was achieved.

Fall 2006 enrollments in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs (n = 48,592) represented a 4.4 percent increase from enrollments in fall 2005 (n=46,527) [Table 13]. In fall 2006, 64.2 percent of the students enrolled in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs were females and 35.8 percent were males [Table 14].

White Americans composed the majority (60.2 percent) of students enrolled in the Pharm.D. as the first professional degree programs. Asian Americans accounted for 21.2 percent; black Americans, 6.7 percent; Hispanic Americans, 3.9 percent; American Indians, 0.5 percent; and foreign students, 2.1 percent. More than five percent (5.4 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 decreased slightly from fall 2005 to fall 2006 (12.3 percent in fall 2005; 11.1 percent in fall 2006) [Table 15].

Forty-one (41) colleges and schools reported 2,715 students who already held a baccalaureate in pharmacy enrolled in doctor of pharmacy degree programs (Pharm.D.2). This was a decrease of 5.8 percent from fall 2005. White Americans composed 53.0 percent; black Americans accounted for 10.1 percent of these students; Hispanic Americans, 5.3 percent; Asian Americans, 11.6 percent; American Indians, 0.3 percent; other/unknown, 9.2 percent; and foreign students, 10.5 percent.

In fall 2006, the discipline of pharmaceutics had the highest number of enrollees at both the M.S. and Ph.D. levels (31.1 percent and 38.1 percent, respectively). At the master's level, 18.4 percent of the students were enrolled in social and administrative sciences programs, 20.5 percent in pharmacology programs, 17.4 percent in pharmacy practice programs, 7.1 percent in medicinal chemistry programs, and 5.4 percent in other: pharmaceutical and biomedical science, public health, biomedical writing/bioinformatics and interdisciplinary studies. At the doctoral level, 28.5 percent of the students were enrolled in medicinal chemistry programs, 19.0 percent in pharmacology programs, 7.5 percent in social and administrative science programs, 1.6 percent in pharmacy practice, and 5.2 percent in other: pharmaceutical and biomedical science, public health, interdisciplinary studies, biological & medical informatics and biophysics [Table 16].

In fall 2006, more females than males were enrolled in M.S. degree programs (females, 55.2; males, 44.8 percent). Women accounted for 47.8 percent of the students enrolled in Ph.D. programs in 2006, up from 47.3 percent in 2005.

Of the 940 students enrolled full time in M.S. degree programs in fall 2006, 27.3 percent were white Americans. Foreign students were the largest group, accounting for 40.2 percent of the enrollees. Black Americans accounted for 10.9 percent of the enrollees; Asian Americans, 9.9 percent; Hispanic Americans, 7.2 percent; and American Indians, 0.5 percent.

Of the 2,773 students enrolled full time in Ph.D. degree programs in fall 2006, foreign students were the largest group, accounting for 50.3 percent of the enrollees. Over thirty-two (32.5) percent were white Americans. Asian Americans accounted for 6.9 percent of the enrollees; black Americans, 4.5 percent; Hispanic Americans, 2.4 percent; and American Indians 0.2 percent. Over 36 percent (36.3 percent) of full-time and part-time students in Ph.D. programs held a professional pharmacy degree: 7.7 percent of Ph.D. students held a professional pharmacy degree from a U.S. college or school of pharmacy and 28.5 percent held a pharmacy degree conferred by a non-U.S. institution [Table 17].