Trends in the Numbers of US Colleges of Pharmacy and Their Graduates, 1900 to 2014

Abstract

Objective. To describe the cumulative and contemporary numbers of colleges and schools of pharmacy between 1900 and 2014 based on membership in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy or its predecessor, the American Conference of Pharmaceutical Faculties, as well as the mean number of graduates among member schools each year. Methods. A review of published literature for numbers of schools and graduates was conducted and descriptive statistics were calculated. Results. The cumulative number of schools rose from 21 to 152 between those years. The peak contemporary number was 130 in 2014. Including satellite campuses with parallel curricula brings the contemporary total to 172. The smallest number of graduates per member school per year occurred in 1945 and 1946, with peaks in 1951, 1977, and 2013 (∼110 per school per year in the latter two peaks). Conclusions. The number of US pharmacy schools progressively rose between 1900 and 2014, with the fastest rate of growth occurring in 2014. The mean number of graduates per school per year rose or fell with influences such as the Great Depression, World War II, and the GI Bill.