In preparing our inaugural list of the top public pharmacy schools in the US, we considered dozens of schools in the US that offered pharmacy programs. Our goal with this list is to give students access to information so they can make informed decisions about the schools they choose to attend and the programs they pursue. Our motivation for publishing these rankings is simple. We frequently receive emails from young people -many of whom are already working as pharmacy technicians- asking for advice as to which pharmacy schools they should consider. Our hope is that this list is a starting point for aspiring pharmacists to discover the schools that are the best fit for them.
The criteria we used in making this list consists, in no particular order, of the following: academic reputation, admission selectivity, depth and breadth of the program and faculty, size and scope of the pharm school class, and value as it relates to tuition. All data used on our rankings was obtained from publicly available sources.
Like any list, ours is not perfect and is open for debate. There is no single opinion that trumps all when it comes to which school is the “best”. Ultimately every student has different needs regarding the type and academic rigor of a program, campus culture, as well as cost, lifestyle, and career focus. Hence the notion that we consider these lists a starting point for aspiring pharmacists in the search for the appropriate program that meets their needs.