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Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Major

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Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences

3,340 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
1,416 Master's Degrees Annually
#11 in Popularity
$123,670 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many pharmacy/pharmaceutical sciences graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Doctor’s Degree 15,192
Bachelor’s Degree 3,340
Master’s Degree 1,443
Graduate Certificate 317
Basic Certificate 67
Associate Degree 34

What Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to pharmacy and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Pharmacy Majors

Pharmacy majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

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  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Skills for Pharmacy Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to pharmacy:

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  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Abilities for Pharmacy Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a pharmacy student include the following:

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  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with pharmacy:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Health Specialties Professors 25.9% $97,370
Marketing Managers 10.1% $134,290
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 13.4% $84,810
Pharmacists 5.6% $126,120
Sales Managers 7.5% $124,220

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences?

3,340 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
65% Percent Women
38% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is one of the most frequently chosen healthcare majors. It is the 11th most popular in the country with 3,340 students graduating with a bachelor’s in pharmacy in 2021. This major is dominated by women with about 65% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of pharmacy majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 710
Black or African American 253
Hispanic or Latino 175
White 1,765
International Students 211
Other Races/Ethnicities 226

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Pharmacy, too. About 6.3% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

  • India
  • China
  • South Korea
  • Canada
  • Saudi Arabia

How Much Do Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The U.S. Department of Education found that students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy/pharmaceutical sciences made a median starting salary of $39,800 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $33,365 (25th percentile) and $45,453 (75th percentile).

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It’s important to note that just because the people reporting these salaries have a degree in pharmacy, it does not mean that they are working in a job related to their degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $122,320 to $140,320 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to pharmacy. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Major  ( 122320 to 140320 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some careers associated with pharmacy require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for pharmacy careers below.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 0.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 0.4%
Some College Courses 1.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 3.3%
Bachelor’s Degree 28.5%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 4.6%
Master’s Degree 17.2%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. 0.1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. 12.7%
Doctoral Degree 19.2%
Post-Doctoral Training 12.2%

Online Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Programs

In 2020-2021, 191 schools offered a pharmacy program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 1 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 1 0
Associate’s Degree 11 1
Bachelor’s Degree 34 13
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 169 16
Post-Master’s 14 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 121 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 142 5
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 2 0

Is a Degree in Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Worth It?

The median salary for a pharmacy grad is $123,670 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 210% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,675,400 after 20 years!

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You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to pharmacy.

Major Number of Grads
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596
Health Sciences & Services 35,945
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 29,833
Mental & Social Health Services 29,053
Medicine 28,629
Dental Support Services 26,399
Communication Sciences 22,298
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 18,901
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services 10,751
Health/Medical Prep Programs 9,210
Other Health Professions 7,984
Dentistry 6,770
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 6,158
Bioethics/Medical Ethics 5,115
Alternative Medicine & Systems 3,564
Chiropractic 2,658
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies 2,374
Medical Illustration & Informatics 2,089
Optometry 1,822
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 1,775
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services 960
Medical Science 909
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies 294
Alternative Medical Support Services 227
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies 68

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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