Pharmacy

Types of Degrees Pharmacy Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Doctor’s Degree	14,690
Bachelor’s Degree	885
Graduate Certificate	48
Master’s Degree	7
Associate Degree	7

What Pharmacy Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, pharmacy majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Pharmacy Majors

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

• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• 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.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

Skills for Pharmacy Majors

pharmacy majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Pharmacy Majors

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

• 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.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Pharmacy Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with pharmacy:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Pharmacists	5.6%	$126,120

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy?

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:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	227
Black or African American	52
Hispanic or Latino	43
White	386
International Students	116
Other Races/Ethnicities	61

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Pharmacy. About 13.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Pharmacy Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $122,320 to $123,670 (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.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Pharmacy

Some careers associated with pharmacy require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to pharmacy have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
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)	1.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	1.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	10.7%
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.	7.6%
Master’s Degree	14.3%
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.	0.2%
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.	25.2%
Doctoral Degree	32.9%
Post-Doctoral Training	6.7%

Online Pharmacy Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 147 schools offered some type of pharmacy program. 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)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	2	0
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	2	0
Post-Master’s	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	141	5
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	0

Is a Degree in Pharmacy Worth It?

The median salary for a pharmacy grad is $122,320 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 207% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,648,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Pharmacy

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

Major	Number of Grads
Pharmaceutical Sciences	2,139
Other Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	876
Pharmaceutics and Drug Design	503
Pharmacy Administration and Pharmacy Policy and Regulatory Affairs	240
Clinical and Industrial Drug Development	206
Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy	175
Pharmacoeconomics/Pharmaceutical Economics	175
Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry	161
Industrial and Physical Pharmacy and Cosmetic Sciences	152
Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management	97
Clinical, Hospital, and Managed Care Pharmacy	32

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.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By {} under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.