Recent national media coverage highlights an encouraging trend for the pharmacy profession:
New research shows that, while many graduate degrees struggle to deliver strong returns, pharmacy consistently stands out as a high-value pathway for students and practitioners.
The report, Do Graduate Degrees Pay Off? Estimates from Texas Administrative Data, was featured in several news articles including in the Washington Post and Insider Higher Ed. Analyses show that pharmacy ranks among the top graduate degrees for lifetime earnings growth and return on investment. This new report stands in stark contrast to other recent reporting that suggested that pharmacy was one of the worst paying jobs, citing data from the New York Federal Reserve which only focused on graduates with a B.S. in pharmacy from a college of pharmacy, and omitted salary data from Pharm.D. graduates. While some of the reporting called out that distinction, and commented on the significantly higher pharmacist salaries, unfortunately, other news outlets omitted that key fact.
Highlights from the recent report on the value of graduate degrees:
- Pharmacy stands out as a high-return graduate degree. The study identifies pharmacy as one of the strongest-performing graduate degrees in terms of return on investment (ROI), ranking second behind M.D. and ahead of a J.D.
- Significant lifetime earnings boost. News articles indicate that earning a graduate degree, particularly in pharmacy, is correlated with significantly higher earnings over the course of a career. This is especially true for pharmacy school graduates who move into higher-paying roles post-graduation. According to data in the Inside Higher Ed article, Pharm.D. graduates see an average 114% earnings boost after graduate school—the highest of the 18 most popular fields included in the report. After factoring in tuition costs and forgone earnings, pharmacy still delivers a 68% net lifetime earnings increase, ranking second only to M.D. programs.
- Long-term career stability and growth. A graduate degree in pharmacy can lead to greater job security and long-term growth in the labor market. As the healthcare landscape continues to expand, with a growing emphasis on clinical roles and direct patient care, pharmacists are well positioned for a stable career path with increasing opportunities for growth.
At a time when questions about the value of graduate education are front and center, national press underscoring the long-term value of a pharmacy degree is worth celebrating and sharing. AACP will be amplifying this news across our social media channels, and we encourage you to do the same. Thank you for your continued engagement with AACP and your commitment to advancing pharmacy education.