OAKWOOD, VA (April 27, 2026) –A recent study on the value of post-graduate degrees spells good news for pharmacy students: a degree in pharmacy ranks among the top graduate degrees for lifetime earnings growth and return on investment (ROI).
Not all post-graduate degrees are created alike and the research, found in a March 2026 report released by the Postsecondary Education & Economics Research Center at American University: “Do Graduate Degrees Pay Off? Estimates from Texas Administrative Data (bit.ly/4tn6NoR),” noted pharmacy is one of the strongest performing post-graduate degrees in terms of ROI, ranking second behind an MD and ahead of a JD.
“This is certainly good news for students considering their next career steps,” said Appalachian College of Pharmacy Provost and Dean Susan Mayhew. “What the study shows is that pursuing a pharmacy degree is absolutely worth the money invested to study. Programs like our three-year accelerated program — the only three-year pharmacy program in the Commonwealth of Virginia — leading to a Doctor in Pharmacy degree add even more value to the proposition as they allow students to complete their studies and enter the workforce one year earlier than they would have had they attended a traditional four-year pharmacy program. At ACP, we like to call that the $100K Advantage.”
According to data in the report, Doctor of Pharmacy graduates see an average 114 percent earnings boost after graduate school — the highest of 18 graduate degree programs studied in the report. After factoring in tuition costs to earn the degree and earnings not realized during the time the degree was being completed, pharmacy shows a 68 percent net lifetime earnings increase, the report noted.
The report also found that as the healthcare field continues to expand its emphasis on clinical roles and direct patient care, “pharmacists are well-positioned to see increasing opportunities for growth and stability in their career paths.”
Using a formula taking into consideration lifetime earnings, adjusted by how that amount would have grown anyway, total cost of attendance to achieve the degree, lost earnings during school and the amount students might have earned investing money set aside for tuition, the authors of the report — Joseph G. Altonji and Zhengren Zhu — arrived at their conclusions.
Overall, the report found earnings increased by more than two-thirds for those who obtained a doctorate in pharmacy — even after factoring in the costs of obtaining that education. The calculations do not include scholarships and are based earnings on records from 1992 to 2019 converted into 2019 dollars.
The report was based on data from about 800,000 students through nearly three decades at public universities in Texas, where some of the most detailed earnings information is available.
The report also found post-graduate degrees generally provided a bigger boost in earnings to women and those who had lower-paying undergraduate degrees.
ABOUT ACP: The Appalachian College of Pharmacy is the only three-year Doctor of Pharmacy program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Founded in 2003, the college accepted its first students in 2005. It is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Its mission is to cultivate a learning community committed to education, community outreach and the professional development of pharmacists. Its graduate pharmacists are now practicing throughout the United States. Learn more at www.acp.edu.
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