ACP is Committed to These Core Values
Excellence
To meet and exceed, through continuous quality improvement, the highest standards of academic excellence and professionalism in service.
Professionalism
To create a climate that encourages personal development of ethical behavior, responsibility, dependability, and commitment among students, faculty, staff, and administration.
Social Responsibility
To develop a commitment to social responsibility; to contribute to the health and well being of patients, the community, and society in medically underserved regions; and to shape public policy and health promotion at all levels.
Collaboration
To work with other educational institutions, the healthcare community, and other specialties and organizations to foster collaboration among students, faculty, staff, and the community.
Lifelong Learning
To provide meaningful and innovative experiences that encourage and develop a lifelong commitment to learning and professional development of students, faculty, staff, preceptors, alumni and other pharmacists.
Program Outcomes
The North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) measures one’s ability to determine pharmacotherapy and therapeutic outcomes, prepare and dispense medication, and implement and evaluate information for optimal health care. ACP sets target pass rates with the goal to equal or exceed the national average NAPLEX pass rate. The threshold is set within two standard deviations (SD) of the national average each year since this is the minimum required by ACPE.
A summary of North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) first-time pass rates for the Classes of 2017-2021 are shown below in the table and show that all classes have been above the set threshold. The standard deviation for the national average has not been released yet for 2021 NAPLEX data.
Graduating Year | 1st Time Pass Rate | National Average | Outcome |
2021 | 66.0% | 83.7 ± x% | TBD (need SD) |
2020 | 76.9% | 87.7 ± 9% | Exceed Threshold |
2019 | 79.4% | 87.8 ± 8.9% | Exceed Threshold |
2018 | 79.7% | 89.1 ± 7.8% | Exceed Threshold |
2017 | 81% | 87.9 ± 8.2% | Exceed Threshold |
On-Time Graduation Rates for Classes of 2017-2021
ACP is an accelerated program and therefore, on-time graduation is defined as graduating within 3 years of matriculation into the program, although ACPE defines on-time graduation as 4 years. The College’s benchmark is to have an on-time (3 year) graduation rate of 90%. ACP uses a threshold of graduation rate of 76% since ACPE requires that total attrition to be below 24%. The on-time graduation rate for the graduating classes of 2017-2021 is 76.0% based on all students admitted into the program (275 out of 362). The vast majority of students progressed through the curriculum, completed the required didactic coursework, advanced to Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiential rotations and graduated on time. An additional 10.8% of students (39 out of 362) graduated within 150% time, and 0.8% (3 out of 362) graduated in > 150% time. The breakdown of students per year is shown below in the table. There is currently one student counted as a “No” in the table below for the Class of 2020 that is on track to graduate >150% time, as well as seven students listed as “No” for the Class of 2021 that are still in the program and on-track to graduate in the future. The College exceeded the threshold of an on-time graduation rate of 76% in 2017-2020, and failed to meet the threshold in the year 2021. Total attrition over the time period of 2017-2021 is 12.4% (expected to decrease to 10.2% once the students currently in the program graduate), which is well below the ACPE threshold of 24% attrition.
Over the period of time 2017-2021, the student demographics breakdown in the following manner: gender: female (51.4%), male (48.9%); ethnicity: American Indian (0.3%), Asian (15.2%), Black/African American (20.7%), Caucasian (60.8%), Latinx (1.4%), and unknown (1.7%). The overall on-time graduation rates for females (139 out of 185) and males (137 out of 177) were 75.1% and 77.4%, respectively. With respect to ethnicity, small cohorts with 1-6 total students (American Indian, Latinx, Unknown) have on-time graduation rates of 100%, while larger cohorts have the following on-time graduation rates: Asian (80%), Black/African American (73.3%), and Caucasian (75.5%). There are no major differences in on-time graduation rate that stand out based on gender or ethnicity.
Appalachian College of Pharmacy graduates have gained employment in community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, ambulatory care, post-graduate residencies and fellowships and other pharmacy and non-pharmacy related fields. The College conducts a survey annually approximately six months after graduation to collect employment data of recent graduates.
A summary of employment rates six months after graduation for the Classes of 2017-2021 are shown below in the table. The Classes of 2017-2020 were successful in exceeding the threshold of 80% while the Class of 2021 exceeded the target benchmark of 90%.
Employment Six Months after Graduation Rates
Graduating Year | Employment Rate | Outcome |
2021 | 94.44% | Exceed Target |
2020 | 82.61% | Exceed Threshold |
2019 | 86.67% | Exceed Threshold |
2018 | 83.33% | Exceed Threshold |
2017 | 87.23% | Exceed Threshold |
In addition to the employment rates six months after graduation, the College also tracks the location of the first place of employment to determine whether the College is successful in its mission to serve Appalachia and other rural or underserved areas. The table shows the percentage of alumni employed in the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), geographical region six months after graduation.
Employment in ARC Six Months after Graduation
Graduating Year | Employment in ARC | Outcome |
2021 | 58.8% | Exceed Target |
2020 | 63.2% | Exceed Target |
2019 | 41.0% | Exceed Threshold |
2018 | 32.0% | Exceed Threshold |
2017 | 29.3% | Exceed Threshold |