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Pharmacy

Types of Degrees Pharmacy Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Pharmacy have the option of earning degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Associate’s Degree	8
Bachelor’s Degree	250
Master’s Degree	75
Doctor’s Degree	11,834

What Pharmacy Majors Need to Know

Programs in Pharmacy emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Pharmacy graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Pharmacy emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Biology — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills developed in a Pharmacy program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Speaking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Abilities

The cognitive and physical abilities most relevant to Pharmacy careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Written Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Speech Clarity — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Pharmacy graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.4 / 7
Getting Information	4.4 / 7
Working with Computers	4.4 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.2 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.1 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.1 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.1 / 7
Processing Information	4.0 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.0 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Pharmacy professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	✓
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	✓
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	✓
Medical condition coding software	Medical software	—
IBM SPSS Statistics	Analytical or scientific software	—
SAS	Analytical or scientific software	—
Google Docs	Word processing software	—
Blackboard software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Pharmacy graduates include:

• Optometry Professor
• Respiratory Therapy Instructor
• Optometry Teacher
• Nutrition Aides Teacher
• Inhalation Therapy Teacher
• Dietetics Teacher
• Neurology Teacher
• Pharmacy Teacher
• Associate Professor
• Therapy Teacher
• Dietary Aide Teacher
• Occupational Therapy Professor
• Activity Therapy Teacher
• Dental Hygiene Instructor
• Instructor

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Pharmacy graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Doctoral degree	41.7%
Master’s degree	20.0%
Bachelor’s degree	17.2%
Post-doctoral training	11.4%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	3.8%
Postsecondary certificate	2.4%
First professional degree	1.8%
High school diploma or equivalent	1.2%
Some college courses	0.5%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Pharmacy?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 67.8% of Pharmacy degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	8,255	67.8%
Men	3,912	32.2%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Pharmacy graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	5,669	46.6%
Asian	2,854	23.5%
Hispanic or Latino	1,181	9.7%
Black or African American	1,196	9.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native	29	0.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	15	0.1%
Two or More Races	396	3.3%
Race Unknown	499	4.1%
International Students	328	2.7%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Pharmacy Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Pharmacy graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$100,486
4 years	$129,383
5 years	$140,029

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $140,029 — roughly 39% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Pharmacy Programs

Distance learning is reported by IPEDS for Pharmacy. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	1	2

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Pharmacy Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Pharmacy graduates earn a median of $129,383 four years after completion — roughly 240% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration	51.20
Clinical and Industrial Drug Development	51.2006
Clinical, Hospital, and Managed Care Pharmacy	51.2008
Industrial and Physical Pharmacy and Cosmetic Sciences	51.2009
Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry	51.2004
Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy	51.2005
Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management	51.2011
Pharmaceutical Sciences	51.2010
Pharmaceutics and Drug Design	51.2003
Pharmacoeconomics/Pharmaceutical Economics	51.2007
Pharmacy Administration and Pharmacy Policy and Regulatory Affairs	51.2002
Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration, Other	51.2099

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.