Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences

Types of Degrees Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Doctor’s Degree	15,192
Master’s Degree	1,443
Graduate Certificate	317

What Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to pharmacy and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Pharmacy Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in pharmacy should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• 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.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Skills for Pharmacy Majors

A major in pharmacy prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Abilities for Pharmacy Majors

A major in pharmacy will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• 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.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with pharmacy:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Marketing Managers	10.1%	$134,290
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	13.4%	$84,810
Pharmacists	5.6%	$126,120
Sales Managers	7.5%	$124,220

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences?

The major attracts more women than men. About 66% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of pharmacy majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	169
Black or African American	106
Hispanic or Latino	69
White	504
International Students	472
Other Races/Ethnicities	123

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Pharmacy, too. About 32.7% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• India
• China
• South Korea
• Canada
• Saudi Arabia

How Much Do Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that pharmacy/pharmaceutical sciences students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree made a median starting salary of $92,059 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $85,077 (25th percentile) and $96,513 (75th percentile).

We don’t know for sure if all of these people took jobs related to pharmacy so take that into consideration.

Salaries According to BLS

Pharmacy majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $122,320 to $140,320 (25th to 75th percentile). 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/Pharmaceutical Sciences

Some degrees associated with pharmacy may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for pharmacy careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.9%
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)	0.4%
Some College Courses	1.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.3%
Bachelor’s Degree	28.5%
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.	4.6%
Master’s Degree	17.2%
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.	0.1%
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.	12.7%
Doctoral Degree	19.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	12.2%

Online Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Programs

In 2020-2021, 191 schools offered a pharmacy program of some type. 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)	1	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	11	1
Bachelor’s Degree	34	13
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	169	16
Post-Master’s	14	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	121	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	142	5
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	0

Is a Degree in Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences Worth It?

The median salary for a pharmacy grad is $123,670 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 210% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,675,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences

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

Major	Number of Grads
Nursing	66,964
Medicine	28,629
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	24,774
Public Health	19,473
Health & Medical Administrative Services	17,335
Mental & Social Health Services	16,815
Allied Health Professions	12,950
Communication Sciences	10,547
Dentistry	6,770
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	4,684
Chiropractic	2,658
Alternative Medicine & Systems	2,582
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	2,481
Optometry	1,822
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	1,762
Medical Illustration & Informatics	1,747
Health Sciences & Services	1,746
Other Health Professions	1,261
Health/Medical Prep Programs	1,122
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	954
Medical Science	909
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	462
Dental Support Services	122
Alternative Medical Support Services	80
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies	55
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies	37
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services	11
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	4
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies	0

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.