In the second consecutive year of growth, pharmacy school applications increased 6% from fall 2024 to fall 2025, according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
The number of pharmacy school applicants and applications are key metrics tracked by hospitals, as they signal future workforce capacity and potential gaps. After a yearslong national decline in applicants, hospital pharmacy leaders told Becker’s they are increasingly concerned about a shortage of clinical pharmacists.
For the 2024-25 school year, 12,934 applicants sought enrollment through the Pharmacy College Application Service, which is used by 134 of the nation’s 142 pharmacy schools. PharmCAS is designed for first-year professional PharmD programs.
The number of applicants slightly increased from the 2023-24 school year, which was 12,206. The previous two cycles each recorded about 11,200 applicants.
“The increase in both applicants and applications is an encouraging indicator of the growing enthusiasm for our profession,” Robin Zavod, PhD, president of American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, said in a news release. “It reflects a renewed recognition of the vital role pharmacists play in advancing patient care and will inspire future students to choose a path that allows them to help shape the future of healthcare.”
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