2016 NAPLEX Pass Rates - an even bigger drop!

[Monsterdaddy]

Source: https://lecom.edu/about-lecom/lecom-accreditation/lecom-school-of-pharmacy-outcome-measures/

First time NAPLEX pass rates by year:
2013 95.36%
2014 95.34%
2015 92.89%
2016 87.78%

Link also had MPJE first time pass rates:
2013 92.80%
2014 93.74%
2015 93.54%
2016 83.77%

For some good news, I've been tracking University of Arizona's class profiles. For the class of 2020, the administration actually had the balls to NOT completely fill up their class with weak students (only 111/120 filled vs. 120 for class of 2019.) Avg PCAT scores and lowest range much improved over 2019.

Maybe more schools we see the above numbers and start reducing their classes.

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[Twentytwelve2]

Look at the number of students in 2016 class. It is smaller. The % seems big but its really only like an extra ~+10 that failed NAPLEX 1st go. Not a large effect.

 

[Monsterdaddy]

Look at the number of students in 2016 class. It is smaller. The % seems big but its really only like an extra ~+10 that failed NAPLEX 1st go. Not a large effect.

That's just LECOM students, the number of test takers actually increased nationwide (NAPLEX 12773 to 12861) Big drop in MPJE, not sure why that is (maybe fewer students opt to work across multiple states?) NABP hasn't published the numbers on the web yet. There was a new NAPLEX starting Nov last year and while it had minor effect for 2016 I expect 2017 is going to see another drop.

 

[CMUchicka]

Source: https://lecom.edu/about-lecom/lecom-accreditation/lecom-school-of-pharmacy-outcome-measures/

First time NAPLEX pass rates by year:
2013 95.36%
2014 95.34%
2015 92.89%
2016 87.78%

Link also had MPJE first time pass rates:
2013 92.80%
2014 93.74%
2015 93.54%
2016 83.77%

For some good news, I've been tracking University of Arizona's class profiles. For the class of 2020, the administration actually had the balls to NOT completely fill up their class with weak students (only 111/120 filled vs. 120 for class of 2019.) Avg PCAT scores and lowest range much improved over 2019.

Maybe more schools we see the above numbers and start reducing their classes.

Wow, last year I heard they wanted to expland their class sizes, thus they opened up Phoenix campus. On the other end M WU has been keeping up with 150-155 average.

 

[Twentytwelve2]

That's just LECOM students, the number of test takers actually increased nationwide (NAPLEX 12773 to 12861) Big drop in MPJE, not sure why that is (maybe fewer students opt to work across multiple states?) NABP hasn't published the numbers on the web yet. There was a new NAPLEX starting Nov last year and while it had minor effect for 2016 I expect 2017 is going to see another drop.

Oh! Yes, I went to a review for Rxprep and the authors mentioned the NAPLEX pass rate trend is worsening each year, and the new NAPLEX is supposedly harder and they expect to see a sharper fall. Look at California's CPJE (law equivalent to MPJE) and you will see a down trend too. Look at UCSF and you will see how bad their class did (35ish % failed).

But based on the folks who took NAPLEX post November, it seems like the test isn't any different from before.

There are too many factors to consider. It may be the exam difficulty increasing, or it can be the competency of the admitted students.

 

[Monsterdaddy]

Oh! Yes, I went to a review for Rxprep and the authors mentioned the NAPLEX pass rate trend is worsening each year, and the new NAPLEX is supposedly harder and they expect to see a sharper fall. Look at California's CPJE (law equivalent to MPJE) and you will see a down trend too. Look at UCSF and you will see how bad their class did (35ish % failed).

But based on the folks who took NAPLEX post November, it seems like the test isn't any different from before.

There are too many factors to consider. It may be the exam difficulty increasing, or it can be the competency of the admitted students.

I think we are seeing the same thing that happened to law schools. Admitting weaker and weaker students who can't pass the test. It just took years of denial before law schools finally starting cutting back classes in the recent years. I hope pharmacy schools are more proactive.

P.S. UCSF? On their website it says 99% first pass rate: https://pharmd.ucsf.edu/about/grad-rate-performance

 

[Twentytwelve2]

I think we are seeing the same thing that happened to law schools. Admitting weaker and weaker students who can't pass the test. It just took years of denial before law schools finally starting cutting back classes in the recent years. I hope pharmacy schools are more proactive.

P.S. UCSF? On their website it says 99% first pass rate: https://pharmd.ucsf.edu/about/grad-rate-performance

I have a feeling they are too ashamed to post the 2016 NAPLEX and CPJE data.
http://www.pharmacy.ca.gov/publications/0416_0916_stats.pdf

 

[Monsterdaddy]

LOL, that's embarassing!

 

[Pharmtastic2000]

When will they post 2016 NAPLEX pass rates for all schools?

 

[297point1]

When will they post 2016 NAPLEX pass rates for all schools?

Late January / early February.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Can't wait to see 2017 pass rates :/

 

[FlavyFlav]

Lecom Represent! I don't understand though, is the NAPLEX already more difficult or is it going to be more difficult at a future test? If the latter, then I definitely hope we don't keep accepting anyone with a pulse or those numbers are going to be worse.

 

[Monsterdaddy]

The NAPLEX went to 250 question format (6 hrs!!!) in November. I am told it's harder too. I would assume the pharmacy students graduating in 2016 would have tried their best to take the old test vs the new so the low pass rates still indicate weaker students. I have no clue why the MPJE had an even bigger pass rate drop.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

"When colleges send their "pre-pharm" students, they're not sending their best. They're sending students that have lots of academic problems. They're bringing subpar GPAs. They're bringing unresolved anxiety and psychiatric issues. They're socially inept. And some I assume are decent people."

Check out the pharmacy school websites. More and more schools are posting their Naplex pass rates for 2016. Pass rates are going doooooown. Which is expected when schools are letting in the illiterate garbage we see on the SDN Pre-Pharmacy page.

 

[lord999]

Dang! The Canadians, the British, and the South Koreans did better on the CPJE than people from US! LOL! My school had 100% pass rate on CPJE so yay!!

A couple of mediating factors:

1. The Canadians are probably just off their PBEC PQE's, which CPJE and the old CALPLEX are a cakewalk in comparison. Even when more of them tested in the 90s and the 00s, their pass rate as a group rarely dipped below 85% and consistently beat USC and UoP pass rates (UoP traditionally has better first exam passage rates than UCSF).

2. The SK/most Commonwealth takers almost all are graduate school students at UCSF, USC, or now UCSD where qualification is a mandated matter in order to take their doctoral preliminaries. They are certainly not going to fail this exam. This is the least of their worries.

 

[genesis09]

Until the national numbers are released, not much can be said about overall passing trends. Most 2016 grads took it before the expansion. The next major change won't be until 2018 with the addition of the new communication skills section.

 

[Twentytwelve2]

Until the national numbers are released, not much can be said about overall passing trends. Most 2016 grads took it before the expansion. The next major change won't be until 2018 with the addition of the new communication skills section.

Communications!?? Why is that even necessary? I thought college interviews were meant to assess one's English. You would also assume one would know English well enough to pass classes and rotations ...

 

[Twentytwelve2]

The NAPLEX went to 250 question format (6 hrs!!!) in November. I am told it's harder too. I would assume the pharmacy students graduating in 2016 would have tried their best to take the old test vs the new so the low pass rates still indicate weaker students. I have no clue why the MPJE had an even bigger pass rate drop.

I was told the NAPLEX changed in November of 2015 so the 2016 graduating class were the first to take this new revision. That may explain the lower passing rate we see. It should be even lower for the 2017 class.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Communications!?? Why is that even necessary? I thought college interviews were meant to assess one's English. You would also assume one would know English well enough to pass classes and rotations ...

It's not about knowing english (well that would be part of it), but it's about how well you can communicate....showing empathy, asking open-ended questions, don't lead the witness (haha), that kidn of thing.

 

[Hulkbuster333]

I was told the NAPLEX changed in November of 2015 so the 2016 graduating class were the first to take this new revision. That may explain the lower passing rate we see. It should be even lower for the 2017 class.

It changed a little bit as far as the competencies for 2016 grads. It was supposed to be more clinically based. I studied a lot for it and it was not as bad as I had expected. I do know at least 2 people I graduated with did not pass the first time around because they didn't take it seriously and didn't study enough. In November of 2016, the test got longer and I believe it is no longer adaptive.

 

[netmag]

I'm not convinced yet that it is getting harder. Just because it has more questions squeezed in and takes more time, that doesn't necessarily guarantee that it's any harder. Could be easier to study for given that it is not adaptive any more. Change could go either way.

I focus on what's best for business ($$$) first until I see proof. It's better for schools and the NABP if paying customers (i.e. students) aren't too demoralized or decimated after investing lots of time and money in the product. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually made it more "manageable" but just compensated by adding more questions and making it more time consuming. Also, I wouldn't take what RXPrep says about it as the guaranteed truth either. Remember, "Follow the money". Whether it's harder or not, it is in their benefit for paying customers to believe it's harder so that they'll maximize their purchase of study materials. I.e. "Better pay for the online classes, etc to make sure you pass!"

We'll see after the fact if it's actually harder or if there's just a slight rise in less capable applicants.

Overall, I still don't think that chopping people off at the end is an effective or efficient way to stem the tide. One, due to the money at stake, the major players probably don't actually want to chop people at the end. They give you multiple chances to pass so in the end only a few people would actually be shut out and so it won't become a huge deterrent. It would probably be more effective to try to weed people out BEFORE they invest years of time and tons of money. I'd be more encouraged if there were signs that people just weren't applying anymore or if schools were actually cutting back seats in response to the lower quality of applicant.

 

[Monsterdaddy]

Well, the facts are:
1) The exam change occurred in November 2016
2) The NAPLEX pass rate is posted for all of 2016
3) MPJE's did not have a change but pass rate drop was even higher

Here is my speculation:
1) Graduates, knowing a new longer (possibly tougher) exam is coming, would choose to take the old NAPLEX if possible

My conclusion (and opinion) is that the NAPLEX pass rate is almost all old exam format. So the drop is probably due to weaker students, an opinion supported by the drop in MPJE pass rates.

I too agree that the 2017 numbers may get worse. I think it could be way worse given weaker students and if the NAPLEX really is harder.

 

[gwarm01]

I'm not convinced yet that it is getting harder. Just because it has more questions squeezed in and takes more time, that doesn't necessarily guarantee that it's any harder. Could be easier to study for given that it is not adaptive any more. Change could go either way.

I'm with you. The fail rate wasn't massively increased, so I can't imagine the difficulty went up too much. It's not like the NAPLEX was an incredibly challenging test to begin with. I think our hopes of a more difficult test affecting the saturation are a bit naive.

 

[297point1]

Well, the facts are:
1) The exam change occurred in November 2016
2) The NAPLEX pass rate is posted for all of 2016
3) MPJE's did not have a change but pass rate drop was even higher

Fact #2 is not a fact at all. What LECOM posted was the pass rate for first time exam takers between May and August 2016. November 2016 and later results haven't been released yet; schools are getting the September through December results in a week or two.

And yes: everyone was scrambling to take the exam before November 1.

 

[Monsterdaddy]

Fact #2 is not a fact at all. What LECOM posted was the pass rate for first time exam takers between May and August 2016. November 2016 and later results haven't been released yet; schools are getting the September through December results in a week or two.

Are you certain? LECOM did not footnote a source but look at the number of applicants from year to year. Certainly looks consistent which is why I think these are annual numbers, see below:

National All First Time Candidates
2013 95.36% (12543/13153)
2014 95.34% (11888/12469)
2015 92.89% (11856/12773)
2016 87.78% (11289/12861)

Though I see your point, how did LECOM obtain these numbers so soon after 2016 ended? Was NAPLEX not taken at all in December?

 

[297point1]

Are you certain?

Yes I am.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

The quality of pharmacy school applicants and students has decreased significantly in the last few years. Its gotten so bad that the Dean of Chapman Pharmacy is now begging pre-pharmers with 2.5 GPAs to stop applying to his school in the pre-pharmacy forums.

I guess no one with a brain cell wants to take out 200K+ loans to wear a white coat and play pretend doctor at his fake PharmD "doctor" school.

I wonder what the Naplex pass rate is going to be for their inaugural class?

 

[gwarm01]

I wonder what the Naplex pass rate is going to be for their inaugural class?

Once they hire me I can guarantee a 20% drop in pass rate.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

Once they hire me I can guarantee a 20% drop in pass rate.

Based on what I've seen, these stats are going to get worse.

At my school, we've already lost 10% of our class by the end of our first year. It's only halfway through second year and another 5% have already dropped. We'll have 85% retention by graduation if we're lucky.

 

[gwarm01]

Based on what I've seen, these stats are going to get worse.

At my school, we've already lost 10% of our class by the end of our first year. It's only halfway through second year and another 5% have already dropped. We'll have 85% retention by graduation if we're lucky.

I was a class of 2013 grad at an established state school. It was still very competitive when I applied. Out of a class of 120, we lost maybe.. 3 or 4 the first year? One of them was a voluntary withdraw. I think by graduation we had basically everyone still there. One guy failed out 4th year due to a drug test. Just goes to show that if you maintain standards you can keep a class. It's just hard to get qualified candidates these days.

We have dropped admission standards and the college enacted a lot of policies that let you retake tests that you have failed, plus they went to a standardized online testing format. When I was there the hardest classes were all essay based tests where you had to describe things in detail. Now you have a 25% chance of answering correctly by just guessing.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

I looked at the LECOM stats and the most interesting thing about it is the on-time graduation rate. Rumor has it that around 10% of the class of 2016 at my flagship university was either held back or have been kicked out for academic reasons. This mirrors the 0n-time graduation rate for LECOM.

I may be jumping the gun but if the average attrition rate turns out to be ~10%, then only 90% of the original class of 2016 graduated on time and took the Naplex this year. Furthermore, based on the LECOM data, only 87% of that group was able to pass it on the first pass. This means that only 78% of the original class of 2016 were able to get through pharmacy school and pass the Naplex on time. Of course, this percentage would probably increase if you included second and third attempts.

Depending on what the final data comes out to be, we may be seeing an absence of 1/5 to 1/4 of the original student population who entered pharmacy school in the fall of 2012 in our current job market. Of course, some of these students may graduate a year later or pass the Naplex at a later date.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it would be interesting to see if this is the case.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

I was a class of 2013 grad at an established state school. It was still very competitive when I applied. Out of a class of 120, we lost maybe.. 3 or 4 the first year? One of them was a voluntary withdraw. I think by graduation we had basically everyone still there. One guy failed out 4th year due to a drug test. Just goes to show that if you maintain standards you can keep a class. It's just hard to get qualified candidates these days.

We have dropped admission standards and the college enacted a lot of policies that let you retake tests that you have failed, plus they went to a standardized online testing format. When I was there the hardest classes were all essay based tests where you had to describe things in detail. Now you have a 25% chance of answering correctly by just guessing.

Same here for our established state university. The unfortunate drawback of being under the influence of politicians is having them come in and telling the school to accept subpar students. However, unlike the diploma mills out there, our school will kick out students who can't handle the material. All the students who were dismissed were given fair chances to rectify their academic deficiencies, but were unable to do so.

It's not easy on the pharmacy admin. When I met one of the deans for a recommendation letter, he was fuming over the fact that he had to set up dismissal hearings over the winter break because some P1 students couldn't handle their first semester of pharmacy school!

 

[gwarm01]

I looked at the LECOM stats and the most interesting thing about it is the on-time graduation rate. Rumor has it that around 10% of the class of 2016 at my flagship university was either held back or have been kicked out for academic reasons. This mirrors the 0n-time graduation rate for LECOM.

I may be jumping the gun but if the average attrition rate turns out to be ~10%, then only 90% of the original class of 2016 graduated on time and took the Naplex this year. Furthermore, based on the LECOM data, only 87% of that group was able to pass it on the first pass. This means that only 78% of the original class of 2016 were able to get through pharmacy school and pass the Naplex on time. Of course, this percentage would probably increase if you included second and third attempts.

Depending on what the final data comes out to be, we may be seeing an absence of 1/5 to 1/4 of the original student population who entered pharmacy school in the fall of 2012 in our current job market. Of course, some of these students may graduate a year later or pass the Naplex at a later date.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it would be interesting to see if this is the case.

How many campuses does LECOM have? I worked with some students from the PA campus a few years ago down in Florida and.... yiiiiiiikes. One girl had no confidence and broke down in tears more than once. Then we had a guy who was so arrogant yet misinformed on a lot of topics. Of course, this may not be reflective of the school because any individual person could be academically strong yet socially poor. I just know it left a sour taste in my mouth for that school.

Really though, the pass rate may be falling but when it is >90% you have to assume most students are academically sound and will become decent pharmacists. The downward trend is just frightening.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

How many campuses does LECOM have? I worked with some students from the PA campus a few years ago down in Florida and.... yiiiiiiikes. One girl had no confidence and broke down in tears more than once. Then we had a guy who was so arrogant yet misinformed on a lot of topics. Of course, this may not be reflective of the school because any individual person could be academically strong yet socially poor. I just know it left a sour taste in my mouth for that school.

Really though, the pass rate may be falling but when it is >90% you have to assume most students are academically sound and will become decent pharmacists. The downward trend is just frightening.

I'm assuming that 90% graduating on time include some students who barely passed schools with GPAs of 2.25-2.5. They're the ones probably getting killed by the Naplex.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

Some pre-pharmer who thinks he's immortal mentioned he was going to Husson University. For those who don't know what Husson is,its an overrated, overpriced, private school that cons gullible young people who are deficient in brain cells. I decided to check their quality indicators page for fun. (I attached the PDF to this comment just in case they take this info down.)

Holy ****!!!

Only 79.69% of the class of 2016 made it to graduation on time, and out of those who graduated, only 66.67%, or 2/3, of those graduates were able to pass the Naplex in their first try. Of the original 64 students enrolled in the class of 2016, only 30 students passed the Naplex on their first try.

In other words, less than half the original students at Husson University were able to graduate on time and pass their Naplex on their first try!

Jeez, what kind of trash are they letting into these privates schools.

 

[Pharmd = Phake Doctor]

Are you certain? LECOM did not footnote a source but look at the number of applicants from year to year. Certainly looks consistent which is why I think these are annual numbers, see below:

National All First Time Candidates
2013 95.36% (12543/13153)
2014 95.34% (11888/12469)
2015 92.89% (11856/12773)
2016 87.78% (11289/12861)

I just found the data for total enrolled students for the class of 2016. According to the AACP, there were 14,011 P1 students enrolled in the Fall of 2012.

So, dividing 11,289 students/14,011 total students = 80.5% of all pharmacy students (in the US) graduated on time and passed their Naplex on their first go for the class of 2016.

 

[gwarm01]

I just found the data for total enrolled students for the class of 2016. According to the AACP, there were 14,011 P1 students enrolled in the Fall of 2012.

So, dividing 11,289 students/14,011 total students = 80.5% of all pharmacy students (in the US) graduated on time and passed their Naplex on their first go for the class of 2016.

Hmm. It's my plan to find a fairly secure job after this one finishes and wait out the storm. Maybe something with the VA. Hopefully those pass rates continue to plummet and we see some correction in the market. Of course, I've been telling myself that since I started pharmacy school 8 years ago and things have only gotten worse.

 

[2017PharmD2be]

Are you certain? LECOM did not footnote a source but look at the number of applicants from year to year. Certainly looks consistent which is why I think these are annual numbers, see below:

National All First Time Candidates
2013 95.36% (12543/13153)
2014 95.34% (11888/12469)
2015 92.89% (11856/12773)
2016 87.78% (11289/12861)

Though I see your point, how did LECOM obtain these numbers so soon after 2016 ended? Was NAPLEX not taken at all in December?

That is interesting. It appeared the number of candidates peaked in 2013? I thought pharmacy schools are enrolling more students than ever. Does this mean many did not graduate?

 

[PromisedNeverland]

Source: https://lecom.edu/about-lecom/lecom-accreditation/lecom-school-of-pharmacy-outcome-measures/

First time NAPLEX pass rates by year:
2013 95.36%
2014 95.34%
2015 92.89%
2016 87.78%

Link also had MPJE first time pass rates:
2013 92.80%
2014 93.74%
2015 93.54%
2016 83.77%

For some good news, I've been tracking University of Arizona's class profiles. For the class of 2020, the administration actually had the balls to NOT completely fill up their class with weak students (only 111/120 filled vs. 120 for class of 2019.) Avg PCAT scores and lowest range much improved over 2019.

Maybe more schools we see the above numbers and start reducing their classes.

Question, in order to be a licensed pharmacist, both MPJE and NAPLEX are required to be taken ?

 

[zelman]

Question, in order to be a licensed pharmacist, both MPJE and NAPLEX are required to be taken ?

All states require the NAPLEX. All states require a law exam, but not all use the MPJE. Some states have additional exams (compounding, math, etc) or other requirements (interview, etc).