Best Value PharmD Program

[koercive]

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In your opinion, what program offers the best value?

Let's say value is an equation of total costs divided by program quality and job prospects

Value =

tuition costs+cost of living in area
program quality + job prospects

I am not familiar with many programs outside of California (all schools are terrible value today IMO including public schools when accounting for cost of living and job market).

However, I am familiar with UT Austin's program (my company is paying for my Outcomes Master's here). UT Austin by USNews Ranking is #4 and the tuition is reasonable for tuition (in-state). Recent grads seem to graduate with below 100k of debt. Cost of living is relatively low (although it's climbing with the influx of people moving from metropolitan areas). Job market seems okay but not great in TX.

Any thoughts? Anyone have input from schools in the midwest or the south? OSU, UNC, etc?

I believe that more pre-pharmacy students need to be educated on these other factors that they will not consider until they are 200k+++++ in debt with terrible job prospects.

 

[Argentium]

three criteria that are the most important by far:

(1) in-state tuition
(2) six year program
(3) job prospects post-graduation

as a rutgers grad .. we love to hate on our own school, but even i have to admit its a pretty good value. I know people that got full ride the first four years, 2-5k scholarship the last two, and were able to hold a part time job during school year / full time summer and graduate loan free. (total education cost would come out to ~$40,000 for a doctorate degree, which you can easily make over 5 years doing part time jobs)

24 years old, doctorate, 0 loans, 120k/yy @ 40h/wk -- can't beat that

 

[sde780]

For me in-state was the best choice at WVU. I had a full ride through 2 years undergrad due to scholarships (got $10k back in refund checks) and for my P1 and P2 years I haven't paid out of pocket thanks to those scholarships, although I'm no longer getting refund checks.

P3 + P4 years will incur ~$20k in loans for tuition after deducting the $10k that I saved up, which I can easily pay off once I find a job upon graduation (knock on wood). Even if I did a residency, I'll be able to pay it off in the first year of work.

 

[koercive]

three criteria that are the most important by far:

(1) in-state tuition
(2) six year program
(3) job prospects post-graduation

as a rutgers grad .. we love to hate on our own school, but even i have to admit its a pretty good value. I know people that got full ride the first four years, 2-5k scholarship the last two, and were able to hold a part time job during school year / full time summer and graduate loan free. (total education cost would come out to ~$40,000 for a doctorate degree, which you can easily make over 5 years doing part time jobs)

24 years old, doctorate, 0 loans, 120k/yy @ 40h/wk -- can't beat that

Didn't think about that. Do the first 4 years count as "undergrad" to qualify for more grants, scholarships?
Not to mention, Rutgers is in a pharma hub, so there's more career exploration opportunities.


My undergrad was completely free with grants+scholarships. I got a laughable amount to cover not even a single class for pharmacy school..

 

[BenJammin]

Why not look at a school like Southwestern Oklahoma which has nearly the same NAPLEX passing rate as UT-Austin but is cheaper even when you consider their in state tuition? Just another reason why you can't take the USNAWW rankings seriously.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

The best value is your state land grant institution. For me it was WVU...

 

[Argentium]

Didn't think about that. Do the first 4 years count as "undergrad" to qualify for more grants, scholarships?
Not to mention, Rutgers is in a pharma hub, so there's more career exploration opportunities.


My undergrad was completely free with grants+scholarships. I got a laughable amount to cover not even a single class for pharmacy school..

0-6 program
2 years undergrad
4 years pharmacy school

but in the "eyes of tuition" it is ..
4 years undergraduate tuition
2 years graduate tuition

so thats another selling point of rutgers in that you save some money the first two years of pharmacy school by paying undergraduate tuition instead of graduate tuition (which is a pretty significant amount .. probably ~4-6k/yr)

edit: as with almost all state universities these days, many students automatically qualify for 25%, 50%, or 100% ride depending on their class rank + SAT scores (there is a formula). since the rutgers 0-6 program is the most competitive program by far at rutgers, you can expect that a significant number of students are on scholarship (in fact, students who are not on scholarship are the minority from those who i have spoken to about the topic)

edit #2: where the REAL money is, is the 7-year medical programs at RU and TCNJ .. its so competitive that everyone who gets in is getting significant scholarship (my guess is almost 100% getting full ride) so you're getting an MD with only 3 years of in-state medical tuition -- which is 3yrs x UMDNJ $22,000/yr tuition = $66k + living expenses. again you can make a significant chunk of that over the summers.

graduating with an MD with ~40k debt - compare that with some of the other astronomical numbers you've seen in the news and on this forum, what a steal.

 

[radio frequency]

The best value is your state land grant institution. For me it was WVU...

Generally true. The problem is that the in state tuition varies so much from state to state. Some states are so inexpensive, but others are ridiculously expensive. Strangely, the more Democratic-voting states seem to be the most expensive, from what I can tell. 😕

 

[Argentium]

they have the most underwater budgets 😉

 

[dblock05]

I did my whole entire career at the University of Kansas. 2 years of undergrad and 4 years of pharmacy school. I am a in-state student though so it obviously works in my favor.

Undergrad for 2 years = ~12k/year in tuition * 2 yrs=24k
4 years of pharmacy school= ~20k/year * 4 years = 80k

 

[pezdispenser]

The tuition tables on the AACP website may be useful:

http://www.aacp.org/resources/student/pharmacyforyou/admissions/pages/PSAR.aspx

First year: http://www.aacp.org/resources/stude.../admissionrequirements/Documents/Table 11.pdf

Second year: http://www.aacp.org/resources/stude.../admissionrequirements/Documents/Table 12.pdf

Third year: http://www.aacp.org/resources/stude.../admissionrequirements/Documents/Table 13.pdf

Fourth year: http://www.aacp.org/resources/stude.../admissionrequirements/Documents/Table 14.pdf

 

[Momus]

I think UNC is cheap too

 

[68quebec]

are you kidding me, South Dakota has the cheapest IS/OOS tuition in the United States.

well..it's extremely competitive too lol..

 

[pharmasaur]

my public university bachelor's degree here in CA cost more than a lot of your PharmDs.
let's not go into cost of CA pharmacy schools lol

veeerrryyyyy saaadd....

 

[trailerpark]

I did my whole entire career at the University of Kansas. 2 years of undergrad and 4 years of pharmacy school. I am a in-state student though so it obviously works in my favor.

Undergrad for 2 years = ~12k/year in tuition * 2 yrs=24k
4 years of pharmacy school= ~20k/year * 4 years = 80k

See it's crazy, even if you go the cheapest routes you still wind up over 100K when your all done with school, it's nuts!

 

[xiphoid2010]

See it's crazy, even if you go the cheapest routes you still wind up over 100K when your all done with school, it's nuts!

Still less than 1x your income. With AP credits, scholarships and internships, it should come in significantly less than that even.

 

[drhenPharmD]

LECOM-Erie's 3-yr program. Preceptors speak highly of students. Grads are well-educated and have jobs.
Tuition (IS and OOS): $24,500/yr

http://lecom.edu/financial-aid.php/School-of-Pharmacy-Tuition-Fees/49/2205/621/2475