SDSU pharmacy grads lead region, No. 5 nationally

Calculation of first-time pass rates by U.S. pharmacy graduates show that the Class of 2022 at South Dakota State University topped the region and is fifth nationally.

According to data from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, the pass rate for SDSU students was 94.4% (68 of 72). That puts the class first in the five-state region of South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota and fifth nationally.

Nationally, the first-time pass of the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination was 79.8%.

Dan Hansen, dean of the SDSU College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, said, “I know the goal in every one of the college’s programs is a 100% first-time pass rate, but I want to provide a little perspective. This is the second year of the new NAPLEX blueprint and the first year the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy instituted a new and higher scale score for passing.”

The national pass rates were 86% in 2020 and 82% in 2021 while SDSU pass rates were 97% both years.

“The 2022 result is a continuation of the excellence SDSU has shown on the NAPLEX since moving to a Pharm.D. (six-year doctor of pharmacy degree), and we should all be proud of this achievement,” Hansen told his colleagues.