UAMS College of Pharmacy Ranked among Top Pharmacy Colleges

By Ben Boulden

“What makes the College of Pharmacy special is its people. The hard work and passion its faculty and students have for the profession and education have earned it prominence in the top echelon of colleges of pharmacy, surpassing more than 100 of its peers,” said the college’s Dean Cindy Stowe, Pharm.D. “We’ve valued the college’s strengths for a long time, but our continuing high rank by a national publication like U.S. News is gratifying confirmation that our peers see them, too”

Like all of the other U.S. News health rankings, the pharmacy colleges ranking was based solely on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators and/or faculty at accredited degree programs or schools in each discipline. All schools surveyed were sent the same number of surveys.

Respondents rated the academic quality of programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). They were instructed to select “don’t know” if they did not have enough knowledge to rate a program. Only fully accredited programs in good standing during the survey period are ranked.

“The UAMS College of Pharmacy is a treasure with its talented faculty, exceptional leadership and a student body committed to serving its community while building leadership skills and advocating for the profession,” said Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., UAMS provost and chief strategy officer. “I am pleased to see its well-deserved ranking.”

In a 400-mile radius of Little Rock, the college has the second lowest tuition cost compared to both private and state-supported colleges of pharmacy. Students received more than $300,000 in scholarships and awards in 2019-2020.

UAMS has been home to the college since 1951. More than 4,700 students have graduated since it made UAMS its home. Students have been very active in its seven professional organizations, two honor societies and three national fraternities, several of them winning national awards, recognitions and competitions.

The college offers several dual degree programs as well as experiential opportunities in specialties from veterinary pharmacy to toxicology/infectious diseases and nuclear pharmacy.

Within a 400-mile radius of Little Rock, two other pharmacy colleges were ranked 31st — the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Oklahoma. Only two others in that area were higher in ranking.