The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, or ACPE, has awarded full accreditation to the University of Florida College of Pharmacy through 2029. ACPE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the official accrediting agency of professional pharmacy degree programs.
An ACPE survey team reviewed a self-study report and completed a virtual site visit in November. ACPE’s evaluators shared that they were impressed by the significant advances the college has made since its last accreditation in 2013. Since then, UF faculty developed and fully implemented a new curriculum built around ACPE’s standards. New assessment plans were introduced to measure student progress. The college’s full-time faculty grew from 74 to 126, which significantly reduced the faculty-to-student ratio. A new leadership structure was created with a mission-based approach, and faculty research productivity increased substantially.
“We are pleased to be awarded full accreditation for the next eight years and are particularly happy about the high level of praise we were given by our site visit team. It provides an external perspective on the very high quality of our Pharm.D. program,” said Julie Johnson, Pharm.D., dean and distinguished professor in the UF College of Pharmacy. “Our faculty, staff, preceptors, students and alumni deserve a lot of credit for helping us build a Pharm.D. program recognized among the nation’s best.”
ACPE’s eight-year accreditation renewal adds to an impressive lineup of accomplishments earned by the UF College of Pharmacy in the past year. U.S. News and World Report ranked UF as the No. 5 pharmacy college in the nation in its 2020 survey of best pharmacy schools. The college also set a record with $28.3 million in research awards and ranked No. 3 nationally in NIH funding according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
The UF College of Pharmacy is one of more than 130 colleges and schools to be fully accredited by ACPE.