How can pharmacy programs overcome enrollment challenges, strengthen student career readiness, and meet accreditation standards in today’s competitive and evolving landscape?
When CORE Higher Education and PeopleGrove joined forces, we brought together deep expertise in experiential education management, career development and student success, and student and alumni engagement. That means we have a unique vantage point—we see the challenges pharmacy programs face in experiential education and beyond graduation.
In my conversations with pharmacy schools, a few themes come up time and time again—enrollment challenges, career readiness gaps, and the need for stronger alumni engagement. During our recent webinar, “Solution Spotlight: New and Next Capabilities for Pharmacy Programs,” we asked attendees to weigh in, and the results confirmed what I’ve been hearing.
The results? Clear priorities emerged.
Over 50% of respondents feel highly confident in meeting accreditation requirements—but many still need better tools for tracking competencies.
Nearly 37% of schools reported enrollment and yield as an area of concern—but not all have plans in place to address it.
While 86% of programs offer mentorship, nearly 90% believe expanding it would improve student success.
Alumni engagement remains a major gap, with 63% of schools lacking structured alumni-student connections.
“As we continue to build out capabilities and functionality within the CORE product suite, we want to ensure we’re aligned with what you need,” said Dawn Hiles, CEO of PeopleGrove.
“We’re committed to pharmacy education, and we’re not just thinking about what students know, but who they know, and how that impacts their long-term success.”
Let’s dive into what we learned—and how CORE + PeopleGrove are working to close these gaps.
Enrollment Challenges: Standing Out in a Competitive Landscape
As competition among pharmacy programs increases, recruiting and retaining students has become more challenging. Nearly 37% of webinar attendees acknowledged some level of enrollment difficulty, with programs struggling to clearly differentiate themselves from other schools.
“We’ve had more pharmacy programs come into play, which means more competitors. With a fluctuating pool of prospective students, programs must be intentional about fostering the right student fit.” – Charles Ramos, VP of Campus Partnerships.
Yet, only 15.79% of respondents considered enrollment improvement a high priority right now, indicating that many programs are aware of the issue but haven’t taken steps to address it.
How CORE & PeopleGrove Help:
With the merger of CORE and PeopleGrove, pharmacy programs can now leverage enrollment-focused engagement strategies, giving prospective students direct access to current students, alumni, and career resources—helping them make confident decisions about where to enroll.
The Career Readiness Gap: Preparing Students for Workforce Success
Pharmacy programs offer a wide range of career preparation tools, but the survey results showed a disconnect between what’s available and what faculty believe would truly impact student success.
Current Career Prep Offerings in Pharmacy Schools:
- 86% offer mentorship and resume/interview workshops
- 76% provide pharmacy-specific career fairs
- Only 37% have supplemental internships
What Faculty Believe Would Make a Bigger Impact:
- 88% say expanding mentorship opportunities would be beneficial
- 80% want more pharmacy networking events
- Nearly 58% believe more hands-on experiential learning opportunities are needed
My advice to pharmacy students: your rotations are six-to-seven-week job interviews.
But I also see that many students lack the soft skills needed to make the most of these experiences. Schools are providing career prep resources, but the data shows that mentorship and networking remain critical gaps.
Even though career fairs and CV reviews are common, they don’t replace meaningful, long-term mentorship and networking—elements that pharmacy programs are actively looking to improve.
How CORE & PeopleGrove Help:
PeopleGrove’s career development and alumni networking platform allows programs to:
- Expand mentorship programs at scale
- Foster alumni-student connections for career guidance
- Provide structured resources for interview prep, networking, and job placement
The Alumni Engagement Gap: A Missed Opportunity
One of the most surprising statistics from the webinar was how few pharmacy programs currently have structured alumni engagement strategies: 63% of respondents said they have no formal way to connect students and alumni.
This is a major gap, considering that nearly 90% of faculty believe mentorship is crucial for student success.
“Too many schools communicate at their alumni instead of engaging with them. When alumni networks are nurtured, they become a valuable resource for mentoring students, recruiting preceptors, and strengthening career outcomes.” – Ramos
How CORE & PeopleGrove Help:
With new alumni engagement capabilities, pharmacy schools can now:
- Establish structured alumni mentorship programs
- Provide students with direct access to industry professionals
- Create exclusive pharmacy-specific networking communities
- Accreditation: Confidence Is High, but Tools Can Improve the Process
Accreditation remains a top priority for pharmacy programs, and the poll results reflect a mix of confidence and a need for better resources:
- 52% of respondents rated their confidence at the highest level (5/5)
- 35% rated their confidence at 4
- 13% were less confident
Many schools feel prepared for evolving accreditation standards, but as I noted:
“ACPE 2025 standards are coming, and schools need a structured way to transition from the 2016 requirements for their next site visit. We’ve been advising programs on how to prepare for these changes using our enhanced curricular mapping and competency tools.”
How CORE & PeopleGrove Help:
New competency mapping enhancements will support pharmacy schools with:
- A seamless transition to ACPE 2025 standards for their next site visit
- Automated reporting to track student progress
Final Takeaways: What’s Next for Pharmacy Programs?
The webinar made one thing clear: Pharmacy schools are taking action to improve enrollment, student career readiness, alumni engagement, and accreditation tracking—but gaps still exist.
How I’m Advising Schools to Address These Gaps: One of the most effective ways to increase enrollment is to help prospective students feel connected before they ever step foot on campus. By giving them direct access to current students, faculty, and alumni, pharmacy programs can create a stronger sense of belonging and career clarity—both of which drive enrollment and retention.
✅ Smarter enrollment strategies to attract and retain students
✅ Expanded career preparation tools to ensure workforce readiness
✅ Stronger alumni engagement to create lifelong connections
✅ Enhanced competency tracking for accreditation success
I’ve seen firsthand how mentorship, experiential learning, and stronger alumni networks can transform student outcomes.
If your program is looking for ways to improve these areas, I’d love to connect and share what’s working at other institutions. Let’s talk about how CORE and PeopleGrove can help.
📢 Request a demo today to see these new capabilities in action.
Shannon Staton, PharmD, MBA
Author
