Hampton University School of Pharmacy’s accreditation has been temporarily reinstated with probation, according to the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.
This after the council’s board of directors decided to withdraw the school’s accreditation in a January meeting, citing two standards, “progression” and “educational outcomes,” that it had not been completely meeting.
The reinstatement is for the duration of an appeal process to which Anand Iyer, dean of Hampton’s School of Pharmacy, said in a Feb. 11 letter to students is “aggressively pursuing” with the support of Hampton University’s administration.
“Rest assured, we will continue delivering our curriculum, providing the requisite knowledge, guidance and support to all of our students,” Iyer wrote.
Representatives from the university were not immediately available to say how long the appeal process would last.
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State law requires students to have graduated from an ACPE accredited school in order to take the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) which upon passing, allows them to apply for state licensing.
Upon the accreditation’s withdrawal, ACPE mandated the school submit to the board and implement a “teach-out” plan to allow currently enrolled students in graduating classes through 2023 be covered by an accredited status.
The Hampton University School of Pharmacy received an eight-year accreditation in 2015 from the ACPE but has been on probation since 2017 for reasons regarding students’ “progression rates” and performance on the NAPLEX, Iyer wrote in an August 2017 letter.
Iyer also stated in the 2017 letter the administration had been working closely with the faculty since 2015 to implement comprehensive steps with the intention to ensure “the class of 2018 and beyond will be in full compliance with the required standards.”
In November 2017, the probationary period was extended, setting a January 2019 deadline for the university to be in full compliance with ACPE standards.
In 2017, the NAPLEX passing rate for Hampton University students attempting the exam for the first time was less than 60 percent compared to the national average of nearly 90 percent of ACPE accredited school graduates who passed the exam that year.
Hampton University students who passed the exam would increase to more than 70 percent in 2018 but again fall short to the year’s national average (90 percent), according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. The association hasn’t yet published NAPLEX passing rates for 2019 on their site.
