This time of year marks an important period for UConn’s School of Pharmacy as they reflect on the NAPLEX passing rates – an indicator of areas of strength and improvement for the School in preparing their students for success on this licensure exam.  

Pharmacy students nationwide, including those at UConn, choose to take this exam typically in the summer after they graduate with their Pharm.D. degrees. Students take this exam to become licensed pharmacists, opening up opportunities in various settings, including hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, research centers, and more. At the start of the new year, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) publishes a report based on the data from the previous summer’s NAPLEX scores, with the first-time pass rate being the most important metric.  

At UConn’s School of Pharmacy, preparation is a priority since many graduates choose to take the NAPLEX. During their final year in the pharmacy program and their last year as Huskies, students go through NAPLEX preparation. As part of UConn’s curriculum, this preparation includes exercises where students identify their strengths and weaknesses in content areas, formulate study plans, and refine their test-taking skills in professional development courses. Because the NAPLEX exam takes several hours to complete and consists of two hundred questions, UConn students utilize many resources during their preparation to succeed.  

The School believes that one of our responsibilities to the students in our program is to prepare them for the NAPLEX exam as best as possible. –  Diana Sobieraj, Director of Assessment and Associate Professor

For the past four years, the NAPLEX has operated under the same content outline. Since 2022, UConn Pharmacy students have improved their pass rates. In 2024, UConn Pharmacy reached its highest pass rate under the current content outline, with a pass rate of 84% compared to the national average of 78%, outperforming pharmacy students across the nation. 

Striving for their students’ success, UConn Pharmacy has recently undergone a curricular revision of required didactic courses, which will be implemented in the fall of 2025. This revision will include a specific curriculum aimed at improving students’ skills and abilities that will directly translate to certain areas of the NAPLEX exam. 

Looking forward, UConn Pharmacy continues to transform its curriculum to better prepare students for success on the NAPLEX exam and in their professional lives beyond their time at the School.