(292) First Year Free: A Novel Program to Enhance Diversity and Affordability in PharmD Education

Objective : Nationally, applications and enrollments for colleges/school of pharmacy have been on a steady decline for several years. At the same time, the cost of pharmacy education continues rising. This is a barrier for many to enter the profession. Locally, entering class sizes at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy (COP) have decreased leading to sustainability concerns. Additionally, with a renewed focus on diversity and inclusion, the COP is seeking ways of marketing to and admitting students from a variety of backgrounds into the program. With these realities, the COP launched the First Year Free (FYF) initiative to completely cover the cost of tuition for all incoming students in the first year of the PharmD program.

Methods: Through a generous gift from a partnering foundation, the COP secured funding to create an endowment that will fund the majority of FYF for the foreseeable future. Through an agreement with the university, additional tuition will be offset. All matriculated students, regardless of whether they are from Utah or another state, will have their tuition covered for the first academic year.

Results: FYF will reduce the total tuition cost for an in-state applicant by over $32,000 and an out-of-state applicant over $62,000. Marketing and recruitment efforts are ongoing following the announcement of FYF in October 2022. Data are being collected related to interest generated, number of applications, retention of accepted students, and other key metrics and demographic information.

Conclusions: FYF has the opportunity to increase affordability, diversity, and sustainability at COP. Other programs could explore FYF as a model, adapted to need and circumstance.