Accreditation

Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

The Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Ga., 30033-4097; 404.679.4501; to award; bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. A copy of the university’s accreditation report is available in the Office of Institutional Research.

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, Address 190 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 2850, Chicago, IL 60603-4810, Phone (312) 664-3575, Fax (866) 228-2631, Website www.acpe-accredit.org, Email info@acpe-accredit.org

The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) sets standards for the education of pharmacists to prepare them for the delivery of pharmacist-provided patient care. It accredits doctor of pharmacy programs offered by Colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. For a doctor of pharmacy program offered by a new college or school of pharmacy, ACPE accreditation generally involves three steps: pre-candidate status, candidate status, and full accreditation.

Full accreditation is awarded to a program that has met all ACPE standards for accreditation and has graduated its first class. ACPE conveys its decisions to the various boards of pharmacy and makes recommendations in accord with its decisions. It should be noted, however, that decisions concerning eligibility for licensure, by examination or reciprocity, reside with the respective state boards of pharmacy in accordance with their state statutes and administrative rules.

ACPE Mission Statement

To assure and advance excellence in education for the profession of pharmacy, ACPE assures excellence in education for the profession of pharmacy by:

• Establishing standards and criteria for the accreditation of pharmacy programs and continuing education providers
• Promoting continuous quality improvement within its accredited groups and itself
• Accrediting pharmacy education providers and programs
• Reporting publicly on its activities
• Encouraging innovation in pharmacy education
• Emphasizing learning outcomes in pharmacy education
• Consulting and assisting in the development and advancement of quality pharmacy education, including the conduct of accreditation research
• Gathering and analyzing information and ideas from multiple sources and viewpoints and requesting and responding to feedback from its various constituencies as the basis for wise policy development and decision-making
• Managing its resources responsibly

The ACPE certifies that Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel School of Pharmacy fulfilled the accreditation requirements set forth by ACPE for the Professional Degree Program in Pharmacy and is granted Accreditation Status through June 30, 2024.

What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is the public recognition accorded a professional program that is judged to meet established qualifications and educational standards through initial and subsequent periodic evaluations. Accreditation applies to professional programs and is distinguished from certification or licensure, which applies to individuals. Professional programs in pharmacy are those leading to the baccalaureate in pharmacy and the doctor of pharmacy degrees. Those programs accredited by the ACPE are published in the annual  Directory of Accredited Professional Programs of Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy. Recognition of the baccalaureate in pharmacy or the doctor of pharmacy program in the  Directory denotes overall compliance with the standards of the respective degree program. It does not imply that all baccalaureates in pharmacy or all doctor of pharmacy (Pharm.D.) programs in the Directory are totally equivalent. Accreditation standards include both quantitative and qualitative parameters.

A professional program in pharmacy is evaluated on the extent to which it accomplishes its stated goals and is consistent with the concept that pharmacy is a unique, personal service profession in the health science field. In the application of these standards, literal conformity in every detail is not required. Variations are to be expected, and superiority in certain qualities may compensate, at least in part, for deficiencies in others. Many college and school programs exceed Council standards in one or more of the various elements comprising accreditation. In pharmacy education, as in American education generally, there is diversity. In this diversity there is potential strength. The accreditation process, therefore, seeks to maximize potential strengths while assuring basic expectations for quality pharmacy education.

The essential purpose of the accreditation process is to provide a professional judgment of the quality of a college or school of pharmacy's professional program(s) and to encourage continued improvement thereof. Accreditation concerns itself with both quality assurance and quality enhancement.

Accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy provides a national basis for quality assurance. In so doing, the accreditation process serves multiple constituencies. For institutions of higher education, accreditation provides a framework for self-evaluation and improvement as well as opportunity for external review and counsel. Accreditation also provides a basis for the decision-making of private and public agencies, including the Department of Education, in the awarding of grants and loans.

Excerpt from the  Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education  website.

For further information, please contact the Office of the Dean at 361.221.0604

The self-study document is designed to be an in-depth reflection on and assessment of the educational quality of the institution’s program, along with identifying successes and challenges and how the program intends to address those challenges. The self-study document is to be uploaded to the program’s accreditation portfolio, into the Current Processes and Communications folder, no less than 60 calendar days prior to the site visit. The self-study should serve as an overview of the program’s previous six years (since the last site visit) along with a look towards the future. For programs moving to a system accreditation, the self-study should reflect how the newly formed system will function as a group of independently accredited programs.

The self-study document is about quality, not quantity, but as a guide, a typical self-study will be between 10-20 pages.