Prepharmacy years in college and academic performance in a professional program

Objective. This study investigated whether there was a significant difference in the cumulative grade point average (GPA) of individual students at the end of their first 3 professional years in the doctor of pharmacy curriculum as a function of previous years in college. Methods. The cumulative GPA for the first- through third-professional years was calculated for the 2004-2007 graduating classes. Previous college education was classified as 2 years, 3 or more years without a bachelor's degree, and bachelor's degree or higher. Students with 2 years of prepharmacy education were classified as early assurance (EA) versus non-early assurance. Specifically, non-early assurance students were those who transferred in after 2 years but did not participate in the early assurance program. Statistical differences in the cumulative GPA were calculated using MANOVA with repeated measures followed by a LSD Post-Hoc test. Results. Students with a bachelor's degree performed better academically, especially in the first professional year of the program compared to those with other levels of education including those who entered through our EA program. There was a consistent decrease in cumulative GPA during the second-professional year, but no additional change in the third-professional year. Conclusions. Students who obtain a bachelor's degree perform better academically presumably because of previous college experiences.