KGI School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Granted Candidate Status by Accrediting Body

The KGI School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (SPHS) has been granted Candidate accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). This marks the end of a successful year that included the admittance of KGI’s first class into the Doctor of Pharmacy program and one in which faculty and staff worked tirelessly to support the program and its new students.

Commenting on this pivotal status promotion, KGI President Sheldon Schuster said, “I am very proud of the work the KGI team has done this past year. The dedication to the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and to KGI as a whole is evident in the outcome of this status change. I am excited to move forward with this process and know the faculty and staff at KGI will remain committed to building a Doctor of Pharmacy program that prepares students for professional and personal success.”

Candidate status is granted only after achieving Precandidate status, and also once students have enrolled in the new program. At this level, the program must not have had a graduating class. According to the ACPE’s website, reaching Candidate status also “denotes a developmental program that is expected to mature in accord with stated plans and within a defined time period.”

Reaching this status also places the School of Pharmacy’s program on track for full accreditation in that the ACPE states reasonable assurances are expected to be provided that the program may become accredited as programmatic experiences are gained, generally, by the time the first class has graduated.

This status change is also good news to the inaugural class of 2018 because graduates of a class designated as having Candidate status have the same rights and privileges as graduates of an accredited program.

In 2014 the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (SPHS) was granted Precandidate accreditation status, which is a recognition awarded to a new Doctor of Pharmacy program that has not yet enrolled students in the professional program. It authorizes the college or school to admit its first class and signifies that the program is progressing toward accreditation and is likely to attain it within a defined time period.

SPHS admitted its first class of approximately 80 students into its PharmD program in fall 2014. The students of the program study at KGI’s Claremont campus but also have access to numerous opportunities for experiential learning in various industry and healthcare settings throughout the Southern California area.