Union Graduate College to partner with Albany College of Pharmacy on new graduate program

Union Graduate College and the Albany College of Pharmacy offer joint Management-Pharmacy degree programs.� Union Graduate College (UGC) is thrilled to partner with the Pharmacy College in their newest degree offering: The MS in Pharmacy Management which is expected to begin in Fall 2009.� UGC will provide three of the 12 required courses; Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting & Finance, and Project Management.� �

The following article appeared in the Business Review (Albany):

Pharmacy college adding grad programs to boost enrollment

The Business Review (Albany) - by Robin K. Cooper The Business Review

Albany College of Pharmacy plans to boost enrollment and expand its research efforts by introducing its new graduate programs in pharmaceutical science and pharmacy administration.

The private college, which has an enrollment of 1,536 this fall, has begun recruiting for the masters programs scheduled to begin in September 2009.

The pharmaceutical science program will prepare students for careers in drug development and research, said Bill Millington, chair of the school�s pharmaceutical science department.

The graduate programs will be first step as Albany College of Pharmacy prepares to develop doctoral programs in pharmaceutics�or drug discovery�over the next few years.

The college faculty, administration and board of trustees already support the creation of new doctoral programs. Millington is preparing to seek state approval sometime in the next year.

�I hope to have approval in time for the September 2010 (school year),� he said.

The masters in pharmaceutical science is expected to begin next fall with a class of 10 students and increase to 20 in the following years.

Albany College of Pharmacy�s decision to develop graduate programs was driven in part by the desire to expand its �intellectual environment� by attracting more students and talented faculty to build its research program, Millington said.

There are not many schools that offer a masters in pharmaceutical science.

The closest competition is at the University of Buffalo and at St. John�s University in New York City, Millington said.

There�s a big payoff for those who earn a graduate degree, according to a 2006 survey of American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

The median starting salary for pharmaceutical scientists with a bachelor�s was $85,500. The salary for those with a master�s was $95,000.

The master�s in pharmaceutics will be 33 credits and will include a heavy research or thesis focus, depending on the needs of prospective students.

Tuition at the school is $22,050 for the current school year. Tuition for the new master�s program has not yet been set.