A preliminary report on the academic performance of pharmacy students in a distance education program

Objectives. Specific objectives were to (1) compare the academic performance of students attending the founding versus distance campuses of one college of pharmacy and (2) investigate whether the campus attended was associated with first professional year academic performance. Methods. Data regarding students' academic performance in specific courses and fall semester and cumulative first-professional-year grade point averages (GPAs) were retrieved. Campus attended, prepharmacy science and math GPA, pharmacy college admissions test (PCAT) composite score, highest prepharmacy academic degree, age, and gender were used to predict academic performance. Results. Campus attended did not predict fall semester GPA ( p = 0.44) or cumulative GPA ( p = 0.95). Significant predictors were prepharmacy science and math GPA, PCAT composite score, and highest prepharmacy academic degree. Conclusions. After the first academic year, students on the founding campus and distance campuses performed equally well after considering their prepharmacy academic preparation.