CHARLESTON, W.Va.— University of Charleston’s President Marty Roth says last year’s enrollment decline into the pharmacy program made it clear to UC’s administration that cutting the program was the right thing to do.
“Unfortunately, last year they kind of reached a point where the tuition was no longer covering our operating costs,” Roth said. “The deficit just kept growing and would have continue to grow if we had not taken any action.”
He said the talk to shutting down the program had been in the talk since national enrollment in pharmacy programs had declined since 2016.
Roth said that it was a difficult and emotional decision because the School of Pharmacy was the first doctoral program for the university over 20 years ago, where it helped the university evolve to where it is now.
He also said that the students and faculty also made it an emotional decision.
“And of course it’s a really hard decision for our students, and our faculty and staff, who are all highly dedicated to the university and the pharmacy profession,” Roth said. “Unfortunately, it was a business decision that the university had to make.”
The program at UC is one of three pharmacy programs in the state, with WVU and Marshall having the others.
Roth said that when it was just UC and WVU’s program’s the two schools were thriving, however when Marshall joined the market was already declining and now there’s not enough interest to support all three.
“I mean I think from that point forward there just hasn’t been enough interest in the PharmD degree to support three schools in West Virginia,” Roth said.
The program at the university is a four-year program and the students who are entering their fourth year will be staying at UC.
“We’ll oversee their clinical rotations and the other requirements for their degree, and they’ll be able to graduate in April 2026,” Roth said.
He also said that he anticipates students who are entering their second and third year will transfer to WVU’s School of Pharmacy.