About MCPHS

Founded in 1823, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is a private, coeducational college offering graduate, professional and undergraduate degrees in the health sciences. The College has campuses in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts and Manchester, New Hampshire.

Professional or undergraduate degrees are offered in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, physician assistant studies, dental hygiene, radiologic sciences, environmental sciences, health psychology, chemistry, and premedical and health studies. Graduate programs are offered in regulatory affairs and health policy, drug discovery and development, pharmaceutical sciences, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and applied natural products.

A Distinguished History

  • Innovative programs based on a tradition of excellence
  • Oldest institution of higher education in Boston
  • Second oldest collegiate program in pharmacy in the United States

Academics

  • More than 30 degree and certificate programs
  • 188 full-time faculty; 5 part-time faculty (60% female; 40% male)
  • 84% of faculty have an earned doctorate or terminal professional degree

Vibrant Campus Life

  • 3,626 students enrolled (Boston, Worcester, and Manchester)
  • 53% from Massachusetts; 39 other states and 38 countries represented
  • 87% of freshmen continue to second year
  • 724 students reside in College housing (76% of freshmen)
  • 68 student clubs and organizations

Financial Facts

  • Tuition: $22,700 to $35,760 (depending on program)
  • Room and Board: $11,800 (average)
  • Financial Aid: 90% of students
  • Endowment: $100.6 million
  • $100 million investment in physical plant since 1997

Graduates

  • More than 17,500 alumni
  • 100% of graduates employed within 2 years
  • Residing in all U.S. states and 41 other countries
  • Working in virtually every sector of the pharmaceutical and health care industries, both private and public, including medical centers, hospitals, community pharmacies, research, and education

Historical Highlights

  • 1823 — On December 29th a group of 14 Boston pharmacists adopts the Constitution of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, with the intent “to regulate the education of apprentices, to encourage the use of superior drugs, and in other ways to control and improve the profession.”
  • 1825 — The College publishes the First American Pharmaceutical Library Catalogue.
  • 1852 — The College is formally incorporated and receives a charter from the Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
  • 1900 — The first graduate program is instituted.
  • 1918 — The College moves into the George Robert White Building in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area, across from Harvard medical School.
  • 1940 — The first continuing education program is offered.
  • 1979 — The Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts approves a change in the College's charter to allow degree granting authority in the allied health sciences, and the College officially changes its name to Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
  • 1999 — MCPHS is reorganized into four constituent schools, each with its own dean: School of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences and School of Arts and Sciences in Boston; and the School of Pharmacy in Worcester.
  • 2000 — The Worcester Campus is officially dedicated and admits its first class.
  • 2002 — The College acquires the Forsyth School for Dental Hygienists in Boston and establishes a campus in Manchester, New Hampshire.
  • 2007 — Charles F. Monahan Jr. celebrates his 10th anniversary as President.
  • 2008 — MCPHS celebrates 185th Anniversary.

Library

  • The Henrietta DeBenedictis Library maintains a collection of 30,000 cataloged items and 800 serial subscriptions, including 450 journal titles.
  • Through its membership in the Fenway Library Consortium, students have access to 13,000 journals and 2.8 million cataloged items.
  • A growing collection of over 2,000 electronic books and journals are available through the Library’s web page.

Did You Know?

  • MCPHS is one of the few private, free-standing colleges in the United States specializing in the education of health professionals, and has prepared more men and women for professional careers in pharmacy than any other academic institution in the world.
  • The College belongs to three higher education consortia: Colleges of the Fenway, Colleges of Worcester Consortium and Manchester Area Colleges.
  • In partnership with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs, MCPHS sponsors MassMedLine, a free information hotline that helps residents of Massachusetts obtain prescription medication at the lowest possible price.
  • Faculty and student exchanges have been established with universities in Ireland, Japan, Thailand, Cuba, Perú and China.