The Appalachian College of Pharmacy (ACP) provides an integrated and comprehensive curriculum that fuels students’ academic and social growth while developing character, leadership, professionalism, citizenship, and a commitment to lifelong learning. This is a place where learning comes first.

Our mission is supported through instruction, practice and lab experiences that challenge the individual while developing critical thinking skills and teaching student pharmacists to function on interdisciplinary teams of medical professionals – ultimately become professional pharmacists capable of providing patient-centered care.

ACP is Virginia’s only three-year Doctor of Pharmacy Program. Our curriculum offers intense training in a unique setting in Southwest Virginia, a place where you develop into a professional pharmacist with an appreciation for the critical role a pharmacist plays in patient care and community health, especially in rural and underserved communities in central Appalachia and similar places around the world.

Key Faculty

Susan L. Mayhew, PharmD, Dean, 

Marcy Hernick, PhD, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Assessment and Associate Professor

Kristen C. Nicar, PharmD, Department Chair of Pharmacy Practice and Assistant Professor 

Randy Mullins, PharmD, Department Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Associate Professor 

Wade McGeorge, J.D., Assistant Dean of Student and Alumni Affairs, Legal Counsel, and Assistant Professor
 

Tuition & Other Financial Information
 

• Tuition and Fees Schedule
  • Tuition $37,500
  • Student Activities Fee $403
  • Student Government Fee $77
  • Clerkship/Practicum Fee $1358
  • Technology Fee $2162
  • Total Tuition and Fees $41,500
• Additional Fees
  • Seat Deposit $400

School History

The Appalachian College of Pharmacy (College) was founded in August 2003 as the University of Appalachia by Frank Kilgore, assistant county attorney for Buchanan County, Virginia. The Buchanan County Board of Supervisors and Buchanan County Industrial Development Authority requested that Mr. Kilgore establish the College as an economic, educational, and healthcare development project. The College is strategically positioned in Buchanan County, Virginia, which shares borders with Kentucky and West Virginia in the center of the Appalachian coalfields. The Appalachian region faces significant economic and educational barriers as well as health care challenges. A recent report to the Virginia Legislature documented that residents of Southwest Virginia have difficulty obtaining and paying for healthcare, including dental and pharmaceutical care. By bringing higher education and advances in healthcare to the region, the College is well positioned to be a catalyst for positive changes in economic development, education, and healthcare.

The College matriculated its first class in August 2005 and graduated its first class in the spring of 2008. The first two years of the Doctor of Pharmacy program are offered on the College’s Garden Creek campus in Buchanan County, Virginia, and the third year of the program is offered at experiential sites throughout the region and the United States of America. In addition to the rigorous course work in the accelerated pharmacy curriculum, community service has been and remains a focus for the College. All students have an early and ongoing exposure to volunteerism through the Pharmacists in Community Service (PICS) program, whereby each student must complete a hundred-fifty (150) hours of community service in order to fulfill graduation requirements. Since 2005, the Appalachian College of Pharmacy has laid the groundwork for growth and quality by continuing to develop new programs, expand outreach and scholarship, and obtain grants that are uniquely mission-focused.

Appalachian College of Pharmacy is Accredited through the three following institutions:

Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education
The Appalachian College of Pharmacy has been granted full accreditation status from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE).

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Appalachian College of Pharmacy is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award the doctor of pharmacy degree. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4501 for questions about the status of Appalachian College of Pharmacy.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) has certified the Appalachian College of Pharmacy to operate in Virginia, and approved the formal use of the name “Appalachian College of Pharmacy,” as well as ACP’s right to confer the doctor of pharmacy degree.