Prospective Hawkeyes will soon be able to secure a spot at one of the university’s graduate colleges, even just as high-school seniors.

The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy is introducing a program for high-school seniors to apply to the pre-pharmacy program. If accepted, they’d be guaranteed a place in the college after completing prerequisite classes and would receive guidance in structuring their class schedule so students can complete an undergraduate degree in four years and a doctorate in six, said College of Pharmacy Admissions Manager Lauren Garcia-Pastorek.

Students can take longer than four years if they don’t plan their prerequisites effectively, she said. The college is taking applications now and fall 2020 will be the first semester students are enrolled in the new program.

High-school seniors who have an interest in pharmacy, a 3.8 GPA, and an ACT score of at least 25 will be prompted to consider applying for assured admissions, she said. To stay in the program after their start at the UI, students are required to maintain a 3.0 GPA.

The college will hold 60 of its 120 seats for the students admitted through the new assured admissions program, Garcia-Pastorek said. Since the college is still working to build awareness about the program, she does not expect all 60 seats to be filled for the first year.

Part of the idea behind the program is outreach to high-school students to give them a better understanding of the jobs that exist in the field of pharmacy, Garcia-Pastorek said.

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“We wanted to raise awareness about the field of pharmacy and start that pipeline earlier,” she said. “I think there is a misconception with students in high school about what you can actually do with a doctorate in pharmacy degree. So, we often catch a lot of students halfway through their undergraduate experience.”

Although the College of Pharmacy assured admissions program is the first of its kind, other colleges at the UI have programs that allow early admissions. The College of Nursing offers an early admissions process to students in high school.

Nursing programs across the U.S. are competitive, meaning they have more applicants than seats available in their programs, said Anita Nicholson, associate dean of undergraduate programs at the UI College of Nursing. For students in early admissions, as long as they maintain their GPA, they have a guaranteed seat in the nursing program, she said.

Students are still able to apply for the nursing program after they have started at the UI, but students in standard admissions typically finish their degree in four and a half years and those in early admissions finish in exactly four, Nicholson said.

“So, being early admissions, once they’re admitted they know that they have been admitted, and knowing that nursing programs are competitive, that really takes the stress off of them,” Nicholson said.

Administrators in the College of Pharmacy noticed students already at the UI who start having an interest in pharmacy are unable to finish their prerequisites after two years because they were not on track to enter the program, pharmacy Clinical Associate Professor Susan Vos said.

“I hope it’ll help us grow the profession of pharmacy to make sure we’re getting students who are really interested…” Vos said. “I think it just gives us the chance to talk about all the great opportunities that are out there in pharmacy.”