The building boom has caused some pharmacists to ask whether there is really a need for all these new schools. In a recent online poll, Drug Topics asked readers whether they believe additional pharmacy schools are necessary. With 766 votes cast, more than 73 percent said no and 27 percent said yes.

The answer from industry leaders, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), and some of the country's top pharmacy schools is "Yes, the need is there." The pharmacist shortage driving the trend is expected to continue; By 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the estimated shortfall will rise to 38,000 pharmacists.

Nonetheless, Knapp said, there is always the possibility of an "overshoot" — the threat that more programs will open than the market can support, she said. Factors such as a sufficient number of qualified applicants, the availability of qualified faculty, the ability of graduates to find positions, and the sufficiency of training sites are likely to affect the continued growth of new programs.

Wegmans School of Pharmacy, in New York State, was dedicated in 2006.

Experiential learning crunch

The proliferation of new pharmacy schools hasn't affected the numbers of students applying to existing schools, and the established schools haven't seen any reason to step up recruiting efforts in states with new pharmacy schools, such as California, Texas, Maryland, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin. But the additional competition for resources has affected the area of experiential learning, said Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, PharmD, dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco.

Some of the new pharmacy schools have the resources to provide their students with opportunities to complete their experiential learning at local clinics and hospitals. But these facilities charge a fee for student participation, and many existing schools, such as UCSF, can't afford to pay, Koda-Kimble said.

Maine concurred. Pharmacy schools across the country have struggled to devise ways to offer their students opportunities for experiential learning, she said.

If schools are to continue to offer students strong experiential learning sites, they will have to cultivate new sites in new settings. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) is firm about the number of rotations it requires, including those in community practice, another factor causing strain on opportunities for experiential learning.

Experiential learning isn't the only challenge schools face. "We've seen the greatest impact is in making sure there's an adequate faculty — new or existing," Maine said.

Jeffrey W. Wadelin, PhD, associate executive director and director of the ACPE Professional Degree Program Accreditation, told Drug Topics that currently there are 10 pharmacy schools with candidate status and 13 with precandidate status. He, too, commented on the challenge for new schools in finding, recruiting, and retaining faculty. And for new schools as well as for more established ones, he said, ensuring opportunities for experiential learning, is a challenge.

New York City's Touro College of Pharmacy has a capacity for 100 students annually.