Ithaca College and Binghamton University have partnered to allow Ithaca College students with three years of undergraduate study and the required prerequisites the opportunity to transfer to Binghamton University’s Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. 

Ithaca College and Binghamton University signed an articulation agreement that created the 3+4 program, which lets Ithaca College students complete three years at the college and then attend Binghamton University for four years. During the student’s first year at Binghamton University, they will have the opportunity to obtain their Bachelor of Science degree. They will then complete the remaining three years in Binghamton University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences to obtain the PharmD degree in seven years total. 

The program requires students to have minimum cumulative and math/science grade point averages of 3.0, good disciplinary standing at Ithaca College and the mandatory prerequisites. Students also need three years of undergraduate schooling from Ithaca College and a C- or better in prerequisite courses taken. 

The program will allow students to receive their doctoral degrees faster, have a lower cost of attendance and give them the chance to make professional connections, said Gloria Meredith, founding dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Binghamton University. 

Binghamton University’s tuition for New York state residents is $7,270, while tuition at Ithaca College is $46,611. Approximately 45% of undergraduate students at Ithaca College are permanent New York state residents, according to the Ithaca College Facts in Brief for the 2019–20 academic year. Binghamton University is approximately one hour away from Ithaca College.

Linda Petrosino, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance at Ithaca College, said the reason the college chose to partner with Binghamton University was to broaden the number of graduate opportunities Ithaca College has to offer. 

“Our focus is on students and providing as many reasonable options as possible,” Petrosino said via email. “This is a way to support student pathways into a health profession at the graduate level that is not available at the college, and it provides a partnership with a well-established SUNY school.”

Senior Alexandra Zanni, a clinical health studies major, is from Binghamton, New York. She said she believes the PharmD program will be a very good opportunity for Ithaca College students. 

“I think this definitely interests me, although I am set in my path of physical therapy and don’t see myself taking the PharmD program,” Zanni said. “Binghamton University is a good school, and that would be a good program to go through, and I think a lot of people would benefit from that.” 

Petrosino said another reason for the partnership is that the PharmD program, which was created in 2017, presented a new opportunity to benefit both colleges. 

 “Binghamton University’s Pharmacy, (PharmD), program is relatively new, having enrolled their first class in 2017,” Petrosino said. “As a new program, we were approached to consider establishing this articulation agreement. We already had a relationship with BU, and formal agreements will often sprout out of already established relationships.”

Ithaca College currently has an agreement with the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science at Binghamton University that allows students to simultaneously complete a bachelor’s degree in physics at Ithaca College and a bachelor’s degree in either medical engineering or electrical engineering at Binghamton University.

Meredith said Binghamton University’s PharmD program enrolled a class of 90 students last year and hopes to enroll the same number of students going forward. She anticipates approximately five students from Ithaca College will participate in the program per year. Meredith said she thinks the partnership will bring talented individuals from Ithaca College to the PharmD program. 

“We know that the quality of students at Ithaca College is excellent, and we are very happy with the STEM education at Ithaca,” Meredith said.