(233) Impact of Number of Full-time Faculty Members on NAPLEX First-Attempt Pass Rates

Objective : Having a larger number of faculty members may enrich student experience and promote individualized learning. Despite previous research on other school characteristics, the literature is scant on whether faculty size impacts NAPLEX pass rates. This study aimed to investigate the association between faculty size and NAPLEX first-attempt pass rates. We hypothesized that more faculty is linked to higher NAPLEX pass rates.

Methods: Data was downloaded from the NABP website, the AACP Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness website, and individual pharmacy schools’ websites. Analysis was limited to US-based pharmacy schools. Following IRB approval, a bivariate analysis was conducted to test the association between 2023 NAPLEX first-attempt pass rates and the number of full-time faculty members reported in the academic year 2022-2023. Then, a linear logistic regression model was conducted to examine this association after controlling for several covariates: program age, program structure (accelerated vs. traditional), program type (public vs. private), and class size. Analysis was conducted using SPSS version 28.

Results: A total of 137 pharmacy programs with complete data on all variables were included in the analysis. Faculty size was positively correlated with NAPLEX first attempt pass rate in the bivariate analysis (r = .314, n = 137, p < .001). However, this association lost statistical significance in the linear regression model (p = .323) after controlling for the above-mentioned covariates.

Conclusions: Although having a large number of faculty members may aid with curriculum delivery and fair distribution of workload, this factor is not necessarily associated with NAPLEX first-attempt pass rates. Rather, program administrators may consider factors directly tied to learning for the purpose of supporting student education, such as student engagement, curriculum content, and program robustness.