What are NAPLEX pass rates?
NAPLEX pass rates show the percentage of candidates from a pharmacy school or group who pass the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination during a reporting period. They can help students evaluate licensure preparation, but they should be interpreted carefully alongside accreditation, curriculum, admissions profile, student support, class size, and the difference between school-level and pathway-specific data.
Key facts
Use these facts as a quick orientation before reading the full guide. Exact requirements vary by school, pathway, and state.
| Source to verify | NABP exam results and school disclosures |
|---|---|
| Use | One signal of licensure preparation |
| Caution | School-level data may not represent a specific online, distance, or accelerated pathway |
| Best comparison | Use multiple years and context, not one data point |
Main points
NAPLEX pass rates can be useful, but they are easy to overread. A high pass rate does not guarantee an individual outcome, and a lower rate does not explain why candidates struggled without more context.
Use official data first
Start with NABP exam results and official school disclosures rather than copied or outdated figures.
Look at multiple years
One year can be affected by class size, cohort differences, curriculum changes, or reporting issues. Multi-year trends are more informative.
Check what population is measured
Confirm whether the data is first-time pass rate, all attempts, school-level, pathway-specific, or another reporting category.
Compare with student support
Ask how the school supports exam preparation, remediation, advising, and students at academic risk.
Use pass rates as one factor
Combine pass-rate context with accreditation, cost, format, rotations, admissions fit, and career goals before choosing a program.
How to read NAPLEX pass rates
Students should pay attention to the reporting year, candidate group, number of test takers, first-time vs. all attempts, and whether the number represents the entire school or a specific pathway.
- • Reporting year
- • Number of candidates
- • First-time vs. repeat attempts
- • School-level vs. pathway-specific data
- • Multi-year trend
What pass rates cannot tell you
Pass rates do not show every factor that affects a student’s experience. They may not reveal admission selectivity, student support, curriculum quality, student demographics, exam retake support, or differences between campus and distance pathways.
- • Individual student outcomes
- • Exact curriculum quality
- • Specific online pathway performance unless separately reported
- • Why rates changed year to year
- • Whether the program is the best fit for you
How to use NAPLEX pass rates in school comparison
Pass rates are useful when paired with context.
| Option | What it means | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| High pass rate | May signal strong licensure preparation | Candidate count, trend, and whether data is pathway-specific |
| Declining pass rate | May deserve closer review | Curriculum changes, support programs, and school explanation |
| Missing data | Can limit comparison | Ask the school and verify with NABP where available |
| Online pathway | May not have separate published rates | Whether school-level data applies to your intended path |
NAPLEX pass-rate checklist
FAQs
Should I choose a pharmacy school based on NAPLEX pass rates?
No. NAPLEX pass rates are important, but they should be one factor alongside accreditation, cost, format, admissions fit, rotations, support, and career goals.
Are online PharmD pass rates reported separately?
Not always. Some publicly available pass-rate data may be school-level rather than pathway-specific, so students should ask the school how the data applies to their intended pathway.
Where can I find NAPLEX pass rates?
Start with NABP exam results and official school disclosures, then verify any school-provided interpretation directly.
Jim Herbst, PharmD, BCPPS
Jim Herbst is an advanced patient care pharmacist at a nationally ranked pediatric acute care teaching hospital. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from The Ohio State University in 2012 and is board certified as a pediatric pharmacy specialist.
Opinions and information published by this author do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of his employer.
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