Texas Southern University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Texas Southern University is the right answer for a specific kind of Black student in healthcare, and the wrong answer for another. Be clear about which you are before you apply.

If you want to become a registered nurse, TSU does not offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The Department of Biology runs a two-year pre-nursing curriculum that satisfies prerequisites for BSN programs at Prairie View A&M University, UTMB Galveston, and UT Health Houston. Completion does not guarantee a seat at any of those schools. If a direct-entry BSN is what you want, apply to Prairie View, UTHealth Houston Cizik School of Nursing, or UTMB as your first choice, not TSU. Be honest with yourself about that.

What TSU does offer, and offers well at the program level, is a pipeline into pharmacy and into the allied health and health-administration professions that staff hospitals, payers, and public-health agencies. The College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, headquartered in Gray Hall at 3100 Cleburne Street, is one of the oldest schools in the university. Pharmacy education at TSU dates to 1947, the year the institution opened its doors as Texas State University for Negroes. Students renamed it Texas Southern University in 1951 after petitioning the state legislature to remove the words "for Negroes" from the title. The pharmacy school predates the modern HBCU pharmacy landscape and remains one of only a handful of HBCU PharmD programs in the country.

What COPHS actually grants

The professional degree is the Doctor of Pharmacy. It is a six-year program, two years of pre-pharmacy coursework followed by four years of professional study. It is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Apply through PharmCAS plus a TSU supplemental. The priority deadline for the cohort entering this cycle was October 1, the recommended date is January 2, and the final closure is June 1. Reach the admissions office at cophsadmissions@tsu.edu or 713-313-6700.

Graduate degrees include a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration, a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences, and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences for students aiming at research careers in drug discovery, formulation, or pharmacology.

Undergraduate Bachelor of Science options span Biomedical Sciences (with concentrations in Health Administration, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or Pre-Pharmacy), Clinical Laboratory Science (NAACLS-accredited), Environmental Health (EHAC-accredited), Health Administration (AUPHA member program), Health Information Management (CAHIIM-accredited), Respiratory Therapy (CoARC-accredited), and Nutrition and Dietetics. These are the degrees that put graduates into hospital labs, infection-control offices, registered respiratory therapist roles, medical-records and informatics teams, hospital administration tracks, and community public-health agencies.

What the numbers say, including the part you should not ignore

TSU publishes its PharmD outcomes openly, which is the right thing to do, and the recent data is honest about a slide. First-time NAPLEX pass rates climbed from 72% in 2020 to 82% in 2021 and peaked at 85% in 2022. Then they fell: 73.6% in 2023, 53.4% in 2024, and 58.3% in 2025. On-time graduation tracked the same direction, from 88.6% for the 2020 class down to 65% for the 2024 and 2025 classes. National first-time NAPLEX averages have hovered in the high seventies. TSU's 2022 cohort outperformed the national rate, the 2024 and 2025 cohorts did not.

Two things follow from that. First, ask the college directly what they are doing about it: curriculum changes, board-prep partnerships, admissions screens, faculty hires. The COPHS Office of Student Services and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for PharmD are the people to email. Second, evaluate your own readiness honestly. A PharmD is a clinical doctorate. Strong sciences, demonstrated study habits, and a community of peers and tutors matter more at programs in transition than at programs running steady.

The Houston advantage is real

TSU sits roughly two miles from the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. Harris Health's Ben Taub Hospital and LBJ Hospital, Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann, Baylor College of Medicine teaching hospitals, MD Anderson, and large community pharmacy chains all operate within a short drive. The Office of Experiential Training places PharmD students into IPPE rotations early in the curriculum and APPE rotations across internal medicine, critical care, ambulatory care, community pharmacy, acute and emergency medicine, and clinical toxicology. Allied-health undergraduates complete their clinical hours in the same Houston ecosystem. TSU does not publish a hospital-by-hospital affiliate list on its public site, so confirm specific sites with each department when you visit.

Costs

For the 2026-2027 academic year, undergraduate in-state tuition and fees are $9,174 per semester. Out-of-state runs $21,416 per semester. Total estimated cost of attendance on-campus is $31,920 per semester in-state and $44,162 per semester out-of-state. These figures are TSU's projections and are subject to change. PharmD tuition is set separately by COPHS and quoted on the PharmCAS profile. Layer in PharmCAS fees, a $100 supplemental fee, and licensure exam costs after graduation.

Who should apply

TSU is the right call if you want to be a pharmacist and you want to learn inside an HBCU that has been training Black pharmacists for nearly eighty years, with the open eyes about recent NAPLEX outcomes described above. It is the right call if you want to be a clinical lab scientist, a respiratory therapist, a health information manager, an environmental-health officer, or a hospital administrator and you want that training rooted in a Black institution two miles from the world's largest medical center. It is the wrong call if you want a direct-entry BSN; apply to Prairie View A&M, UTHealth Houston, or UTMB Galveston for that.

Start at admissions@tsu.edu or 713-313-7011 for the undergraduate side, cophsadmissions@tsu.edu or 713-313-6700 for the PharmD side. Visit the campus. Ask the dean's office direct questions about the NAPLEX trajectory before you commit.