Columbia University College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the third college of pharmacy founded in the United States, was established as the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York on March 18, 1828. This action was prompted by discussions among city pharmacists concerning the inadequate education of apprentices. At this time the college determined to award diplomas to individuals who attended two full courses of its lecture series and who had four years of practical experience. The constitution also established an organization of members of the college which admitted virtually anyone involved with the drug business in New York City. For many years the members of the college served as the only professional organization for pharmacists in the city.
In 1831 the first class of three students graduated, and the college was chartered for a period of twenty-five years. This was permanently extended in 1856, but only after bitter and expensive internal dissension.
Lectures began in December 1829 at one of a series of locations that the college rented. These quarters included City Hall, the New York Medical College Building, the Lyceum of Natural History, New York University, and Columbia College.
The early teaching staff consisted largely of men affiliated with other institutions (such as Dr. Edward R. Squibb), who gave a portion of their time to the college. This was possible because until 1889 classes were offered at night. Senior and junior students attended on alternate days, although for many years the second year's lectures were a repetition of the first. Early enrollment was small, generally about twenty students. Only three students graduated in the first class in 1831. Until 1867 income from lectures failed to cover expenses, as the students were not turned away for inability to pay.
Although enrollment was limited, college interests were not parochial. As the result of concern voiced by faculty in 1851 a meeting was called at the college to draw up uniform national standards for imported drugs. In the following year, this meeting led to the formation of the American Pharmaceutical Association.
During the 1870s the college began to prosper under the presidency of Ewen McIntyre, and in 1878 the college purchased its own building on East 23rd Street, a church, which it remodeled to suit its needs with a laboratory (after 1894 laboratory instruction became mandatory), museum, and library. The curriculum, which had previously been instruction by the lecture method, developed accordingly. In 1893 the college acquired a larger building on West 68th Street. Enrollment grew further after the State Board of Pharmacy mandated in 1901 that certified pharmacists must graduate from college.
In 1904 the school became an affiliated member of Columbia University, a relation which allowed the college financial and administrative autonomy. Thereafter the college admitted both a university class, which met the higher requirements of Columbia and which graduated after three years with a baccalaureate degree from the university, and a two-year college class that graduated with a pharmaceutical chemist degree from New York College of Pharmacy. This relationship and pressure from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy caused the college to expand its academic program. In 1929 it adopted a three-year program, in 1937 the baccalaureate program was adopted, and eventually a five-year undergraduate course of study was required. The changes of 1937 prompted a complete reorganization of the instruction program and a much closer relationship with Columbia. In 1966 the name of the institution was changed to the Columbia University College of Pharmaceutical Sciences to reflect its broad curriculum.
Need for larger and more modern facilities became an increasing problem for the college after World War II. In 1963 it announced plans for construction of a new building at West 122nd Street which would for the first time have made the college part of the Columbia University campus. Tenants in college-owned buildings, however, successfully fought the Morningside Heights project for over four years, and eventually they undermined the funding planned for the new facility. Later the college announced plans for expanded facilities on property adjacent to its current quarters, but these plans also collapsed.
Outmoded and inadequate facilities combined with increasing debt (estimated in 1971 at $500,000 out of a total operating budget of $1 million) to cause the loss of accreditation from the American Council of Pharmaceutical Education in 1974. After attempting unsuccessfully to restore its former status through closer affiliation with Columbia and other institutions, the college began to phase out its operations. It graduated its last class in 1976.
