TL;DR: The University of San Carlos is the only Cebu pharmacy school that publishes a track record: it states the PRC named it top-performing school of pharmacy in the Philippines for 2015 and 2025, and that it opened the first CHED-approved PharmD outside Luzon in 2025. Nationally, the April 2026 PhLE passed 1,085 of 1,895 (57.26%). And a correction: Cebu Normal University does not offer pharmacy at all.
A Correction First
An earlier version of this page listed Cebu Normal University as a low-cost pharmacy option in Cebu, with an estimated tuition range.
CNU does not offer a pharmacy programme. Its colleges are Teacher Education, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Medicine, Culture Arts and Sports, Computing Artificial Intelligence and Sciences, and Public Governance and Safety. There is no College of Pharmacy and no BS Pharmacy among them.
That entry has been removed. If you came here looking for a state-university pharmacy programme in Cebu, the honest answer is that we cannot point you to one, and you should ask CHED Region VII rather than work from a list.
The National Number You Are Measured Against
| April 2026 Pharmacists Licensure Examination | |
|---|---|
| Passers | 1,085 |
| Examinees | 1,895 |
| Passing rate | 57.26% |
| Examination dates | 18 and 19 April 2026 |
| Testing centres | 13, including Cebu |
| Results released | 22 April 2026, three working days later |
That 57.26% is the bar any school's performance should be read against. The PRC recognises top-performing schools by resolution, using thresholds combining a minimum number of examinees with a minimum passing percentage, which is why a small programme with a perfect result may not appear on the list at all.
Where to find per-school figures. The PRC publishes a Performance of Schools table with every release. For the PhLE it is attached as a downloadable file rather than printed on the results page, so it is not indexed and does not show up in search. It is still the only independent per-school figure that exists, and it is worth the effort of opening.
What Each School Actually Publishes
This is the honest version of the comparison table. Where a school publishes nothing, the cell says so instead of carrying an estimate.
| School | Location | BS Pharmacy | Published track record | Published fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of San Carlos | Cebu City | Yes, PAASCU Level IV accredited | Extensive, see below | None found |
| Cebu Doctors' University | Mandaue | Yes | None found; its website was unreachable when checked | None found |
| SWU PHINMA | Cebu City | Yes | None found | None found |
| USPF | Cebu City | Yes, under its College of Health Sciences | None found | None found |
| Cebu Normal University | Cebu City | No pharmacy programme | — | — |
1. University of San Carlos
USC is the clear standout, and unusually for a Philippine school it says exactly why on its own department page.
USC's Department of Pharmacy states that the PRC recognised it as:
- Top-performing school of pharmacy in the Philippines for 2015 and 2025.
- Second top-performing school for 2011, 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2024.
- A Top Performing School twenty times since 1996.
It also states it is home to the highest number of licensure examination topnotchers in Southern Philippines. These are USC's own claims rather than figures we have independently confirmed against a PRC release — but a claim this specific, published under the school's own name, is a very different thing from a range invented by a listicle.
Programmes offered, per the department: BS Pharmacy at PAASCU Level IV accreditation, Doctor of Pharmacy as a post-BS continuation programme, MS Pharmacy, MS Pharmaceutical Sciences, and a Certificate Programme in Clinical Pharmacy.
The 2025 development that matters most. USC states it inaugurated its CHED-approved PharmD and MS Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2025, the first of their kind outside Luzon. For a Visayas or Mindanao student who eventually wants advanced clinical pharmacy qualifications, that removes the need to relocate to Manila later.
Note that the PharmD is a continuation programme after BS Pharmacy, not a direct-entry route. If you are choosing an undergraduate degree, you are choosing the BS Pharmacy; the PharmD is a reason to expect the department to stay strong, not something you enrol in now.
2. Cebu Doctors' University
Cebu Doctors' University in Mandaue runs a College of Pharmacy alongside its other health science colleges, and its distinguishing feature is integration with Cebu Doctors' Hospital, a large private tertiary facility.
We could not verify anything further. Its website returned an account-suspended notice when we checked, so no current programme detail, fee schedule or performance claim could be read from the institution itself. If CDU is on your shortlist, contact its admissions office directly rather than relying on any third-party page, this one included.
3. Southwestern University PHINMA
SWU PHINMA in Cebu City runs one of the longer-established pharmacy colleges in the region, and its membership of the PHINMA Education network is relevant because that network is explicitly built around accessibility and financial aid.
An earlier version of this page credited SWU PHINMA with a specific passing rate and examinee count for a named 2025 cycle. That figure could not be traced to a PRC release or to the university's own site, and has been removed. Ask the college directly for its performance in the last three cycles; schools track this closely.
4. University of Southern Philippines Foundation
USPF lists Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy under its College of Health Sciences. It publishes no fee schedule and no board performance figures. It is frequently described as the more affordable private option in Cebu, and that may well be true, but we have no published figure to support it and are not going to invent one.
How to Choose a Cebu Pharmacy School
Ask for the PRC Performance of Schools row, by name. Every school knows its own passers and examinees for the last few cycles. Ask for the numbers, not for an adjective like "consistent" or "above average".
Ask for the schedule of fees in writing. No Cebu pharmacy school publishes one. Get it before you apply, not after you are accepted, and ask whether it is fixed for the whole programme.
Ask about the internship placement. Pharmacy practice hours are the part of the degree hardest to arrange yourself. Ask which hospitals, community pharmacies and manufacturers the school places students with, and whether placements are guaranteed or competitive.
Match the school to the sector you want. Hospital pharmacy, community and retail, industry, and regulatory work are genuinely different careers with different training needs. Ask which the school's placements actually feed.
Check accreditation at the programme level. USC publishes PAASCU Level IV for BS Pharmacy specifically. Institution-level claims are not the same thing.
Weigh the total cost of living, not the tuition alone. For a student from the Visayas or Mindanao, Cebu against Manila is usually a large accommodation and travel saving regardless of what the two tuitions turn out to be.
For the wider picture see our best pharmacy schools in the Philippines guide, how many years BS Pharmacy takes, the pharmacist board exam guide, and the Manila comparison in best pharmacy schools in Manila. If cost is the binding constraint, affordable colleges and free tuition universities are the places to start.
Sources
- PRC — April 2026 Pharmacists Licensure Examination results, released in three working days (official)
- PRC — The Topnotchers of the April 2026 PhLE (official)
- PRC — Examination results archive
- University of San Carlos — Department of Pharmacy, programmes and PRC recognitions (the university's own page)
- Cebu Normal University — official site, list of colleges
- University of Southern Philippines Foundation — official site, list of programmes
- SchoolFinderPH — Best Pharmacy Schools in the Philippines
- SchoolFinderPH — Best Pharmacy Schools in Manila
- SchoolFinderPH — Pharmacist Board Exam Guide
Disclaimer: recognitions attributed to a school are that school's own published claims, not figures we independently confirmed against a PRC release. No Cebu pharmacy school publishes a fee schedule, so this page gives none. Confirm programmes, fees and accreditation with the school before applying.
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