Pharmaceutical representative education requirements

Q: What degree do you need to be a pharmaceutical representative?

You need a bachelor's degree to be a pharmaceutical representative. There is no specific requirement as to what major the degree needs to focus on. Most pharmaceutical representatives choose to either study life sciences, such as chemistry or biology, or something like marketing, advertising, or business administration. Some universities offer a Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences. This degree will be ideal if you want to pursue a career as a pharmaceutical representative. If you do not take a specific pharmaceutical program, then it would be beneficial to study things like pharmacology, microbiology, and toxicology. Most pharmaceutical companies will hire you with only a bachelor's degree, but some do prefer you to have a graduate degree. If you choose to obtain a graduate degree, some good degree choices are Master of Health Science or Master of Public Health.

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a pharmaceutical representative. Pharmaceutical representatives usually study business, marketing, or communication. 80% of pharmaceutical representatives hold a bachelor's degree, and 9% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 1,972 real pharmaceutical representative resumes to see exactly what pharmaceutical representative education sections show.

The most common colleges for pharmaceutical representatives are the Michigan State University and the Michigan State University.

There are also many online pharmaceutical representative courses to help get the education required to be a pharmaceutical representative.

What education do you need to become a pharmaceutical representative?

What degree do you need to be a pharmaceutical representative?

The most common degree for pharmaceutical representatives is bachelor's degree, with 80% of pharmaceutical representatives earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 9% and master's degree degree at 6%.

Bachelor's, 80%

Master's, 9%

Associate, 6%

High School Diploma, 2%

Other Degrees, 3%

What should I major in to become a pharmaceutical representative?

You should major in business to become a pharmaceutical representative. 23% of pharmaceutical representatives major in business. Other common majors for a pharmaceutical representative include marketing and communication.

Business, 23%

Marketing, 12%

Communication, 9%

Biology, 9%

Other Majors, 47%

Most common colleges for pharmaceutical representatives

Pharmaceutical representatives often get their degrees at Michigan State University, Florida State University, and University of Phoenix. Here are the most common colleges for pharmaceutical representatives in the US based on their resumes.

Pharmaceutical representative common college	Percentages
Michigan State University	9.76%
Florida State University	7.80%
University of Phoenix	6.34%
University of South Florida	5.85%
Florida International University	5.85%

Show more common pharmaceutical representative colleges

Best majors for pharmaceutical representatives

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	23.3%
2	Marketing	12.3%
3	Communication	9.3%
4	Biology	8.5%
5	Psychology	7.4%

Show more common pharmaceutical representative majors

Best colleges for pharmaceutical representatives

The best colleges for pharmaceutical representatives are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

A pharmaceutical representative with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for pharmaceutical representatives. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become pharmaceutical representatives.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

3. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

5. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

6. SUNY College at Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,369

Enrollment

5,229

7. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

8. Baylor University

Waco, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$45,542

Enrollment

14,159

9. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Alfred, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,570

Enrollment

3,721

10. Syracuse University

Syracuse, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,853

Enrollment

14,759

20 best online courses for pharmaceutical representatives

Advertising disclosure

1. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

2. Health for All Through Primary Health Care

This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...

3. Practical Pharmaceutical Supply Management: LMIC Focus

4.4

(2,385)

Pharmaceutical Supply Mastery: From Procurement to Efficient Distribution...

4. Pharmaceutical Industry Drug Regulatory Affairs (DRA)

4.5

(256)

Empowering Professionals in the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Comprehensive Online Course in Drug Regulatory Affairs...

5. Drug Commercialization

The University of California San Diego, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Drug Commercialization course brings you lectures from both faculty and industry experts. With this course, recorded on campus at UCSD, we seek to share our access to top people in the field who bring an unprecedented range of expertise on drug commercialization. This course will cover pharmacoeconomic, marketing strategy, intellectual property strategy, portfolio management, managed markets and...

6. The Pharmaceutical R & D Process in Healthcare

4.4

(331)

Learn about clinical trials, drug regulations, biotech products, generics, marketing and more. *Biotech Update! 1/22*...

7. Your Guide to the Pharmaceutical Industry

4.4

(4,863)

Learn about the pharma industry quickly - current trends, medicines, healthcare, pharmacy markets & major developments...

8. Basic Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)

4.4

(2,132)

Learn the good practices that applies to the pharmaceutical industry...

9. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer

4.7

(18,204)

Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...

10. Product Management Marketing: Dekker's Product Marketing MBA

4.6

(2,007)

Be a Product Marketing Manager - Product Management : Product Manager MBA : Product to Market : Product Owner Launch GTM...

11. Product Marketing for Technology Companies

4.5

(463)

Master your product marketing skills through practical examples and exercises...

12. Certificate Course in Clinical Research (CCCR)

(302)

A Clinical Research Course-ICH-GCP E6(R2), Clinical Trials, Essential Documents, Sponsor, Investigator, Pharmaceuticals...

13. Home Health Aide, Nurse Aide, Caregiver Certification Course

4.6

(1,178)

Become A Certified Home Health Aide, Personal Care Aide, Nurse Aide/ Caregiver At The End Of This Course. Enroll Now!!...

14. Certificate Course in Drug Regulatory Affairs (DRA)

4.2

(1,430)

Pharma course (NDA, ANDA, CTD, DMF, USFDA, Regulatory strategy, GMP, Clinical Research, Orange Book, Pharmaceuticals)...

15. SAP Customer Service (CS/SM) - Service Management module

4.4

(960)

Real World SAP CS and SD, Repair Orders, Service Orders, Service Contracts...

16. Insightful Customer Interviews for Product Managers

4.5

(340)

Direct conversations with real customers to gain insight, test product concepts, and drive product success...

17. Customer Service, Customer Support, And Customer Experience

4.6

(2,666)

Customer service, customer support, and customer experience training. Loyal clients through world-class customer service...

18. Comprehensive Product management for Product managers

4.5

(366)

Become a great product manager with comprehensive product management Real world case study with JIRA & Confluence...

19. Product Management Fundamentals

4.4

(4,918)

Case-based practical course on product management to build strong foundations in product concepts, process & frameworks...

20. Product Management 101

4.6

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

7. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-state tuition

$9,992

Cost of attendance

22,430

8. SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Utica, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,238

Cost of attendance

21,567

9. USF Sarasota-Manatee

Sarasota, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,587

Cost of attendance

13,043

10. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for pharmaceutical representatives

The hardest universities for pharmaceutical representatives to get into are University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, and Northwestern University.

Some great schools for pharmaceutical representatives are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for pharmaceutical representatives based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,492

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

5. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

6. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

7. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

Admissions rate

43%

SAT average

1,338

8. Fordham University

Bronx, NY • Private

Admissions rate

46%

SAT average

1,354

9. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

10. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

Admissions rate

29%

Aberdeen, SD • Private

Admissions rate

97%

SAT average

1,050

Average pharmaceutical representative salary by education level

Pharmaceutical representatives with a Master's degree earn more than those without, at $84,931 annually. With a Doctorate degree, pharmaceutical representatives earn a median annual income of $81,118 compared to $75,059 for pharmaceutical representatives with an Bachelor's degree.

Pharmaceutical representative education level	Pharmaceutical representative salary
Master's Degree	$84,931
High School Diploma or Less	$54,858
Bachelor's Degree	$75,059
Doctorate Degree	$81,118
Some College/ Associate Degree	$57,261

Pharmaceutical representative education FAQs

What degree do you need to be a pharmaceutical representative?

What is the best college for Pharmaceutical Representatives?

Have more questions? See all answers to common sales questions.

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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Updated January 8, 2025

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