Changes to the Centralized Criminal Background Check Fee
PharmCAS and Certiphi Screening, Inc. will introduce a new applicant fee for the centralized criminal background check (CBC) in the upcoming 2018-2019 admissions cycle. Accepted applicants will pay a fixed $70.00 fee to Certiphi for all searches. The $70.00 fee will also apply to international applicants and domestic applicants who have lived abroad. Financially disadvantaged applicants who are granted a PharmCAS application fee waiver will also receive a waiver for the Certiphi CBC. AACP is the only association in partnership with Certiphi Screening to offer a CBC fee waiver for financially disadvantaged applicants. (The fixed fee and waiver do not apply to any background checks conducted outside of PharmCAS, nor the Certiphi Drug Testing fee.)
The Certiphi background check fee was previously subsidized by AACP. The AACP Board of Directors voted to eliminate this subsidy in 2018 to reduce a significant financial liability for the association, to allocate additional funds in support of AACP's strategic priorities, and to be consistent with the background check policies of other health profession associations. AACP negotiated a fixed Certiphi fee for applicants to protect them from variable and potentially higher fees due to multiple state residencies and third-party fees assessed by state and county courts.
About Certiphi Background Checks
PharmCAS offers a centralized background check process for accepted applicants via Certiphi Screening. The purpose of the process is, in part, to ascertain the ability of a student to meet the requirements of clinical education sites and become licensed pharmacists. Certiphi Screening serves as the preferred, criminal background check provider for medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physical therapy, and optometry. Pharmacy colleges and schools have the option of signing an agreement with Certiphi to conduct background checks of their accepted applicants who apply via PharmCAS. Only applicants who are accepted by a school that participates in the PharmCAS background check are prompted to complete a check through Certiphi. There is no cost to institutions that utilize Certiphi through PharmCAS. There were 88 pharmacy colleges and schools that used the PharmCAS background check via Certiphi during the 2017-2018 cycle. The company processed 9,421 background checks for PharmCAS applicants during the 2017 calendar year.
About the PharmCAS Fee Waiver
To qualify for a PharmCAS application fee waiver, applicants must have previously filed or be claimed as a dependent on a 2017 Federal Income Tax Return Form with an adjusted gross income below the Low Income Level, which is based on 200 percent of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines. The Low Income Level for the upcoming cycle will be posted in the PharmCAS instructions. The PharmCAS fee waiver is funded by AACP and covers up to 457 eligible applicants on a first-come, first-serve basis. All eligible applicants who requested a PharmCAS fee waiver during the 2017-2018 cycle received one.
New in 2018-2019
- Unlike in past cycles, applicants will be able to submit a PharmCAS fee waiver request at any time during the 2018-2019 cycle. There will still be a limited number of fee waivers available, so eligible applicants are encouraged to submit their fee waiver requests as early as possible, once the cycle opens.
- Applicants who are approved for a PharmCAS fee waiver will have 14 days (including holidays and weekends) to use it, as compared to 45 days in past cycles. The timeline was shortened to ensure that fee waivers are released in a timely manner and the maximum number of eligible applicants receive them.
As done in 2017-2018, applicants will submit fee waiver requests via the PharmCAS application. See image below.
FYI – We are in the process of updating the 2018-2019 PharmCAS School Manual and Application Instructions (PDF), and will post them ASAP. Please contact us with your questions or thoughts in the meantime.
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Libby J. Ross, MA
Senior Director of Student Affairs
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
703-739-2330, x1009
Lross@aacp.org------------------------------