The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education voted Thursday to approve the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy’s return to its independent legacy program.

The college is also accredited as an independent program by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE).

After a successful partnership that began in 2004 with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the universities’ boards of trustees voted in 2015 to pursue independent accreditation for their Pharm.D. degree programs. Students enrolled in the South Carolina College of Pharmacy will continue to be educated under the joint program, with the last class graduating in 2019.

The universities will continue to collaborate in the areas of research, continuing education and experiential education. The return to legacy program status, along with ACPE accreditation, will allow each university to operate independent colleges of pharmacy.