Chicago State University is 1 step closer to opening a college of pharmacy. The retail chain Walgreens is donating $1 million over a 5-year period to help fund program development for the pharmacy school. The university, which received approval for the pharmacy program in April, wants to help encourage more minority graduates into careers as pharmacists.

The grant will help with operating costs for employing faculty members, hiring administrative staff members, and recruiting students. The pharmacy school will start with ~68 students and increase to ~100 students per year. The pharmacy school program will take 6 years, according to the university. The college is scheduled to open in the fall of 2008.

"We have 2 main focuses for community involvement: health care and education," said Michael Polzin, spokesman for the retail pharmacy chain. "And this gives us an opportunity to address both of those concerns. What this will do, it's going to open a career path to Illinois students who otherwise may not have had this opportunity."