Two pass-rate tables, not one
Palmer College of Chiropractic publishes NBCE licensing figures two ways: a Davenport main-campus table, and an all-campuses table that folds in its Port Orange, Florida branch. Both measure the same thing, the CCE's standard metric of graduates who passed every Part or were licensed within six months.
Palmer's main campus (Davenport) results
| Year | Davenport rate | Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 92.5% | 221 of 239 |
| 2023 | 96.4% | 239 of 248 |
| 2024 | 95.9% | 236 of 246 |
| 2025 | 92.3% | 229 of 248 |
| 4-year total | 94.3% | 925 of 981 |
Palmer's all-campuses results
Combining Davenport with Port Orange, Florida:
| Year | All-campus rate | Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 88.3% | 514 of 582 |
| 2023 | 91.6% | 513 of 560 |
| 2024 | 89.5% | 556 of 621 |
| 2025 | 86.2% | 426 of 494 |
| 4-year total | 89.0% | 2,009 of 2,257 |
Both figures come from Palmer's own official disclosure tables, published to meet CCE reporting requirements. If you see other percentages referenced in Palmer marketing posts, the tables above are the ones tied to the formal Policy 56-style disclosure and are the numbers worth anchoring on.
Two campuses, one accreditation
Palmer's founding campus is in Davenport, Iowa, at 1000 Brady Street. Its Florida branch campus operates in Port Orange, sharing the same accredited Doctor of Chiropractic program and the same academic requirements. Palmer no longer operates a West Coast campus. Across all locations combined, Palmer reports 2,161 total students, making it one of the largest chiropractic programs on this list, and one reason its published tables split main-campus results from the combined total: a program this size can carry meaningfully different numbers between locations even under one accreditation.
That size also means Palmer runs a lot of graduating cohorts through the boards every year. Palmer publishes both a Davenport-only figure and an all-campuses figure, so check which one describes the campus you attend.
Planning around the boards
Palmer students, like students everywhere, move through Part I in their second year and Part II in year three, with Part III due within nine months of graduation and Part IV within six. Part IV is now held exclusively at the NBCE's Assessment Center in Greeley, Colorado, so Davenport and Port Orange students both need to plan travel and a testing window around their final trimester of clinic work. Registration for any Part closes 17 days before the test date, so build your study plan around that cutoff rather than the exam date itself.
Palmer's earlier results, 2011 to 2021, and results by Part
Palmer's older disclosure files used a different measure from the tables above. Through about 2022 they reported graduates who passed all NBCE parts within six months among those who attempted any or all parts, for the Davenport campus, for all campuses, and for the Port Orange, Florida campus. The all-campuses files combined Palmer's campuses at the time. Both measures are shown here, separately.
Earlier measure: passed all Parts within six months, of graduates who attempted an exam
| Graduating year | Davenport | All campuses | Port Orange |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 82.2% (290 of 353) | — | — |
| 2012 | 83.9% (271 of 323) | — | — |
| 2013 | 83.6% (250 of 299) | — | — |
| 2014 | 82.4% (230 of 279) | — | — |
| 2015 | 83.3% (220 of 264) | 83% (499 of 599) | 82% (189 of 230) |
| 2016 | 92% (217 of 235) | 85% (478 of 562) | 81% (184 of 226) |
| 2017 | 93.2% (246 of 264) | 87.2% (539 of 618) | 82% (187 of 228) |
| 2018 | 88.7% (259 of 292) | 80.9% (531 of 656) | 74% (180 of 243) |
| 2019 | 90.5% (210 of 232) | 86.3% (467 of 541) | — |
| 2020 | 89.6% (241 of 269) | 82.5% (490 of 594) | — |
Current measure (passed all Parts or licensed, of all graduates), earlier classes
| Graduating year | Davenport | All campuses |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 84.1% (259 of 308) | 78.7% (531 of 675) |
| 2019 | 91% (212 of 233) † | 87% (480 of 552) † |
| 2020 | 89.7% (245 of 273) † | 84.2% (506 of 601) † |
| 2021 | 92.3% (239 of 259) † | 89.3% (560 of 627) † |
Palmer's older files also gave first-time pass rates by Part for the Davenport campus, by exam term. Each document covered a rolling two years.
Palmer Davenport campus first-time NBCE pass rate by Part and exam term, number passed of number tested
| Exam term | Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2008 | 74% (145 of 196) | 75.1% (169 of 225) | 85.6% (166 of 194) | 95.8% (136 of 142) | 91.5% (173 of 189) |
| Spring 2009 | 75.3% (128 of 170) | 74.3% (107 of 144) | 77.4% (123 of 159) | 95.8% (251 of 262) | 85.2% (150 of 176) |
| Fall 2009 | 76.8% (139 of 181) | 69.9% (137 of 196) | 81.2% (168 of 207) | 92.6% (137 of 148) | 81.7% (165 of 202) |
| Spring 2010 | 71.3% (102 of 143) | 64.3% (101 of 157) | 73.2% (109 of 149) | 94.6% (176 of 186) | 90.8% (128 of 141) |
| Fall 2010 | 70.8% (131 of 185) | 67.2% (125 of 186) | 79.9% (179 of 224) | 91.8% (146 of 159) | 91.2% (176 of 193) |
| Spring 2011 | 77.6% (97 of 125) | 69.1% (96 of 139) | 69.4% (86 of 124) | 90.1% (163 of 181) | 82.7% (105 of 127) |
| Fall 2011 | 67.6% (117 of 173) | 68.9% (131 of 190) | 81.9% (145 of 177) | 90.4% (113 of 125) | 91.4% (170 of 186) |
| Spring 2012 | 56.3% (71 of 126) | 75.9% (85 of 112) | 77.9% (106 of 136) | 97.8% (179 of 183) | 90.8% (109 of 120) |
| Fall 2012 | 74.5% (120 of 161) | 63.2% (115 of 182) | 77.4% (127 of 164) | 94.5% (104 of 110) | 87.3% (144 of 165) |
| Spring 2013 | 58.3% (67 of 115) | 57.3% (67 of 117) | 65.3% (81 of 124) | 91.5% (151 of 165) | 79.2% (95 of 120) |
| Fall 2013 | 80.7% (130 of 161) | 71.2% (109 of 153) | 70.7% (116 of 164) | 85.2% (92 of 108) | 83.5% (106 of 127) |
| Spring 2014 | 79.2% (84 of 106) | 60.8% (73 of 120) | 76.9% (83 of 108) | 93.8% (152 of 162) | 80.9% (110 of 136) |
| Fall 2014 | 70.2% (99 of 141) | 73.5% (119 of 162) | 81% (136 of 168) | 86.6% (97 of 112) | 86.1% (136 of 158) |
| Spring 2015 | 79% (94 of 119) | 80% (80 of 100) | 77.1% (81 of 105) | — | 92.5% (98 of 106) |
† The school's archived pages show more than one figure for this year. The most recent published figure is shown. A dash means the school's files do not show a figure for that year.
Compare other chiropractic schools
Practice with ChiroEDU
ChiroEDU's practice exams are built to feel like the real computer-based test: domain-by-domain exams for Part 1 and Part 2 with four attempts each, four mock exams for Part 3 with radiology, and PT exams with item analysis. Interested in helping classmates prep? ChiroEDU is looking for student reps at every school.
Sources: Palmer College quality and outcomes · Main campus NBCE scores · All-campuses NBCE scores · State licensure and board exam certification. Figures as published by the college; checked September 2026. The year-by-year tables above come from the school's own published disclosures, linked here as archived copies where the current page no longer shows them: archived copy, Jun 2010 · archived copy, Oct 2011 · archived copy, Jul 2012 · archived copy, Mar 2013 · archived copy, Aug 2013 · archived copy, Apr 2015 · archived copy, Jul 2015 · archived copy, Mar 2016 · archived copy, Jul 2017 · archived copy, Jul 2019 · archived copy, Jul 2019 (2) · archived copy, Oct 2020 · archived copy, Jun 2022 · archived copy, Jun 2022 (2) · archived copy, Jan 2023 · archived copy, Apr 2023 · archived copy, Apr 2024 · archived copy, Apr 2024 (2) · archived copy, Jan 2026 · archived copy, Apr 2026. ChiroEDU is independent and not affiliated with Palmer College of Chiropractic or the NBCE.