- Optometry
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by our College Data Analytics Team
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21Colleges in the United States
1,822Optometry Degrees Awarded
$88,635Avg Early-Career Salary
When it comes to popularity, optometry sits in the middle of the road, ranking #194 out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.
College Factual reviewed 21 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of optometry. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,822 degrees in optometry during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
- Best Overall Optometry Schools List
Choosing a Great Optometry School
The optometry program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Optometry rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for optometry schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Optometry Rankings by Degree Level
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Optometry Schools list to help you make the college decision.More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Read more about College Factual's methodology.
Best Schools for Optometry in the United States
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the optometry degrees they offer, see the list below.
10 Top Schools in Optometry
1
Salus University
Elkins Park, PA
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
166Optometry Degrees Awarded
10.2%Growth in GraduatesAny student pursuing a degree in optometry needs to look into Salus University. Located in the large suburb of Elkins Park, Salus University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
There were roughly 166 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Salus University in the most recent data year. Optometry degree recipients from Salus University earn a boost of approximately $8,777 above the typical income of optometry graduates.
More information about a degree in optometry from Salus University2
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
126Optometry Degrees Awarded
$90,266Median Starting SalaryEvery student who is interested in optometry has to check out Illinois College of Optometry. Located in the large city of Chicago, Illinois College of Optometry is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
There were about 126 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Illinois College of Optometry in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, optometry degree recipients usually make about $90,266 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a degree in optometry from Illinois College of Optometry3
University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
83Optometry Degrees Awarded
20.5%Growth in GraduatesUniversity of California - Berkeley is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in optometry. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were approximately 83 optometry students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the optometry program report average early career income of $74,750.
More information about a degree in optometry from University of California - Berkeley4
Midwestern University - Glendale
Glendale, AZ
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
1stMost Popular In AZ
50Optometry Degrees Awarded
It's difficult to beat Midwestern University - Glendale if you want to pursue a degree in optometry. Midwestern University - Glendale is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Glendale.
There were approximately 50 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Midwestern University - Glendale in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in optometry from Midwestern University - Glendale5
Indiana University - Bloomington
Bloomington, IN
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
84Optometry Degrees Awarded
19.0%Growth in GraduatesLocated in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were approximately 84 optometry students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent year we have data available. Those optometry students who get their degree from Indiana University - Bloomington make $6,903 more than the average optometry graduate.
More information about a degree in optometry from Indiana University - Bloomington6
Midwestern University - Downers Grove
Downers Grove, IL
Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type
41Optometry Degrees Awarded
$102,561Median Starting SalaryMidwestern University - Downers Grove is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Downers Grove.
There were approximately 41 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Midwestern University - Downers Grove in the most recent year we have data available. Optometry degree recipients from Midwestern University - Downers Grove get an earnings boost of around $13,926 above the typical earnings of optometry majors.
More information about a degree in optometry from Midwestern University - Downers Grove7 Pacific University Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type 88Optometry Degrees Awarded Pacific is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Forest Grove. A Best Colleges rank of #194 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Pacific is a great university overall. There were about 88 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Pacific in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, optometry degree recipients usually earn around $89,820 in their early careers. 8 Ohio State University - Main Campus Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type 65Optometry Degrees Awarded Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #69 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall. There were approximately 65 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the optometry program report average early career income of $89,790. 9 University of Houston Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type 105Optometry Degrees Awarded UH is a fairly large public university located in the city of Houston. A Best Colleges rank of #211 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UH is a great university overall. There were approximately 105 optometry students who graduated with this degree at UH in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the optometry major at University of Houston get $3,150 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation. 10 SUNY College of Optometry Doctor's DegreeHighest Degree Type 90Optometry Degrees Awarded Located in the large city of New York, SUNY Optometry is a public college with a small student population. There were about 90 optometry students who graduated with this degree at SUNY Optometry in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the optometry program state that they receive average early career earnings of $81,001.
Forest Grove, OR
Columbus, OH
Houston, TX
New York, NY
Optometry by Region
View the Best Optometry Schools for a specific region near you.Region Southeast New England Rocky Mountains Plains States Middle Atlantic Far Western US Southwest Other U.S. Territories Great Lakes
Other Rankings
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One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Optometry has other similar majors worth exploring.
Optometry Concentrations
Major | Annual Graduates |
---|---|
Optometry | 1,822 |
View All Optometry Focus Areas >
Most Popular Majors Related to Optometry
Related Major | Annual Graduates |
---|---|
Nursing | 322,592 |
89,359 | |
84,492 | |
84,274 | |
Allied Health Professions | 82,308 |
Public Health | 40,596 |
35,945 | |
29,833 | |
29,053 | |
Medicine | 28,629 |
View All Optometry Related Majors >
Notes and References
- The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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