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2025 Best Optometry Schools

13 Colleges in the United States
1,746 Optometry Degrees Awarded
$102,063 Avg 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.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 13 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Optometry Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,746 degrees in optometry annually.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Optometry School

Best Optometry Schools 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

Doctor's Degrees in Optometry

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
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
84 Optometry Degrees Awarded
1.2% Growth in Graduates

University 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 fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were roughly 84 optometry students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, optometry degree recipients typically earn an average of $88,760 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in optometry from University of California - Berkeley

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
70 Optometry Degrees Awarded
$109,361 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Indiana University - Bloomington if you wish to pursue a degree in optometry. Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.

There were about 70 optometry students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent data year. Those optometry students who get their degree from Indiana University - Bloomington receive $7,299 more than the typical optometry student.

More information about a degree in optometry from Indiana University - Bloomington

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
68 Optometry Degrees Awarded
4.4% Growth in Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in optometry has to check out Ohio State University - Main Campus. Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 68 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, optometry degree recipients typically make around $95,369 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in optometry from Ohio State University - Main Campus

4
Pacific crest
Pacific University
Forest Grove, OR
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
85 Optometry Degrees Awarded
$107,293 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Pacific University if you wish to pursue a degree in optometry. Pacific is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Forest Grove. This university ranks 6th out of 29 schools for overall quality in the state of Oregon.

There were about 85 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Pacific in the most recent data year. Those optometry students who get their degree from Pacific University make $5,231 more than the standard optometry graduate.

More information about a degree in optometry from Pacific University

5
NUS Florida crest
Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
95 Optometry Degrees Awarded
$88,293 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Fort Lauderdale, NUS Florida is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #263 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means NUS Florida is a great university overall.

There were roughly 95 optometry students who graduated with this degree at NUS Florida in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the optometry program earn about $88,293 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in optometry from Nova Southeastern University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
92 Optometry Degrees Awarded
$104,352 Median Starting Salary

UH is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Houston. A Best Colleges rank of #369 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UH is a great university overall.

There were about 92 optometry students who graduated with this degree at UH in the most recent data year. Optometry degree recipients from University of Houston get an earnings boost of about $2,290 above the typical income of optometry graduates.

More information about a degree in optometry from University of Houston

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
41 Optometry Degrees Awarded
$97,611 Median Starting Salary

UAB is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Birmingham. A Best Colleges rank of #299 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UAB is a great university overall.

There were roughly 41 optometry students who graduated with this degree at UAB in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the optometry program report average early career earnings of $97,611.

More information about a degree in optometry from University of Alabama at Birmingham

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
55 Optometry Degrees Awarded
3.6% Growth in Graduates

MCPHS University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit college located in the city of Boston.

There were roughly 55 optometry students who graduated with this degree at MCPHS University in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, optometry degree recipients typically earn an average of $95,374 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in optometry from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
52 Optometry Degrees Awarded
$96,994 Median Starting Salary

UIW is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Antonio. This university ranks 38th out of 115 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were approximately 52 optometry students who graduated with this degree at UIW in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, optometry degree recipients generally make an average of $96,994 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in optometry from University of the Incarnate Word

10
Ferris crest
Ferris State University
Big Rapids, MI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
35 Optometry Degrees Awarded
$113,016 Median Starting Salary

Ferris is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Big Rapids. This university ranks 13th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were about 35 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Ferris in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the optometry major at Ferris State University make $10,954 more than the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in optometry from Ferris State University

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

View All Rankings >

One of 34 majors within the Health Professions area of study, Optometry has other similar majors worth exploring.

Optometry Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Optometry 1,746

View All Optometry Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 319,502
Health & Medical Administrative Services 88,600
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 85,339
Allied Health Professions 83,905
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 83,587
Public Health 41,651
Health Sciences & Services 36,762
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 30,594
Mental & Social Health Services 30,331
Medicine 29,089

View All Optometry Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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