2022 Best Value Colleges for Optometry in the Southwest Region (With Aid)

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Optometry is the 193rd most popular major in the country with 1,666 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, optometry graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $83,824 and had an average of $167,326 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southwest region, there were 234 optometry graduates with average earnings and debt of $88,067 and $172,300 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in optometry. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality optometry programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the optometry program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Value Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Getting Aid.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Optometry in the Southwest Region (With Aid)

#1

Northeastern State University

Tahlequah, Oklahoma

#4 in overall quality

$9,994 Average Net Price

$39,093 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northeastern State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, this medium-sized public school awarded 28 degrees to qualified ’s optometry students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region optometry students with aid list, NSU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northeastern State University is $9,994 for southwest region optometry students with aid.

Read more about Optometry at Northeastern State University

#2

University of Houston

Houston, Texas

#2 in overall quality

$12,838 Average Net Price

$46,964 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Houston. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Getting Aid list. UH is a large school located in Houston, Texas that handed out 95 ’s optometry degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region optometry students with aid list, UH has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Houston is $12,838 for Southwest Region Optometry students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Full University of Houston Optometry Report

#3

University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, Texas

#3 in overall quality

$24,784 Average Net Price

$49,167 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of the Incarnate Word landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in San Antonio, Texas, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 59 degrees to qualified ’s optometry students in 2019-2020.

UIW also made our “Best Optometry Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $24,784 for Southwest Region Optometry students with aid per year to attend UIW.

Read full report on Optometry at University of the Incarnate Word

• Best Value Colleges for Optometry (With Aid)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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