2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry
4
Ranked Colleges
247
Degrees Awarded
$25,400
Avg Cost*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. College Factual has developed its “Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
Optometry is the 194th most popular major in the country with 1,822 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, optometry graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $88,635 and had an average of $0 in loans still to pay off.
Across the Southwest region, there were 247 optometry graduates with average earnings and debt of $91,909 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in optometry. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality optometry programs as well as strong veteran support.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the optometry program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
One Size Does Not Fit All
The optometry school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry”.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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.
Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry”.
Top 4 Best Optometry Colleges for Veterans in the Southwest Region
Out of the 4 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Houston landed the #1 spot on the list. UH is a public institution located in Houston, Texas. The school has a large population, and it awarded 105 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
UH not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Among the 47,090 students enrolled at University of Houston, 1,382 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 730 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $8,264. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at UH]](/colleges/university-of-houston/student-life/veterans/)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of the Incarnate Word. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry list. UIW is a private not-for-profit institution located in San Antonio, Texas. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 64 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIW, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 7,917 students enrolled at UIW, 1,174 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 761 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $10,131. During this same period, 87 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. UIW does offer credit for military training for eligible students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full UIW Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northeastern State University. The school came in at #3 for the Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry. Northeastern State University is a medium-sized school located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma that handed out 28 ’s optometry degrees in 2020-2021.
NSU also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Of the 7,349 students enrolled at NSU, 304 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 118 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $3,801. To help with additional expenses, 1 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at Northeastern State University]](/colleges/northeastern-state-university/student-life/veterans/)
Out of the 4 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Southwest Region for Optometry that were part of this year’s ranking, Midwestern University - Glendale landed the #4 spot on the list. Midwestern University - Glendale is a private not-for-profit institution located in Glendale, Arizona. The school has a small population, and it awarded 50 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Midwestern University - Glendale also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Of the 3,927 students enrolled at Midwestern University - Glendale, 67 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 47 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $17,794. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
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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).
- Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
- 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
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
- **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
- 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.