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2023 Best Value Optometry Doctor's Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

21 Colleges
$29,862 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$88,635 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Optometry Doctor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 1,822 people earned a degree or certificate in optometry, making the major the #23 most popular in the United States.

It's not easy to decide which healthcare program to enroll in when you have so many options available. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Healthcare Degree Search has created the Best Value Optometry Doctor's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 21 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for optometry students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top 10 Best Optometry Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Our 2023 rankings named Ferris State University the best value school in the United States for optometry students working on their doctor’s degree. Ferris is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Big Rapids.

Ferris graduate students pay an average of $8,232 in tuition and fees each year.

Ferris also claimed a spot on our Best Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northeastern State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools list. NSU is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Tahlequah.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at NSU are $10,911 a year.

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#3

Salus University

Elkins Park, PA

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Salus University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value optometry schools in the United States. Located in the large suburb of Elkins Park, Salus University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Salus University are $33,125 a year.

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#4

University of Pikeville

Pikeville, KY

Out of the 21 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Pikeville landed the # 4 spot on the list. UPIKE is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Pikeville.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UPIKE are $8,370 per year.

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#5

University of Houston

Houston, TX

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Houston is a great value for optometry students working on their doctor’s degree. UH is a very large public school located in the large city of Houston.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UH are $18,871 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UH also is in the top 20% of our Best Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking.

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University of the Incarnate Word landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree optometry programs. UIW is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Antonio.

UIW graduate students pay an average of $19,840 in tuition and fees each year.

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University of Alabama at Birmingham came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UAB is a very large public school located in the city of Birmingham.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UAB are $19,188 per year.

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SUNY College of Optometry did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for optometry students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of New York, SUNY Optometry is a public school with a fairly small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at SUNY Optometry are $23,563 a year.

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Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree optometry programs. IU Bloomington is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Bloomington.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at IU Bloomington are $33,352 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, IU Bloomington also is in the top 5% of our Best Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking.

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#10

Pacific University

Forest Grove, OR

Pacific University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Pacific is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Forest Grove.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Pacific are $36,169 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Pacific also did well on our Best Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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Optometry by Region

View the Best Value Optometry Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

One of 30 majors within the healthcare area of study, optometry has other similar majors worth exploring.

Optometry Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Optometry 1,822

Majors Similar to Optometry

Related Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 21 schools only.

  • 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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