Optometry
Types of Degrees Optometry Majors Are Getting
The following table lists how many optometry graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.
| Education Level | Number of Grads |
|---|---|
| Doctor’s Degree | 1,780 |
| Graduate Certificate | 9 |
What Optometry Majors Need to Know
O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to optometry and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.
Knowledge Areas for Optometry Majors
This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Skills for Optometry Majors
A major in optometry prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Science - Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Abilities for Optometry Majors
A major in optometry will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:
- Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
What Can You Do With a Optometry Major?
People with a optometry degree often go into the following careers:
| Job Title | Job Growth Rate | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Optometrists | 17.9% | $111,790 |
Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Optometry
Some degrees associated with optometry may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.
How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to optometry have obtained the following education levels.
| Education Level | Percentage of Workers |
|---|---|
| First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. | 9.0% |
| Doctoral Degree | 94.2% |
Online Optometry Programs
The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.
| Degree Level | Colleges Offering Programs | Colleges Offering Online Classes |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) | 0 | 0 |
| Certificate (1-2 years) | 0 | 0 |
| Certificate (2-4 Years) | 0 | 0 |
| Associate’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
| Post-Baccalaureate | 0 | 0 |
| Master’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
| Post-Master’s | 1 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Research) | 0 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) | 24 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Other) | 0 | 0 |
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Majors Related to Optometry
You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to optometry.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- College Scorecard
- National Center for Education Statistics
- O*NET Online
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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