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Best Value Optometry Doctor's Degree Schools

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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

Optometry is the #196 most popular major in the country with 1,822 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Optometry Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. 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.

2023 Best Value Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Optometry Doctor's Degree Colleges.

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.

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

Read More…

Out of the 21 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Northeastern State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. NSU is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Tahlequah.

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

Full Optometry at Northeastern State University Report

#3

Salus University

Elkins Park, PA

Out of the 21 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Salus University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Elkins Park, Salus University is a private not-for-profit college 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.

Read full report on Optometry at Salus University

#4

University of Pikeville

Pikeville, KY

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Pikeville is a great value for optometry students working on their doctor’s degree. UPIKE is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Pikeville.

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

Read full report on Optometry at University of Pikeville

#5

University of Houston

Houston, TX

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of Houston helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value optometry schools in the United States. UH is a very large public school located in the city of Houston.

UH graduate students pay an average of $18,871 in tuition and fees each year.

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University of the Incarnate Word came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. UIW is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Antonio.

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

Read full report on Optometry at University of the Incarnate Word

With a ranking of #7, University of Alabama at Birmingham did quite well on this year’s best value schools for optometry students working on their doctor’s degree. UAB is a fairly large public school located in the city of Birmingham.

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

Full Optometry at University of Alabama at Birmingham Report

SUNY College of Optometry ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of New York, SUNY Optometry is a public college with a small student population.

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

Read More…

Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree optometry programs. IU Bloomington is a very 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.

Full Optometry at Indiana University - Bloomington Report

#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 suburb of Forest Grove.

Pacific graduate students pay an average of $36,169 in tuition and fees each year.

Pacific also claimed a spot on our Best Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Optometry at Pacific University Report

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 area of study, optometry has other similar majors worth exploring.

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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