Applicant/Student Profile and Prerequisites

Applicants

Profiles of Applicants to OD Programs

With 24 out of 24 schools and colleges of optometry in the United States reporting for the OptomCAS application cycle 2022-2023 for admission to optometry school in Fall 2023:

  • There were 2,773 individuals who applied for admission to the schools and colleges of optometry in the United States with a total number of 11,834. The average number of applications per applicant was 4.27.
  • The median age of applicants was 22 years old, with 72% female and 28% male.
  • The ethnicity breakdown for applicants was 43% White, 32% Asian, 13% Spanish/Hispanic/Latino/Latina, 5% Black/African-American, 4% Two or More Races, and less than 1% American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. Three percent of applicants did not report a race.
  • The average overall cumulative GPA for all applicants was 3.42.

For a complete report of the 2022-2023 applicant pool, please review the OptomCAS Applicant Data Report – National Snapshot at optomcas.org.

Prerequisites

Enrollment

Profiles of the Entering Classes

  • At the schools and colleges of optometry in the United States, there were a total of 7,209 students enrolled in the full-time regular professional OD program during the 2022-2023 academic year, and another 173 enrolled in part-time, alternate and special programs leading to the OD degree.
  • For the 2022-2023 academic year, 70.5% of the full-time student body was female and 29.5% was male. In addition, the full-time student body was 49.5% White, 30.4% Asian, 8.7% Hispanic or Latino, 4.3% Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 0.3% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 2.9% two or more races and 3.3% unknown.
  • The average GPA of the 2023 entering class was 3.54.

2023 Matriculating Optometry Student Survey Report

Graduates

  • In 2022, there were a total of 1,728 students who received OD degrees through both regular and special programs at the schools and colleges of optometry in the United States, a decrease of 4.4% over the number of 2021 graduates. The number of Doctor of Optometry students who received OD degrees through only regular OD programs fell from 1,750 in 2021 to 1,700 in 2022, a decrease of 2.9%.
  • Of the Doctor of Optometry students receiving OD degrees through both regular and special programs in 2022, 67.8% were female and 32.2% were male. In addition, 53.5% were White, 30.4% were Asian, 5.7% were Hispanic or Latino, 2.5% were Black or African American, 0.6% were American Indian or Alaskan Native, 0.2% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 3.2% were two or more races and 3.9% were Unknown.
  • For graduates of both regular and special OD programs in 2022, 92.7% had a permanent residence in the U.S. or U.S. territories, 6.7% in Canada and 0.6% in other countries.