Applicant/Student Profile and Prerequisites
Applicants
Profiles of Applicants to OD Programs
With 25 out of 25 schools and colleges of optometry in the United States reporting for the OptomCAS application cycle 2024-2025 for admission to optometry school in Fall 2025:
- There were 2,897 individuals who applied for admission to the schools and colleges of optometry in the United States with a total number of 12,536 applications. The average number of applications per applicant was 4.33.
- The median age of applicants was 22 years old, with 73% female and 26% male. Less than 1% declined to state gender.
- The ethnicity breakdown for applicants was 42% White, 31% 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. Four percent of applicants did not report a race.
- The average overall cumulative GPA for all applicants was 3.45.
For reports of the applicant pool, please review the OptomCAS Applicant Data Report – National Snapshot at optomcas.org. The report for 2024-2025 application cycle will be available in January 2026.
Prerequisites
Enrollment
Profiles of the Entering Classes
- At the schools and colleges of optometry in the United States, there were a total of 7,247 students enrolled in the full-time regular professional OD program during the 2024-2025 academic year, and another 167 enrolled in part-time, alternate and special programs leading to the OD degree.
- For the 2024-2025 academic year, 70.8% of the full-time student body was female and 29.2% was male. In addition, the full-time student body was 46.9% White, 30.5% Asian, 9.4% Hispanic or Latino, 4.1% Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 0.2% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 4.2% two or more races and 4.2% unknown.
- The average GPA of the 2025 entering class was 3.57.
Graduates
- In 2024, there were a total of 1,791 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 2.0% over the number of 2023 graduates. The number of Doctor of Optometry students who received OD degrees through only regular OD programs fell from 1,791 in 2023 to 1,748 in 2024, a decrease of 2.4%.
- Of the Doctor of Optometry students receiving OD degrees through both regular and special programs in 2024, 69.9% were female and 30.1% were male. In addition, 52.7% were White, 30.3% were Asian, 7.9% were Hispanic or Latino, 3.9% were Black or African American, 0.5% were American Indian or Alaskan Native, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 2.2% were two or more races and 2.5% were Unknown.
- For graduates of both regular and special OD programs in 2024, 91.1% had a permanent residence in the U.S. or U.S. territories, 8.0% in Canada and 0.9% in other countries.
