2025 Best Optometry Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Ranked #17 in popularity, optometry is one of the most sought-after doctor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for optometry students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 355 doctor's degrees in optometry to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Optometry School for Your Doctor's Degree

The optometry doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to optometry students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of optometry students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized optometry related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for optometry students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The optometry school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Optometry Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Optometry in the Southeast Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for optometry students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Southeast Region Schools for a Doctorate in Optometry

1

Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

132 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Nova Southeastern University if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in optometry. Located in the large suburb of Fort Lauderdale, NUS Florida is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in optometry from Nova Southeastern University

2

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

40 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of Alabama at Birmingham if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in optometry. UAB is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Birmingham.More information about a doctorate in optometry from University of Alabama at Birmingham

3

University of Pikeville
Pikeville, KY

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

55 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a doctor's degree in optometry has to look into University of Pikeville. UPIKE is a small private not-for-profit university located in the remote town of Pikeville.More information about a doctorate in optometry from University of Pikeville

Best Optometry Colleges by State

Explore the best optometry colleges for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	217	107
Tennessee	150	134
Alabama	139	50
Kentucky	119	55

View All Rankings >

Optometry Related Rankings by Major

Optometry is one of 0 different types of Optometry programs to choose from.

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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.