2023 Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Optometry is the 302nd most popular major in the country with 1,822 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the Southeast region, there were 346 optometry graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in optometry. That schools that top this list have a program in optometry in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for southeast region optometry students.

Top 4 Most Focused Colleges for Optometry in the Southeast Region

1

Southern College of Optometry
Memphis, Tennessee

$101,799 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern College of Optometry. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region list. Southern College of Optometry is a small school located in Memphis, Tennessee that handed out 134 ’s optometry degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Optometry at Southern College of Optometry

2

University of Pikeville
Pikeville, Kentucky

$39,949 Average Early-Career Earnings

$24,150 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Pikeville. The school came in at #2 for the Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region. Pikeville, Kentucky is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s optometry degrees to 55 students in 2020-2021.

Read more about Optometry at UPIKE

3

Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

$61,266 Average Early-Career Earnings

$26,749 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Nova Southeastern University. The school came in at #3 for the Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region. Nova Southeastern University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It awarded 107 ’s optometry degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Nova Southeastern University Optometry Report

4

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

$51,494 Average Early-Career Earnings

$26,329 Average Student Debt

Out of the 4 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Optometry Major in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Alabama at Birmingham landed the #4 spot on the list. University of Alabama at Birmingham is a large public school situated in Birmingham, Alabama. It awarded 50 ’s optometry degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full UAB Optometry Report

• Most Focused Colleges for Optometry

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.