2022 Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 1,666 people earned their degree in optometry, making the major the 193rd most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, optometry graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $83,824 and had an average of $167,326 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 242 optometry graduates with average earnings and debt of $76,600 and $174,370 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 242 optometry graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in optometry. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great optometry programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the optometry program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California.

Top 3 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Optometry in California

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#1 in overall quality

$29,347 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California list. UC Berkeley is located in Berkeley, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 66 doctorate’s optometry degrees to qualified students.

UC Berkeley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Berkeley are $29,347, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Optometry at University of California - Berkeley

#2

Western University of Health Sciences

Pomona, California

#3 in overall quality

$23,596 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western University of Health Sciences. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California. Western University of Health Sciences is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Pomona, California. It awarded 75 doctorate’s optometry degrees in 2019-2020.

Western University of Health Sciences did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Western University of Health Sciences are $23,596.

Read full report on Optometry at Western University of Health Sciences

#3

Marshall B Ketchum University

Fullerton, California

#2 in overall quality

$37,646 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Marshall B Ketchum University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Optometry Schools for a Doctorate in California list. Fullerton, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s optometry degrees to 101 students in 2019-2020.

MBKU also made our “Best Optometry Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. Average graduate tuition and fees at MBKU are $37,646, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Optometry at MBKU

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Optometry in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree 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

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees 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.

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