When it comes to popularity, optometry sits in the middle of the road, ranking #194 out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Optometry Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 256 degrees in optometry to qualified students.
Your choice of optometry school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for optometry schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Optometry Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the optometry degrees they offer, see the list below.
University of California - Berkeley is a good choice for students interested in a degree in optometry. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.
There were about 83 optometry students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the optometry program report average early career earnings of $74,750.
Western University of Health Sciences is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in optometry. Located in the suburb of Pomona, Western University of Health Sciences is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
There were roughly 75 optometry students who graduated with this degree at Western University of Health Sciences in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the optometry program report average early career income of $71,526.
Marshall B Ketchum University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in optometry. MBKU is a fairly small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Fullerton.
There were approximately 98 optometry students who graduated with this degree at MBKU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the optometry program report average early career income of $72,885.
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).
college factual
Your choice of optometry school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for optometry schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
