What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Optometry
Optometry is tracked across 24 U.S. postsecondary institutions in the College Scorecard field-of-study file, which links CIP code classifications from IPEDS to Treasury earnings records. This profile covers the first professional credential level specifically, because the Department of Education reports program-level outcomes separately for associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral awards. The CIP (Classification of Instructional Programs) taxonomy lets analysts roll up specialties into broader families, which is why earnings medians across schools can be compared on a common basis.
Across all reporting institutions, the mean of school-level medians is $129,758, calculated from 18 schools with published earnings data. The earnings distribution stretches from $102,704 at the low end to $145,890 at the top, with a 25th-75th percentile band between $125,916 and $134,609 around a median of $130,333. The top-reporting institution in this program is University of Alabama at Birmingham at $145,890. These numbers reflect earnings measured roughly a year after completion, using Social Security Administration tax records linked to federal financial aid applicants.
Variation across schools matters more than a single national figure. Completers counts reported per school indicate how many graduates’ earnings feed the median, which means small programs produce more volatile numbers. Median debt at the program level, when paired with earnings, yields a debt-to-earnings ratio that is the College Scorecard’s standard affordability signal — ratios under 1.0 indicate earnings exceed cumulative debt. Use the school-by-school table to spot institutions where Optometry graduates out-earn peers at comparable cost, and to surface gainful-employment patterns that only become visible at the CIP-code level.
Illinois College of Optometry accounts for 11.8% of all Optometry first professional credential graduates
That concentration — well above the 5% national median for largest-entity share — means Optometry-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. That school produced 139 graduates in the most recent cohort, anchoring a meaningful slice of national supply for this field. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Optometry debt-to-earnings ratio is 1.45 — near the typical range (US average ~1) — aligned with the typical 1:1 ratio that defines federal gainful-employment thresholds
debt-to-earnings ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: this ratio uses federal loan principal, not all education debt — private loans, parent PLUS loans not in the borrower’s name, and institutional debt are excluded Variation between sub-units within Optometry is typically wider than the Optometry-aggregate figure suggests.
Optometry operates only 24 institutions offer this program — among the most consolidated governance structures in the country
Most Optometry institutions offer this program are specialty-program scarcity that concentrates national supply in a small set of institutions — graduates often command stronger employer attention because the talent pool is structurally narrower. Consolidation produces narrower variance because resources pool across larger populations, but it can also mask intra-institutions offer this program inequities — sub-institutions offer this program differences within a single institutions offer this program are not visible at this aggregation level. Consolidated systems typically rely more heavily on top-down funding formulas than on local revenue variability.
Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field of Study file. Median earnings represent graduates who received federal financial aid, drawn from U.S. Treasury tax records linked to federal student aid applicants. Completers count and debt figures reflect program-level data reported through IPEDS. Data is updated annually.