ASCO Annual Student Data Report Now Available

ASCO’s 2024-25 Annual Student Data Report was released in April 2025 and contains information on student enrollment, demographics, financial aid and graduates. Here are some highlights:

In fall 2024, there were, 7247 full-time OD students at the 24 U.S. schools and colleges of optometry with enrolled students, an increase of 0.4% from last year. There were an additional 167 students enrolled in part-time, alternate and special programs leading to the OD degree, up from 164 last year. The number of full-time first-year students increased 1.5%.
The percentage of female full-time students in the full-time professional OD programs rose slightly from 70.6% to 70.8%. Every school reported more full-time female students than male students.
The percentage of full-time Black or African American students fell to 4.1% from 4.3% last year. The percentage of full-time Hispanic or Latino students increased to 9.4% from 8.8%, while the percentage of full-time Asian students decreased to 30.5% from 31.3%. The percentage of White students decreased to 46.9% from 48.5%. The percentage of students classified as two or more races rose to 4.2% from 3.4%.
In 2024-2025, full-time and part-time students came from every state in the U.S. and from the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, from Canada and from 27 other foreign countries. More students resided in California than any other state, with the next largest group coming from Texas, followed by Canada.
The total number of graduates at the schools and colleges of optometry, from both regular and special programs, decreased 2.0% from 2023 to 2024, falling from 1827 to 1791, with 23 schools awarding degrees. 69.9% of graduates of the professional O.D. programs, both regular and special programs, were female, down from 71.2% in 2023.
The percentage of Black or African American graduates of regular and special programs decreased slightly from 4.0% in 2023 to 3.9% in 2024 while the percentage of Hispanic graduates fell from 8.1% to 7.9%. The percentage of Asian graduates decreased from 30.7% to 30.3%. The percentage of graduates classified as two or more races decreased from 2.5% to 2.2%. The percentage of White graduates increased from 50.2% to 52.7%.
In 2023-2024, the percentage of students receiving financial aid was 84.7%, down from 87.8% the previous year. The average award in 2023-2024 was $58,051, up from $54,155 in 2022-2023.

The complete Annual Student Data Report can be found on the ASCO website.