SUNY College of Optometry (New York): Admissions, Tuition and Program Facts

SUNY College of Optometry is the State University of New York's doctor of optometry program, and one of the nine public OD schools in ASCO's 2025-26 report — the others are Indiana, Ferris State, NSU Oklahoma, Ohio State, UAB, UC Berkeley, Houston and UMSL.

It is the only one of the nine in New York, and ACOE's directory lists no other accredited OD program in the state.

ACOE lists its professional OD program as 'Accredited', with the next site visit scheduled for 2028 in the accreditor's directory dated August 17, 2026.

The degree itself is a four-year program, per BLS, taken after at least three years of undergraduate study.

The 2025 entering class counted 96 first-year matriculants against 96 first-year slots.

Behind it sat an applicant pool of 467 verified OptomCAS applicants, of whom 141 were admitted — 53 in-state, 73 out-of-state and 15 foreign.

That works out to roughly 30% of applicants admitted, though the percentage is our arithmetic from ASCO's counts, not a rate SUNY publishes.

ASCO's enrollment figure for fall 2026 was not yet published when we researched this page.

First-year seats fill through OptomCAS, the shared application service all 25 US optometry schools participate in.

The 2026-27 cycle opened on June 25, 2026 and closes to all submissions on May 20, 2027.

For that cycle, OptomCAS lists SUNY's application deadline as 3/1/27, with a $40 supplemental fee due by the same date.

The last OAT date the school accepts is listed as 2/28/27, and the table shows GRE, MCAT, DAT and PCAT results accepted alongside the OAT.

On the test itself: OAT scores run from 200 to 400 in 10-point increments, and there is no official passing score — each program decides what it accepts.

On the degree: OptomCAS lists SUNY's bachelor's requirement as 'No, but highly recommended'.

In the 2025 entering class, 95% held a bachelor's, and BLS says optometry applicants need at least three years of undergraduate education but typically hold the degree.

ASCO's general prerequisites for most optometry programs include at least one year each of biology or zoology, general chemistry, general physics, English and college math, and applicants must check each school on AP and online credit.

ASCO's May 2026 chart also tracks school-specific requirements in calculus, anatomy, physiology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, statistics, psychology and shadowing; our parse of that chart could not reliably extract SUNY's row, so take the school's course list from its own admissions pages.

The numbers behind the 2025 class: applicants averaged a 3.46 overall GPA against 3.67 among admitted applicants, and a 320 OAT Academic Average among all applicants against 350 among the admitted.

The enrolled class averaged a 3.67 GPA, with OAT averages of 350 Academic Average and 350 Total Science.

SUNY reported first-year OD tuition of $32,200 for New York residents and $52,700 for non-residents for 2025-26, and ASCO's table repeats those two rates in its year 2-4 columns.

The figures exclude fees, books and instruments and are subject to change.

The non-resident rate is mostly a first-year rate.

ASCO's report notes that almost all out-of-state OD students at SUNY convert to in-state tuition before their second year, a conversion not available to non-US citizens.

Against the 2025-26 public-school averages — $31,531 in first-year resident tuition and $48,158 for non-residents — SUNY's resident rate sits close to its peers, while the first-year non-resident rate runs higher.

Debt is the other half of the cost question.

Among SUNY's 2024-25 graduates, 56.9% carried optometric educational debt, averaging $176,050 among those with debt and $100,107 across all graduates; undergraduate debt is excluded.

Nationally, 2024-25 graduates with debt averaged $209,280 and 78.6% of graduates had debt.

Federal borrowing rules changed for new students on July 1, 2026.

Professional-degree students can now borrow at most $50,000 a year in federal Direct Unsubsidized loans, with a $200,000 aggregate cap reduced by any prior graduate-school borrowing.

No new Grad PLUS loans are available except for students already enrolled as of June 30, 2026 who had a Direct Loan for their program, for their expected time to credential.

SUNY's $176,050 average for graduates with debt sits below that $200,000 cap — our comparison of two reported figures, noting the cap applies to borrowing under the new rules rather than to the graduates behind ASCO's averages.

Our research built this profile from ASCO, ACOE, NBEO and OptomCAS reporting, none of which lists SUNY's individual clinic sites or externship partners — the school's own site is the source for its clinic and placement details.

What the national numbers say about year four: US optometry schools reported 1,962 affiliated externship sites and 5,480 completed externships in 2024-25, with fourth-year OD students rotating through settings such as VA facilities, private practices, co-management centers, community health centers, military and IHS sites.

The VA puts student clinical training at more than 125 of its medical facilities and says about 70% of the 1,500-1,600 annual US graduates train at VHA facilities.

Residency is where SUNY's numbers are concrete: ASCO counted 38 residents in 2025-26 in optometry residency programs affiliated with the college.

Nationally, residencies are one-year, post-graduate programs that advance patient-care skills beyond entry-level practice, with a mean stipend of $50,539 and a median of $49,000 in 2025-26.

Seats are allocated through ORMatch.

In the 2026 match, 455 applicants participated and 356 matched — 78% — while 69% of the 518 positions offered filled in the Match.

For how that route works end to end — applications, ORMatch timing and what an extra year does for a new OD — see the optometry residency guide.

NBEO's institutional report for October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025 covers 99 SUNY graduates who attempted all three parts.

First-time pass rates were 67.68% on Part I (ABS), 91.92% on Part II (PAM) and 68.69% on Part III (PEPS), with 89.90% ultimately passing all three.

The national US figures for the same window were 66.83% on Part I, 87.96% on Part II and 70.09% on Part III, with 82.49% ultimately passing all three.

SUNY ran ahead of the national rate on Part I, Part II and the ultimate rate and just below it on Part III — with the caveat that a 99-graduate cohort moves a great deal with a handful of test takers.

Those exams are the National Board of Examiners in Optometry's; the NBEO exams guide covers what each part tests.

They are one input to licensure, and every state requires a license to practice, with each state board setting which exam parts it requires.

On jobs, our sources do not include a SUNY-specific employment or placement rate, so we will not guess at where the class landed.

What we can map is the destination itself: first associate jobs after graduation, and the optometrist openings on this board show which practices are hiring now.

Start with what the sources do not give you: nothing we read ranks optometry schools, so the table below is raw reported figures, not a rating.

On ACOE's August 17, 2026 directory, the accredited OD programs nearest New York are in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania: New England College of Optometry, MCPHS School of Optometry (Worcester) and the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Drexel University, the program formerly at Salus University.

All three hold 'Accredited' status, and all three are classed as private in ASCO's report, against SUNY's public pricing.

Read the columns as reported figures, all from the same reporting cycles so the rows are like-for-like: first-year 2025-26 tuition excluding fees, books and instruments; each school's 2025 entering-class averages; and NBEO ultimate pass rates behind cohorts of 99 (SUNY), 116 (NECO), 47 (MCPHS) and 130 (PCO/Drexel) graduates who attempted all three parts.

Debt differs too, among 2024-25 graduates: those with optometric educational debt averaged $176,050 at SUNY, $191,355 at NECO, $250,459 at MCPHS and $242,731 at PCO/Drexel.

The share of graduates carrying that debt was 56.9%, 75.4%, 72.0% and 76.3% respectively.

The structural difference is public versus private.

At SUNY, the $52,700 non-resident rate is what out-of-state students pay in year one: almost all convert to in-state tuition before their second year, and the conversion is not available to non-US citizens.

For the complete picture, our guide to all optometry schools lists every accredited program by state, with class size, GPA, OAT and tuition side by side.

Career information, not medical, licensing, billing or legal advice. Figures are as reported for their stated cycles; confirm current requirements with SUNY and OptomCAS, accreditation status with ACOE, exam rules with NBEO, and licensure with the state board where you plan to practice.