UIW Rosenberg School of Optometry (San Antonio): Admissions, Tuition and Program Facts

Rosenberg School of Optometry (UIWRSO) is the Doctor of Optometry program of the University of the Incarnate Word, a Texas university.

ASCO's report classes UIWRSO as a private school, and its tuition is the same for Texas residents and non-residents.

ACOE, the recognized accreditor for OD programs, lists UIWRSO as "Accredited," with its next site visit scheduled for 2030, in its directory dated August 17, 2026.

That directory lists 26 programs: 24 in the US, including Puerto Rico, and 2 in Canada, with 22 holding the status "Accredited" and 2 US programs holding "Accredited with Conditions."

UIWRSO is one of two accredited OD programs in Texas, alongside the University of Houston College of Optometry.

A third Texas program, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Optometry in McAllen, held only ACOE Stage One designation as of July 27, 2026, a status that bars recruiting and enrolling students.

The 2025 entering class had 74 first-year matriculants against 68 first-year slots, per ASCO's Profile of the 2025 Entering Class.

ASCO counts 42 in-state students, 28 out-of-state students and 4 foreign students in that class, drawn from 14 states.

Everyone in the class held a bachelor's degree, and the class averaged a 3.36 GPA with OAT averages of 300 Academic Average and 280 Total Science.

For the full list of programs, see our guide to all optometry schools.

Applications go through OptomCAS.

For the 2026-27 cycle, which opened June 25, 2026, OptomCAS lists UIWRSO's application deadline as 5/1/27 and the last OAT date accepted as 5/1/27.

OptomCAS lists UIWRSO's bachelor's degree requirement as "No, but preferred," and it accepts MCAT and DAT scores alongside the OAT.

Every member of the 2025 entering class held a bachelor's degree regardless.

For 2025 entry, ASCO's applicant profile counts 437 verified OptomCAS applicants to UIWRSO and 190 admitted, which works out to roughly 43 percent.

That percentage is our arithmetic from ASCO's counts, not a rate ASCO publishes.

Admitted applicants averaged a 3.36 GPA, against 3.50 among all UIWRSO applicants.

On the OAT, admitted applicants averaged 300 Academic Average and 280 Total Science, against 310 and 300 for the applicant pool overall.

UIWRSO reported first-year OD tuition of $42,900 for 2025-26 to ASCO, the same for Texas residents and non-residents.

Tuition in later years differs, per ASCO's 2025-26 report:

ASCO's tuition figures are what the school reports, and they exclude fees, books and instruments.

OptomCAS tells applicants to check each school's website for current tuition and costs.

Debt is the other cost signal.

Among UIWRSO's 2024-25 graduates, 60 had optometric educational debt, 89.6 percent of graduates, and it averaged $252,267 per graduate with debt, or $225,911 averaged across all graduates.

ASCO's figures cover graduate optometric debt only and exclude undergraduate loans.

Nationally, the same ASCO report put average debt for 2024-25 OD graduates with debt at $209,280.

In that count, 1,340 graduates had debt, 78.6 percent of graduates reported.

UIWRSO's per-graduate-with-debt figure sits above that national average.

ASCO's residency listing for 2025-26 counts 10 residents in optometry residency programs affiliated with UIWRSO.

A residency is an optional year of post-OD clinical training; our optometry residency guide covers how programs and the Match work.

On the OD program's own clinical training, the sources behind this profile, ACOE's directory and ASCO's school reports, do not list UIWRSO's on-campus clinic, its externship sites or its fourth-year rotation network, so we can't describe them.

The school's own materials are the place to confirm where its students train and what the fourth year looks like.

NBEO's institutional report for October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025, posted by ASCO in February 2026, followed 63 UIWRSO graduates who attempted all three exam parts.

First-time pass rates were 52.38 percent on Part I (ABS), 79.37 percent on Part II (PAM) and 53.97 percent on Part III (PEPS), with 63.49 percent ultimately passing all three.

The national US figures in the same report were 66.83 percent on Part I, 87.96 percent on Part II and 70.09 percent on Part III, with an 82.49 percent ultimate pass rate.

Two caveats when reading that table.

NBEO's institutional rates count only graduates from the period who attempted all three parts at least once, and this window's UIWRSO cohort was 63 graduates, so one report year moves with a small group.

What each part covers is in our NBEO exams guide.

On employment, the sources behind this profile do not include a UIWRSO placement rate, so we can't quote one.

For where new ODs start, our associate optometrist guide covers first associate jobs after graduation.

Texas has two accredited OD programs: UIWRSO and the public University of Houston College of Optometry.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Optometry in McAllen held only ACOE Stage One designation as of July 27, 2026, which bars recruiting and enrolling students.

Both schools report to the same ASCO and NBEO datasets, so these rows compare like with like.

They are reported figures rather than a verdict, and the programs differ in size, funding model and tuition structure.

Costs and outcomes differ more.

Each row carries its report year.

A single report year of NBEO pass rates moves with each cohort.

ASCO's 2025-26 residency listing counted 9 residents in programs affiliated with Houston against 10 for UIWRSO.

Career information, not licensing, legal, medical, clinical, billing or coding advice. Confirm program details with UIWRSO, accreditation status with ACOE, exam rules with NBEO and application requirements with OptomCAS before you act on any figure here.