Student success rates in Optometry Doctoral program

2017 White coat ceremony

Waterloo’s School of Optometry & Vision Science offers a professional, four-year Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree that is accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE),. The School is the only provider of English-language instruction for optometry in Canada (there is also a French-language school; the École d'Optométrie, Université de Montréal).

Our students enjoy a leading university that attracts award-winning professors along with some of the best and brightest students from around the world. Licensed ODs make up the body of expert faculty and clinic supervisors who provide an optimum mix of theoretical study and practical training.

Student graduation rates in Optometry

Standards for students and for teaching are set very high, but our graduation/attrition rates suggest that our students excel in this environment, as can be seen in the following table of recent graduations:

Year of graduation 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Year of entrance to program 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Graduated in 4 years 88 88 87 90 85 86 90
Graduated in 5 years or more 1 2 0 0 2 0 0
Graduated at any time 98% 98% 97% 100% 95% 96% 100%
Attrition for academic reasons 1 0 0 0 2 1 0
Attrition for other reasons 1 2 3 0 3 2 0
Completed all curricular requirements but did not meet other graduation requirements 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Still enrolled or on a leave of absence 0 0 0 0 2 1 0

Student test scores for registration exams

To complete their professional qualifications, after graduation, students must pass a registration exam. In Canada, this exam is administered by the Optometry Examining Board of Canada (OEBC), and some provinces accept the National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) exam. Graduates from our program are eligible for either set of registration exams and, depending on their plans, may opt to take one or both exams. The School of Optometry & Vision Science has a history of doing very well on these exams. Here are the most recent results for our students:

OEBC            
Written Assessment OSCE Assessment
Academic Year # Students Pass 1st Time (%) Ultimate Pass Rate (%) # Students Pass 1st Time (%) Ultimate Pass Rate (%)
2019-2020 88 100 100 84 90.5 100
2020-2021 73 93.2 100 72 84.7 100
2021-2022 68 94.1 100 69 84.1 98.6
OEBC      
Academic Year # Students Graduated # Students Challenging Written & OSCE Assessment Ultimate Pass in Both Assessments
2019-2020 91 87 95%
2020-2021 87 72 99%
2021-2022 90 69 97%
NBEO                  
  ABS Assessment PAM Assessment CSE Assessment
Academic Year # Students Pass 1st Time (%) Ultimate Pass Rate (%) # Students Pass 1st Time (%) Ultimate Pass Rate (%) # Students Pass 1st Time (%) Ultimate Pass Rate (%)
2019-2020 11 100 100 15 93.3 100 9 88.9 100
2020-2021 34 97.1 97.1 19 89.5 89.5 19 73.7 94.4
2021-2022 27 88.9 96.2 25 96.0 100.0 31 64.5 95
NBEO      
Academic Year # Students Graduated # Students Challenging ABS, PAM & CSE Assessments Ultimate Pass in All Three Assessments
2019-2020 91 11 91%
2020-2021 87 16 94%
2021-2022 90 19 100%