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AOA voices concerns over quality of new optometry schools

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A proposed optometric doctoral program at Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn., would bring the total number of planned optometric degree programs or those in development to more than 12, according to a press release from the American Optometric Association.

Tusculum announced the optometry doctoral program on its website in March and said it hopes to enroll its first students in 2020, pending approval, accreditation and certification.

The recently released National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) and Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) 2016-2017 academic year pass rates for the national licensing examination showed several programs lagging below 90%, according to the release from the AOA.

AOA President Christopher J. Quinn, OD, and the AOA Board of Trustees wrote to the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) about the ability of new schools to attract qualified faculty and students, “and to provide adequate clinical opportunities to students when so many programs are clustered in one, relatively lightly populated area.”

In January, Quinn and AOA’s Board of Trustees sent ACOE a previous letter expressing concern over the just-released NBEO and ASCO licensing examination results that showed seven schools’ pass rates at below 90%, with two less than 75%.

The letter underscored several ACOE Professional Optometric Degree (POD) Standards, including:

The ability of programs to ensure at least 80% of graduates pass all three parts of the NBEO exam or otherwise obtain a license within a reasonable time following initial matriculation.

The continued high quality of the student applicant pool and its ability to master the clinical competencies expected of the profession.

The ability to recruit qualified faculty.

ACOE’s POD Committee drafted proposed changes to the POD program standards that are available for public comment through June 6.

The AOA encourages interested optometrists to submit comments to ACOE on these proposed changes.

Optometrists can review proposed changes here. Comments may be sent via email to accredit@aoa.org,