Ninety-four percent of optometrists graduated with student loan debt, according to a May 2025 Women In Optometry Pop-up Poll. Although nearly one-third of the respondents said they carry no student loan debt right now, one-in-four said that their student loan debt tops $200,000.
Looking at graduates from 2015 and later, 87% said their student debt totaled $200,000 or more. Thirty-six percent of all respondents said that paying off their student debt took or is expected to take more than 20 years. In contrast, about 30% paid off their loans in less than 10 years or had no student debt.
Looking just at those who graduated in 2017 or later, 65% of these new grads said that their current student loan debt is more than $200,000. Nearly half of the respondents, 49%, said their student loan debt at graduation was between $200K and $300K, and 17% said it topped $300K.
Those numbers align with other groups tracking student loan debt. According to ODs on Finance, in its 2025 Optometrist Income Report, 65% had student loan debt of more than $200,000. The group says the average debt in their 2025 report was $228, 674.
Notably, these debts can take years to pay off. With student loan debt payments back on after the COVID-19 pause, some ODs are finding themselves with more debt now than when they graduated.
Among respondents who graduated before 2010, most have shaved tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars off their debt load. But among some more recent grads, especially those who graduated with high debt, their debt load is still very high.
COST OF EDUCATION
Optometry students are not the only ones with student loan debt, of course. According to Congress.gov, the aggregated student loan debt in the U.S. is $1.6 trillion, spread out among nearly 43 million students.
According to the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, the annual cost of optometry schools has risen dramatically over the past 20 years, as the chart below shows.
Average Direct Expenses for Optometry School
| 2006-2007 | 2014-2015 | 2024-2025 | |
| Public In-State | $19,399 | $28,400 | $37,519 |
| Public Nonresident | $33,733 | $44,422 | $53,14 |
| Private In-State | $24,991 | $36,337 | $49,203 |
| Private Nonresident | $27,560 | $37,623 | $49,220 |
Source: Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, 2025
FACTORS IN YOUR PAYMENT PLAN
The payback calculations on student loan debt can be weighed against several other considerations, showing that there is not one best answer for every new graduate. For example, how much financial flexibility the student needs immediately can help someone decide whether to pay down debt aggressively or apply just the minimum for a while.
Do you have outstanding unsecured debt that carries a higher interest charge than your student loan debt? If so, you might want to throw the extra money at those credit cards first.
Or do you need to build up your savings for an emergency fund or a big life event or a down payment on a house or practice purchase?
Even before you sit down with the calculators, it’s important to evaluate your other debts and where you’re going to need money. Two people can approach the same loan amount from two vastly different perspectives—and they can both be right. One OD may choose to pay down debt aggressively in case she wants to open a practice when the balance is zeroed out. Another may choose to pay the minimum on the student loan debt and take out business loans to start a practice right away.
VIEW THE 2025 GRADUATION PACKAGE HERE
READER RESPONSE
“My investments make more per year by far than the interest on my loans so I prioritize investing for the future and make minimum payments on my loans. I’m in the IDR program and plan to continue that way until eligible for balance forgiveness after 25 years.”
“I paid my debt off with the minimal monthly payment over 11 years. Current daily wage for an OD is about six times what it was when I graduated. My almost $50,000 would be comparable to almost $300,000 today. The difference these days seems to be the disproportional rise in the cost of housing.”
“I’m worried that graduating ODs won’t be able to afford buying my practice when I am ready to retire and that VCs will fill the void and kill the enjoyment of private practice for the future generations.”
“The period of time during and after the pandemic when the interest rate was zero was a huge driver for me in reducing my student loan debt by continuing to make payments above the monthly minimum. For years I have hoped that the country would adopt lower interest rates for student loans in general (rather than pursuing widespread loan forgiveness) to help people still pay off what they borrowed. But they’d be able to do so in a manageable way (and a way where progress on reducing the principal can be seen!) that won’t have such a limitation on major life events and purchases such as those mentioned above.”
“When I had loans, I tried to aggressively pay them off. I worked five jobs, having one day off every 21 days. Even now with having a practice, I feel as I am always scrounging as the cost of everything is going up but reimbursement is going down.”
REFINANCING
“I was paying aggressively until I had a 2.67% interest rate. Then I started to pay the minimum.”
“I refinanced and tried to pay off aggressively, increasing my monthly payments with each salary increase. I made my plan and stuck with it. They should be paid off at the end of the year, just shy of 10 years post-graduation.”
“PSLF was a lifesaver for me.”
A number of respondents also wrote that they were wary about the political impact on loan repayment.
RESOURCES
ODs on Finance dives deeply into financial issues that affect students and recent grads, as well as those at any stage of employment or considering starting or buying a practice. Here are some resources ODs on Finance provides:
The Optometrist’s Guide to Student Loans
The Optometrist’s Guide to Student Loan Refinancing
Also:
Calculate the different loan and repayment scenarios with this interactive tool from studentdoctor.net
