How to Become an Optometrist or Optician in Ohio

Licenses covered

• Optometrist (OD)
• Dispensing Optician

Vision Professionals Board by the numbers

These figures are ours, not the board's — we computed them from the full State of Ohio licence file so you can see this board in context rather than one record at a time. Data as of September 2026.

Only 29.7% of the 22,177 licences this board has on record are currently active — the other 70.3% belong to people who retired, moved, changed careers, or simply let a credential lapse. That gap is the single best reason to verify a licence rather than assume a name in a database means somebody may practise today.

Most common licence types

When a licence from this board is not active, the most common reason recorded is expired (9,767 records), followed by closed (2,955). Our status dictionary explains what each label actually means.

0.77% of this board's licences carry a recorded board action (171 of 22,177), against about 1.6% across all Ohio professions. A board action covers everything from an administrative consent agreement to revocation, and it is cumulative over a licence's whole life — see how we measured that before reading much into it.

Computed by OhioLicenseCheck from the State of Ohio eLicense dataset (issued licences only; application records excluded). Refreshed daily.

Why choose this path

• Optometry: doctoral prestige, six-figure pay, and regular business hours — rare in healthcare
• Practice-ownership and retail-partnership models both thrive in Ohio
• Opticianry offers a hands-on licensed career without a four-year degree
• Eye care demand grows mechanically with screen time and aging
• OSU’s optometry school keeps training and mentorship in-state

Path to the license

1. 1

   For optometry: complete pre-optometry + OAT

   Standard science prerequisites and the Optometry Admission Test lead to the four-year OD program.

2. 2

   Graduate and pass NBEO boards

   All three parts of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry exams are required for Ohio licensure.

3. 3

   For opticianry: train through a program or apprenticeship

   Complete an approved dispensing optician pathway and the applicable ABO/NCLE examinations, then apply for the Ohio license.

4. 4

   Apply via the Ohio Vision Professionals Board

   Background check and eLicense application; renew on the Board’s cycle with CE and set an expiry alert so patient schedules never hit a lapsed-license wall.

Pay and outlook

BLS puts the national optometrist median around $130,000; Ohio typically tracks slightly below with practice owners earning above it. Dispensing opticians nationally earn a median in the mid-$40,000s — an honest wage for a two-year investment, with retail management as a common step up.

Both occupations project steady growth. Confirm at the BLS links below.

Where Ohioans train

Schools listed are well-known examples, not endorsements — always compare accreditation, cost, and outcomes.

Official links & resources

• Ohio Vision Professionals Board (via eLicense)
• NBEO
• BLS Outlook: Optometrists
• BLS Outlook: Opticians