Private nonprofit

Southern College of Optometry

Name: Southern College of Optometry — Federal Education Data
Creator: Clema
Published: 2026-07-30
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Memphis, Tennessee·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·Southeast·sco.edu

Total enrollment

530

peer median 494

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Program outcomes Accreditation Federal aid Loan defaults Academic programs Enrollment trends Campus safety Peers

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

FVT/GE

Of 1 Title IV programs, 1 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail.

Total programs

Passing

100.0% of portfolio

Failing (GE)

0.0% of portfolio

Fail rate

0.0%

-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

1programs

Passing1 · 100.0%
No Data0 · 0.0%
Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical

Severe

Recoverable

At Risk

Watch

Safe

No data

Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.

Earnings premium gap

Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.

Program

Typical

Benchmark

EP gap

Optometry

Doctoral Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences

$133,907

$51,545

Same-State BA Median

+159.8%

+$82,362

Optometry

Doctoral Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences

+159.8%

$133,907 vs $51,545

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

Program

Median debt

Median earnings

Debt burden

Optometry

Doctoral Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences

$149,682

$133,907

112%

Optometry

Doctoral Degree · Health Professions And Related Clinical Sciences

112%

$149,682 debt · $133,907 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

DAPIP

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges

Accredited since 1967Next review Jun 2029

Programmatic accreditations · 7

Action history · 9

Jul 2025Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary Withdrawal
American Optometric Association, Accreditation Council on Optometric Education · Optometry (OPTR) - Residency programs
Jul 2025Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary Withdrawal
American Optometric Association, Accreditation Council on Optometric Education · Optometry (OPTR) - Residency programs
Dec 2023Renewal of Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Apr 2021Renewal of Accreditation
American Optometric Association, Accreditation Council on Optometric Education · Optometry (OPT) - Professional degree programs
Jul 2020Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary Withdrawal
American Optometric Association, Accreditation Council on Optometric Education · Optometry (OPTR) - Residency programs

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

Federal Student Aid

In AY 2024–25, students received in Pell grants, alongside $17.5M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients

—

AY 2024–25

Pell disbursed

—

null total

Direct Loans

$17.5M

431 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

’20

’21

’22

’23

’24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Unsubsidized · Grad$14.8M

294 loan awards

Grad PLUS$2.7M

137 loan awards

Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Cohort Default Rate

Of 105 borrowers who entered repayment, 0 (0.0%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate

0.0%

-2.3pp vs 2.3% national

Borrowers in repayment

105

Defaulted

Measurement window

3 years

Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016

0.0%-9.3

2017

0.0%-9.2

2018

0.0%-7.0

2019

0.0%-2.3

2020*

0.0%

This institutionNational rate

* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Southern College of Optometry

Top program areas ranked by completions.

IPEDS

Distinct CIP programs1

UndergraduateOffered

GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

126 total completions

01Health Professions

126100.0%

01Health Professions

126100.0%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

IPEDS

Fall total

530

12-mo unduplicated

532

Gender split

Men

33%173

Women

67%359

Campus safety & crime statistics

Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.

Clery Act

Criminal offenses · per 1,000 students

3.81

2 offenses · 525 students

3-year trend

18.622 yrs ago5.641 yr ago3.81Latest

Offenses · 3-yr

Last three years

VAWA · 3-yr

DV, dating, stalking

Hate crimes · 3-yr

Res-hall fires · 3-yr

Criminal offenses by type

Motor vehicle theft

By location

2total

On campus2

VAWA offenses

Domestic violence

Dating violence

Stalking

0 total under the Violence Against Women Act.

Hate crimes by bias

No hate crimes reported.

Arrests vs disciplinary referrals

CategoryArrestsReferrals

Weapons00

Drugs00

Liquor00

Residence-hall fires

No residence-hall fires reported.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Southern College of Optometry vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Southern College of Optometry selected for federal comparison reporting.

IPEDS

This institutionPeer median

A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.

					Carnegie
SubjectSouthern College of Optometry	—	—	530	—	—
Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia Inc	—	—	319	—	—
Richmont Graduate University	—	—	329	—	—
Baptist Health Sciences University	38%	82.0%	891	$11,212	—
Virginia University of Integrative Medicine	—	—	457	—	—
Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing	—	—	591	$18,593	—
Peer group median	38%	82.0%	494	$14,903

Institutions like Southern College of Optometry

Explore the federal data for institutions in Southern College of Optometry's comparison group.

IPEDS

Frequently asked questions about Southern College of Optometry

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Southern College of Optometry.

How many students attend Southern College of Optometry?

Southern College of Optometry reports a total enrollment of 530 students per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Southern College of Optometry located?

Southern College of Optometry is located in Memphis, Tennessee 38104-2211.

About the data on this page

Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.

IPEDS2025 provisional data (Fall 2025–26 release, July 28, 2026)

Enrollment, completions, graduation rates, tuition, financial aid, staffing, and finance for every U.S. institution in federal student aid programs.

National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education

College ScorecardJune 10, 2026 release (merged 2025–26 files)

Institution and field-of-study costs, graduate earnings, debt, completion, and admissions outcomes compiled from federal aid records, tax data, and IPEDS.

U.S. Department of Education

FVT/GE program performanceProvisional preview, May 18, 2026 release

Program-level debt-to-earnings and earnings-premium measures behind the FVT/GE and STATS accountability frameworks.

U.S. Department of Education

DAPIP accreditationContinuously refreshed

Accreditation status for institutions and programs, reported by recognized accrediting agencies.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education

Federal Pell Grant volumeAY 2025–26 (through Q3), through March 31, 2026

Pell Grant recipient counts, award amounts, and disbursements by institution and award year.

U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid

Federal student loan volumeAY 2025–26 (through Q3), through March 31, 2026

Federal Direct Loan recipient counts and disbursement volume by institution and award year.