Best degree programs for Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 3 schools train Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $39,460 median wage, 18,660 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 3 schools train ophthalmic laboratory technicians, graduating 72 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician. The job pays a median of $39,460 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About ophthalmic laboratory technicians
Cut, grind, and polish eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other precision optical elements. Assemble and mount lenses into frames or process other optical elements. Includes precision lens polishers or grinders, centerer-edgers, and lens mounters.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.1006 | 72 | 100.0% | 3 | $49,401 | $19,848 |
Top 3 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hillsborough College Tampa, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 52 | Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician | 34% | — | — |
| 2 | Broward College Fort Lauderdale, FL Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician | 39% | — | — |
| 3 | Southwest University at El Paso El Paso, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician | 59% | $19,240 | — |
What ophthalmic laboratory technicians earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Mount and secure lens blanks or optical lenses in holding tools or chucks of cutting, polishing, grinding, or coating machines.
- Inspect lens blanks to detect flaws, verify smoothness of surface, and ensure thickness of coating on lenses.
- Set up machines to polish, bevel, edge, or grind lenses, flats, blanks, or other precision optical elements.
- Inspect, weigh, and measure mounted or unmounted lenses after completion to verify alignment and conformance to specifications, using precision instruments.
- Shape lenses appropriately so that they can be inserted into frames.
- Clean finished lenses and eyeglasses, using cloths and solvents.
- Mount, secure, and align finished lenses in frames or optical assemblies, using precision hand tools.
- Examine prescriptions, work orders, or broken or used eyeglasses to determine specifications for lenses, contact lenses, or other optical elements.
Skills
- Monitoring3.0
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Active Listening2.9
- Speaking2.9
- Writing2.8
- Active Learning2.8
- Learning Strategies2.5
Knowledge areas
- Production and Processing3.9
- Mechanical3.4
- Mathematics3.3
- Customer and Personal Service3.1
- Administration and Management3.0
- English Language3.0
Abilities
- Near Vision3.8
- Finger Dexterity3.6
- Arm-Hand Steadiness3.6
- Manual Dexterity3.5
- Control Precision3.5
- Deductive Reasoning3.4
Core activities
- Getting Information3.7
- Handling and Moving Objects3.4
- Controlling Machines and Processes3.4
- Working with Computers3.3
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge3.3
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings3.3
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.1006Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Ophthalmic Laboratory Technology/Technician, which awarded 72 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions. Together they graduate about 72 people a year.
How much do ophthalmic laboratory technicians earn?+
The median is $39,460 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $33,530 at the 10th percentile to $57,380 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for ophthalmic laboratory technicians growing?+
BLS projects a +2.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
3 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do ophthalmic laboratory technicians work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Optical Technician, Surfacing Technician, Lab Technician (Laboratory Technician), Optical Lab Technician (Optical Laboratory Technician) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-9083.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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