Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University

3.68 verified3.68 unverifiednot published checked, absentnot given not researchedWhat do these mean? ▾

3.68 Verified — official source: Published by ASCO or OptomCAS, the bodies that run optometry admissions and report board results. Board pass rates, class GPA and OAT averages, deadlines and letter requirements come from here. Click any underlined value to open the exact document it came from and check it yourself.
$31,746 Verified — the school’s own site: Read directly off the school’s website, then either accepted automatically because the wording was unambiguous, or approved by hand after a person read the surrounding sentence. Also clickable to the source page. These can go stale if a school updates a page and we haven’t re-crawled it yet.
Traditional Unverified estimate: Compiled by a student in a personal spreadsheet. No citation, no source link, and possibly wrong or out of date. These are a starting point for your own research, not a fact. Confirm with the school before you make any decision based on one. Where an official figure exists it always replaces these — so an unverified value means nobody has found a published source yet.
31,746 Calculated: Worked out from sourced figures rather than published as such. Year-1 direct cost is tuition plus mandatory fees, because no two schools break their costs up the same way and nothing else compares across them. The inputs are sourced; the arithmetic is ours.
not published Checked, genuinely absent: Someone opened the school’s own page and the figure is not there. This is a finding, not a gap — it means you can stop looking. Click it to open the page that was checked.
not given Not yet researched: Nobody has looked at this field for this school yet. Different from the one above: absence of research, not evidence of absence.

NBEO results — ASCO institutional report

Report year	Candidates	Part I	Part II	Part III	Ultimate	US Part I	Source
2024-2025	90	74.44%	93.33%	72.22%	93.33%	66.83%	PDF

Class profile — 2025 entering class

Class size

103

Applicants

not given

Interviewed

not given

Average GPA

3.54

Average science GPA

not given

Average OAT (AA)

343

Read from the school’s own page, 10 days ago.

Program

Public / private: Private, non-profit, independent
reviewed by hand
Accreditation status: Accredited (next ACOE site visit 2031)
reviewed by hand
Year established: 1904
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source

Class profile

Class size: 103
ASCO · 2025 entering class
Average GPA: 3.54
ASCO · 2025 entering class
Average science GPA: not given
Average OAT (AA): 343
ASCO · 2025 entering class
Profile year: 2025 entering class
ASCO · 2025 entering class

Admissions

Letters of recommendation: 2 letters — required: optometrist
OptomCAS
Interview style: Traditional
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Patient care hours required: Recommended
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Application deadline: 3/15/27
OptomCAS
Last OAT date accepted: 3/15/27
OptomCAS
Supplemental application: Required — fee $50, due 3/15/27
OptomCAS
Bachelor's required: Bachelor’s degree is recommended but not required.
OptomCAS
Other tests accepted: OAT preferred. DAT, MCAT are accepted.
OptomCAS

Cost

Year-1 direct cost: not given
Tuition — in-state: $55,380
reviewed by hand
Tuition — out-of-state: 55380
— private institution, single rate, no residency distinction
reviewed by hand
Cost of attendance / yr: not published
As a single total. Components: tuition 55380 plus student association fee 115; books/instruments/equipment/supplies/uniforms by year (10135 Y1, 2440 Y2, 90 Y3, 50 Y4); living 2150/month, personal 500/month, transportation 500/month; healthcare varies. Years 1-2 are 9 months, years 3-4 are 12 months.
Fees: 115
Annual Student Association Fee. This is the only mandatory annual fee published. Parking is 295 per year but is explicitly optional and is excluded here.
reviewed by hand
Average debt at graduation: $210,000
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Scholarships available: SCCO students receive more than 400000…
SCCO students receive more than 400000 annually in scholarships and awards funded by alumni and benefactors. MBKU also participates in the WICHE Student Exchange Program for applicants from AK, AZ, CO, HI, MT, NM, ND, UT and WY.
reviewed by hand

Boards & outcomes

NBEO Part I — first-time: 74.4%
ASCO · 2024-2025
NBEO Part II — first-time: 93.3%
ASCO · 2024-2025
NBEO Part III — first-time: 72.2%
ASCO · 2024-2025
NBEO ultimate pass rate: 93.3%
ASCO · 2024-2025
Average NBEO pass rate: 80%
ASCO · 2024-2025
Residency match rate: 80%
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Residency programs available: Yes
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Employment after graduation: 98%
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source

Clinical training

Clinic starts: 2nd year
2nd year — students see their first patient in clinic during the second quarter of the second year. BONUS FIELD, came free on the cost page.
reviewed by hand
Patient volume: High
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Specialty clinics offered: Vision Therapy, Low Vision, Pediatrics
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
VA / hospital rotations: Yes
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source

Curriculum

Problem-based learning: No
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Research opportunities: Clinical Research
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Dual degree options: OD/MS
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Faculty-to-student ratio: 10:1
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source

Location & life

Cost of living: High
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Housing availability: Off-campus
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source
Weather / climate: not given
Competitiveness vs collaboration: Collaborative
unverified — student spreadsheet, no source

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