The IU School of Optometry offers a two-year program leading to the Associate of Science (A.S.) degree in Optometric Technology/Opticianry. Students completing the program are qualified to begin careers as optometric technicians and/or opticians. This course of study offers an excellent entry point into one of the most interesting areas in the health care field.

The program takes four semesters to complete, if the student has not taken any previous college courses. The general, nontechnical courses, such as English composition, may be completed either before or after the technical courses. An additional option allows a student to become a laboratory optician by completing courses in lens surfacing and fabrication (Opticians’ Laboratory Concentration).

Accreditation

The Optician/Technician Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education and by the Commission on Opticianry Accreditation.

Mission and Goals

Programmatic Mission

To educate and train individuals to be optometric technicians and opticians.

Programmatic Goals

• Teaching: The overall goal for teaching is to develop a program recognized for excellence and innovation in opticianry and optometric technology.
• Clinics: To provide students with the clinical experience needed to develop competence in patient care by working with a diverse and varied patient population.
• Optical Teaching Laboratory: To provide students with the optical laboratory experience needed to develop competency in the fabrication of a diversity of spectacle lens prescriptions.
• Physical Plant: To provide students with a pleasant, environmentally safe learning environment that has both basic and state-of-the-art equipment in sufficient quantity to foster maximum learning.
• Student Administration: To enroll a full class of students with a diversity of backgrounds and assure that upon graduation they are appropriately prepared for and successfully placed within the ophthalmic marketplace.