ASCO recently completed its annual Faculty Data, Research Funding and Student Data reports. According to the Faculty Data Report for Academic Year 2013-2014, the total number of 1.0 FTE faculty at the 21 ASCO member institutions increased 1.6% compared with the previous year, from 682 to 693. In addition, 49.5% of 1.0 FTE faculty members are male and 50.5% are female. The number of male 1.0 FTE faculty members increased 1.5%, and the number of 1.0 FTE female faculty members increased 1.7%. The report was made available to the deans and presidents of ASCO’s member schools and colleges in February. More information, including ethnicity by academic rank and gender, degrees earned by academic rank and gender, recruitment sources, and percentage of full-time salary contributed for a standard employee benefits package, can be found here.
The 2012-2013 Research Funding Report, which was distributed to the ASCO Board of Directors in February, shows that the amount of externally funded research at ASCO member institutions during the report period (Oct. 1, 2012 – Sept. 30, 2013) exceeded $48.9 million. The National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was the single largest funding source, providing more than $26 million. Other major funding sources (excluding industry) were NASA, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation and other institutes of the NIH. The report includes research facilities information, a list of research funding by school, NEI funding by school and top funding sources. A list of the top funding sources can be found here.
The Student Data Report for Academic Year 2013-2014 indicates that the total number of full-time students enrolled in the 21 Doctor of Optometry degree programs in the 50 states and Puerto Rico is 6,676, an increase of 1.8% compared with last year and 19.3% compared with enrollment at the 17 member schools in 2008-2009. The number of full-time first-year students increased by 3.3% over last year and by 22.3% over the past five years. Only one school reported more full-time male students than female students. The report also notes that the total number of graduates from the schools and colleges of optometry, both regular and special programs, increased 11.6% from 2012 (1,404) to 2013 (1,567).
Also in 2013-2014, the average tuition for a first-year resident student enrolled in the professional O.D. program is $20,532 at a public school and $32,035 at a private school. The cost for all direct expenses (tuition, fees, books and instruments) for a first-year resident student is $27,867 for a public school and $37,579 for a private school. First-year non-residents are paying an average of $37,644 for tuition and $44,978 for all direct expenses at a public school, and $33,149 for tuition and $38,693 for all direct expenses at a private school.
The full Annual Student Data Report, which includes several more categories of information, was made available to the deans and presidents of member schools and colleges in April and can be found here.