Southern College of Optometry is a private, nonprofit institution in Tennessee. Of the 3 inspection checks that could be evaluated, 3 are flagged: Revenue to Expenses, Endowment, and Tuition Allocation. This report benchmarks Southern College of Optometry's most recent reported year (2024) against 2,000+ U.S. colleges across three dimensions: student outcomes, financial health, and value for money. All figures are drawn from federal IPEDS filings and are reported without editorial judgment.
Southern College of Optometry Inspection Flags
Inspection flags are nine independent checks across student outcomes, financial health, and cost-to-value that surface areas of a college's reported numbers worth a closer look. A triggered flag means the college's data met a specific threshold that students and families may want to ask about — for example, graduation rates slipping below a level, or tuition rising while outcomes decline. A clear flag means the threshold was not met. Flags are signals for further conversation, not verdicts.
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Student Outcomes
How students at Southern College of Optometry complete their degrees, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
College Financial Health
How financially stable Southern College of Optometry is, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
Value for Your Money
How Southern College of Optometry spends its budget and what families pay, benchmarked against U.S. four-year colleges.
How Much Will This Cost for Your Income Level?
Net price is the average annual out-of-pocket cost for first-time, full-time undergraduate students — tuition + fees + room & board, minus the grants and scholarships the institution reports providing to students in each income bracket. Select your household income below to see the reported figure for that group.
Southern College of Optometry — All Reported Indicators
Plain-text reference table of every metric and inspection flag for Southern College of Optometry. Values reflect IPEDS-reported figures; percent changes reflect endpoint-to-endpoint 2020 → 2024 comparison; percentiles reflect 2024 national rank against four-year public and private nonprofit institutions. Cells marked "not reported" indicate the indicator was not present in IPEDS for this institution.
Student Outcomes
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-Year Graduation Rate | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Six-Year Graduation Rate | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Full-Time Retention Rate | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Pell Grant Six-Year Graduation Rate | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Pell-to-Non-Pell Graduation Gap | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Pell Share of Cohort | not reported | not reported | not reported |
Financial Health
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue-to-Expense Ratio | 0.94× | -3.1% | 14th |
| Total FTE Enrollment | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Endowment Value | $36.0M | +52.9% | 41st |
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $73.9M | -12.8% | 44th |
Value for Money
| Metric | 2024 Value | 5-Yr % Change | National Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instructional Spending % | 45.5% | +3.3% | 87th |
| Student Support Spending % | 3.7% | -5.9% | 10th |
| Administrative Spending % | 19.2% | +22.9% | 54th |
| Instruction+Support to Admin Ratio | 2.56× | -16.6% | 44th |
| Average Net Price | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $0-30K Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $30K-48K Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $48-75K Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $75K-110K Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Net Price: $110K+ Income | not reported | not reported | not reported |
Inspection Flags
| Flag | Section | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Retention Below 80% Not enough reported data for this flag — only 0 of 5 years available. | Student Outcomes | Not Evaluated |
| Four-Year Graduation Rate Below 50% Not enough reported data for this flag — only 0 of 5 years available. | Student Outcomes | Not Evaluated |
| Pell Gap Exceeds 10 Points Not enough reported data for this flag — only 0 of 5 years had a Pell cohort of 50+ students. | Student Outcomes | Not Evaluated |
| Revenue-to-Expense Below 1.0 Southern College of Optometry's revenue-to-expense ratio fell below 1.0 in 3 of 4 reported years — triggering the 3-of-5 threshold. 2024: 0.94×. | Financial Health | Triggered |
| Enrollment Declined 5% or More Total enrollment was not reported for 2020 or 2024, so this flag could not be evaluated. | Financial Health | Not Evaluated |
| Endowment Under $50M or Growth Under 15% Southern College of Optometry's endowment is $36.0M, under the $50 million threshold. A smaller endowment leaves less cushion for scholarships and for tough budget years, even though it grew +52.9% over the period. | Financial Health | Triggered |
| High Cost, Low Completion Either net price or 6-year graduation rate is not reported, so this flag could not be evaluated. | Value for Money | Not Evaluated |
| Spending on Students Below the National Median Southern College of Optometry spends $2.56 on instruction and student support per $1 of admin (2024) — below the national median of $2.75 in 3 of 4 reported years. | Value for Money | Triggered |
| Rising Price, Falling Outcomes Endpoint data missing for either net price or graduation rate — flag could not be evaluated. | Value for Money | Not Evaluated |