National Board Exam Pass Rates

The National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO) administers the national board exams for optometry. NBEO is an independent organization whose mission is to protect the public through assessing competency in optometry. The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) publishes first-time passage rates for students who have graduated.

Ultimate Pass Rate for Graduating Classes*
	UMSL Ultimate Pass Rate %	# UMSL Test Takers	National Ultimate Pass Rate %
Class of 2023	86	44	84
Class of 2022	95	37	88
Class of 2021	94	47	92
Class of 2020	96	46	92
Class of 2019	100	39	93

*Passed all parts of the NBEO exams by the summer of the year of graduation

First-time pass rate by test administration year

Part I - Applied Basic Science

Year	Date Range of Administrations	Test Administrations Included	#UMSL First Time Test Takers	UMSL First Time Pass Rate %
2024	9/1/2023-8/31/2024	March 2024	42	74
2023	9/1/2022-8/31/2023	March 2023 August 2023	41	73
2022	9/1/2021-8/31/2022	March 2022 August 2022	44	77
2021	9/1/2020-8/31/2021	March 2021 August 2021	38	84
2020	9/1/2019-8/31/2020	July 2020 November 2020 January 2021	47	83

Part II - Patient Assessment & Management

Year	Date Range of Administrations	Test Administrations Included	#UMSL First Time Test Takers	UMSL First Time Pass Rate %
2024	9/1/2023-8/31/2024	December 2023 April 2024	41	93
2023	9/1/2022-8/31/2023	December 2022 April 2023	44	86
2022	9/1/2021-8/31/2022	December 2021 April 2022	37	95
2021	9/1/2020-8/31/2021	December 2020 April 2021	47	89
2020	9/1/2019-8/31/2020	December 2019 July 2020	46	93

Part III - Clinical Skills Examination

Year	Date Range of Administrations	#UMSL First Time Test Takers	UMSL First Time Pass Rate %
2024	7/1/2023-6/30/2024	41	68
2023	7/1/2022-6/30/2023	44	61
2022	7/1/2021-6/30/2022	37	73
2021	8/1/2020-6/30/2021	47	85
2020	7/1/2019-7/31/2020	46	83

Last updated: 8/14/24

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National Board Exam Pass Rates

First-time pass rate by test administration year