High Point University: Optometry School Receives Preliminary Accreditation
The university's new Doctor of Optometry program is cleared to admit its first students this summer following a review by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education.
By Leah Thompson ·
High Point University’s School of Optometry received preliminary accreditation from the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education on November 12, 2026. This approval allows the institution to begin recruiting, selecting, and admitting students for its Doctor of Optometry program, with the inaugural class scheduled to start this summer.
The council determined that the school is developing according to its established standards. The ACOE will now conduct annual reviews of the program. Full accreditation could be considered during the 2030-31 academic year, depending on the outcomes of these subsequent evaluations.
This milestone supports a $400 million academic expansion at the university. The growth has been funded partly by three historic gifts totaling $100 million from three families. The optometry school is the latest addition to the campus to reach an accreditation benchmark, joining recent achievements by the nursing, law, healthcare administration, and engineering schools.
Dr. Catherine Heyman, the founding dean of the School of Optometry, stated that the approval reflects the commitment of the university’s faculty and staff. She described the decision as a defining milestone that moves the program closer to its goal of training optometrists who combine clinical knowledge with patient care from their first year of study.
The university established the High Point Eye Institute to support the academic program. The clinic provides comprehensive care to patients of all ages, creating a diverse patient population for student training. It also serves to build the clinical infrastructure and community partnerships necessary for the long-term operation of the school.
The path to this approval involved a multi-year process. The university demonstrated the need for the program and assessed its feasibility and resources. The school then developed its curriculum, recruited leadership and faculty, and established clinical education opportunities and student support policies.
High Point University has seen a wave of recent accreditation successes across its academic departments. The Teresa B. Caine School of Nursing received national accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law earned provisional approval from the American Bar Association earlier in the year. The Master of Healthcare Administration program secured accreditation with a four-year term ending in spring 2030.
The Webb School of Engineering also saw its Bachelor of Science programs in computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. The Workman School of Dental Medicine, the state’s only private dental school, received its initial accreditation from the Commission on Dental Accreditation in 2023.
