Optics/Optical Sciences Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Optics/Optical Sciences maps to BLS occupations averaging about $111,866, with roughly 211,810 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $10,104; common paths include Biological Scientists, All Other and Soil and Plant Scientists.
Key Statistics
Optics/Optical Sciences: what the data shows
Common questions about optics/optical sciences degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a optics/optical sciences degree?
A Optics/Optical Sciences program is classified under NCES CIP 40.0807 in the Physics field family (40.08).
A program that focuses on the scientific study of light energy, including its structure, properties and behavior under different conditions. Includes instruction in wave theory, wave mechanics, electromagnetic theory, physical optics, geometric optics, quantum theory of light, photon detecting, laser theory, wall and beam properties, chaotic light, non-linear optics, harmonic generation, optical systems theory, and applications to engineering problems
IPEDS counted 45 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of optics/optical sciences degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 40.08 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Acoustics (CIP 40.0809)
- Atomic/Molecular Physics (CIP 40.0802)
- Condensed Matter and Materials Physics (CIP 40.0808)
- Elementary Particle Physics (CIP 40.0804)
- Nuclear Physics (CIP 40.0806)
- Physics, General (CIP 40.0801)
- Plasma and High-Temperature Physics (CIP 40.0805)
- Theoretical and Mathematical Physics (CIP 40.0810)
How long does it take to get a optics/optical sciences degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 40.0807 in our file:
- 45 Bachelor's (27.3% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 120 Master's (72.7% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Biological Scientists, All Other (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a optics/optical sciences degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Optics/Optical Sciences to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Biological Scientists, All Other | 59,710 | $93,330 |
| Soil and Plant Scientists | 16,600 | $71,410 |
| Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health | 84,930 | $80,060 |
| Conservation Scientists | 25,590 | $67,950 |
| Animal Scientists | 2,470 | $79,120 |
| Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers | 22,510 | $99,240 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a optics/optical sciences degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Physics bachelor's program family: median debt $41,101, median earnings $76,786 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.89.
About 9.1% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $10,104 and median net price is $17,716.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Optics/Optical Sciences and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$10,104 Median In-State Public
$53,350 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Optics/Optical Sciences majors are, on average, $10,104 for in-state public colleges, and $53,350 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Optics/Optical Sciences programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Optics/Optical Sciences from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Optics/Optical Sciences.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 3 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 4 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,615 |
| 5 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,615 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Optics/Optical Sciences programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 2 | Compton College | CA | $1,142 |
| 3 | El Camino Community College District | CA | $1,144 |
| 4 | San Diego City College | CA | $1,146 |
| 5 | San Diego Mesa College | CA | $1,146 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Optics/Optical Sciences programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 3 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 4 | Imperial Valley College | CA | $1,115 |
| 5 | Skyline College | CA | $1,738 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Optics/Optical Sciences programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Optics/Optical Sciences programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Optics/Optical Sciences is in AZ (28 completions). That state represents about 62.2% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is AZ (0.02% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| AZ | 28 | 62.2% | 0.02% |
| NY | 13 | 28.9% | 0.01% |
| MA | 4 | 8.9% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 40.08 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Acoustics CIP 40.0809
- Atomic/Molecular Physics CIP 40.0802
- Condensed Matter and Materials Physics CIP 40.0808
- Elementary Particle Physics CIP 40.0804
- Nuclear Physics CIP 40.0806
- Physics, General CIP 40.0801
- Plasma and High-Temperature Physics CIP 40.0805
- Theoretical and Mathematical Physics CIP 40.0810
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 40.0807 in the survey year used in our extract (165 total across levels below).
- 45 Bachelor's (27.3% of IPEDS total)
- 120 Master's (72.7% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $111,866. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Optics/Optical Sciences graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Biological Scientists, All Other | $124,288 | 59,710 |
| Soil and Plant Scientists | $94,151 | 16,600 |
| Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health | $110,339 | 84,930 |
| Conservation Scientists | $90,227 | 25,590 |
| Animal Scientists | — | 2,470 |
| Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers | $122,337 | 22,510 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Physics CIP family (12 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Optics/Optical Sciences graduate.
- $41,101 median federal loan debt among completers
- $76,786 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.89 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 9.1% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$111,866 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Optics/Optical Sciences majors is $111,866.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Optics/Optical Sciences majors.
Occupations by Share
211,810 2023 Workforce
The number of Optics/Optical Sciences graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Optics/Optical Sciences by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Optics/Optical Sciences in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Optics/Optical Sciences.
Age distribution for Optics/Optical Sciences degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
45 Total Degrees Awarded
35 Male (77.78%)
10 Female (22.22%)
Gender distribution of Optics/Optical Sciences degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
27 White (60.00%)
4 Hispanic or Latino (8.89%)
3 Asian (6.67%)
2 Two or More Races (4.44%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Optics/Optical Sciences degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Optics/Optical Sciences are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Optics/Optical Sciences.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Optics/Optical Sciences field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Optics/Optical Sciences majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Optics/Optical Sciences majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Optics/Optical Sciences majors.
About
A program that focuses on the scientific study of light energy, including its structure, properties and behavior under different conditions. Includes instruction in wave theory, wave mechanics, electromagnetic theory, physical optics, geometric optics, quantum theory of light, photon detecting, laser theory, wall and beam properties, chaotic light, non-linear optics, harmonic generation, optical systems theory, and applications to engineering problems
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Optics/Optical Sciences.
CIP Code
40.0807 - Optics/Optical Sciences
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $41,101 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $76,786, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.89. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Optics/Optical Sciences graduate.
About 9.1% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians. That is a program-level mobility signal, not a national underemployment rate.
Men earned 24.1% of 249 Optics/Optical Sciences completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $111,866. The largest mapped role by headcount is Biological Scientists, All Other (59,710 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $10,104 in-state at public colleges and $53,350 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.