# Illinois College of Optometry

> optometry school in Chicago

**Wikidata**: [Q5999410](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5999410)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_College_of_Optometry)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/illinois-college-of-optometry

## Summary
Illinois College of Optometry is a private optometry school located in Chicago, founded in 1955 through an amalgamation of previous institutions. It specializes in optometry education and training, with 531 students and 219 employees as of 2020.

## Key Facts
- Illinois College of Optometry was founded in 1955 through an amalgamation process that consolidated previous optometry schools.
- The institution is located at 3241 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60616-3878 with coordinates latitude 41.8348 and longitude -87.6233.
- As of September 2020, the college had 531 students and employed 219 faculty and staff members.
- Illinois College of Optometry has an endowment of $1,173,410 and total assets of $101,860,678 as of June 30, 2020.
- The college operates on an academic quarter calendar and is classified as a specialized health professions school focusing on optometry.
- It replaced previous institutions including the Northern Illinois College of Optometry and Chicago College of Optometry.
- The institution holds multiple identifiers including ISNI (0000000096814084), ROR ID (04pmaae27), and GRID ID (grid.417869.5).
- Illinois College of Optometry maintains membership in the Center for Research Libraries and has a SEVIS school ID of 10573.

## FAQs
### Q: What is Illinois College of Optometry known for?
A: Illinois College of Optometry is a specialized institution focused exclusively on optometry education and professional training. It prepares students for careers as optometric physicians through concentrated programs in vision care, eye disease management, and corrective lens prescription.

### Q: When was Illinois College of Optometry established?
A: Illinois College of Optometry was founded in 1955 through an amalgamation of previous optometry schools. This consolidation replaced earlier institutions including the Northern Illinois College of Optometry and Chicago College of Optometry, creating a dedicated optometry education center.

### Q: How many students attend Illinois College of Optometry?
A: As of September 2020, Illinois College of Optometry had 531 students enrolled in its programs. The institution also employed 219 faculty and staff members at that time, maintaining a student-to-faculty ratio of approximately 4:1.

### Q: What makes Illinois College of Optometry different from other medical schools?
A: Illinois College of Optometry specializes exclusively in optometry rather than offering a broad medical curriculum. It operates on an academic quarter calendar rather than semester scheduling and is classified as a "special focus four-year: other health professions schools" institution, concentrating specifically on optometric education without unrelated medical programs.

## Why It Matters
Illinois College of Optometry plays a crucial role in healthcare education by training specialized optometric professionals who provide essential vision care services. As one of the few dedicated optometry schools in the United States, it addresses the growing demand for qualified eye care practitioners who diagnose and treat vision disorders, prescribe corrective lenses, and manage eye diseases. The institution's specialized focus ensures graduates receive concentrated expertise in optometry rather than generalized medical education, making them highly skilled in their specific field. With its Chicago location, the college benefits from urban healthcare resources and diverse patient populations for clinical training, while its membership in the Center for Research Libraries demonstrates commitment to academic resources and research advancements in the field.

## Notable For
- Specialized exclusively on optometry education without offering unrelated medical programs
- Membership in the Center for Research Libraries, indicating commitment to academic resources
- Long history dating back to 1955 through multiple institutional mergers in the optometry field
- Distinctive quarter-based academic calendar system rather than traditional semester schedules
- Comprehensive student support with a 4:1 student-to-faculty ratio based on enrollment and employee data

## Body

### History
Illinois College of Optometry was established in 1955 through an amalgamation process that consolidated previous institutions in the field. The college replaced both the Northern Illinois College of Optometry and the Chicago College of Optometry, creating a stronger institution with focused resources dedicated to optometry education.

### Location and Contact Information
The college is physically located at 3241 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60616-3878. Its coordinates are latitude 41.8348 and longitude -87.6233. The institution uses postal code 60616-3878 for mailing purposes. For digital presence, Illinois College of Optometry maintains a website at http://www.ico.edu and offers a blog feed at https://www.ico.edu/blog-feed.xml.

### Institutional Profile
Illinois College of Optometry is classified as a private not-for-profit educational institution specializing in health professions. It operates under an academic quarter calendar system rather than semester-based scheduling. The college holds multiple Carnegie classifications including: special focus four-year institution for other health professions schools, exclusively graduate institution, postbaccalaureate single program institution, and exclusively graduate/professional institution.

### Student and Employee Statistics
As of September 2020, the college enrolled 531 students. The institution employed 219 faculty and staff members at the same point in time. The student-to-faculty ratio is approximately 4:1 based on these figures. Illinois College of Optometry has a SEVIS school ID of 10573 for international student tracking purposes.

### Financial Information
The institution reported an endowment of $1,173,410 as of June 30, 2020. Total assets for the same period amounted to $101,860,678. These financial resources support the college's operations, facilities, and educational programs.

### Research and Institutional Affiliations
Illinois College of Optometry maintains membership in the Center for Research Libraries, a consortium that provides access to specialized research collections. The institution has various unique identifiers including ISNI (0000000096814084), ROR ID (04pmaae27), VIAF ID (143122240), and GRID ID (grid.417869.5).

### Social Media Presence
The college maintains active social media profiles including:
- Twitter: @ICO_Optometry (established June 21, 2012)
- Instagram: @ico_optometry
- Facebook: IllinoisCollegeOfOptometry
- Quora topic: Illinois-College-of-Optometry

As of January 2021, the institution's preferred social media follower count was 3,265.

### Alumni Network
Graduates of Illinois College of Optometry are associated with the category "Category:Illinois College of Optometry alumni" in various systems, facilitating networking and professional connections among former students.

### Academic Classification and Data System IDs
The institution is assigned the following academic identifiers:
- IPEDS ID: 145628
- Scopus Affiliation ID: 60028461
- Microsoft Academic ID (discontinued): 4605
- Ringgold ID: 2419
- Library of Congress Authority ID: n84192876
- KISTI ID: K000207289
- Freebase ID: /m/09mrbc
- Crunchbase Organization ID: illinois-college-of-optometry
- Legal Entity Identifier: 549300JUJ3FOJLFZS440

## References

1. Global LEI Index
2. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
3. GRID Release 2017-01-10
4. [Source](https://web.archive.org/web/20231016073235/https://www.crl.edu/membership/members)
5. [Source](https://archive.org/details/illinoiscollegeofoptometry&tab=about)
6. Google Knowledge Graph
7. Freebase Data Dumps
8. [Source](http://www.ico.edu)
9. [Source](http://km.aifb.kit.edu/services/crunchbase/)
10. GRID Release 2015-12-14
11. GRID Release 2016-12-06
12. Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
13. Quora
14. Aligned ISNI and Ringgold identifiers for institutions
15. Microsoft Academic Knowledge Graph
16. OpenAlex
17. National Center for Education Statistics