Can I get a Texas optometry license without passing Part III?

If you were licensed in another state before 1994 and could not take Part III, yes, through the License without Examination. You still need NBEO Parts I, II and TMOD, five of the last seven years in therapeutic practice or teaching, and the Texas Jurisprudence Exam.

Can a Texas License without Examination applicant have failed Part III?

No. Texas says the process is not for a person who has taken and failed Part III. It serves optometrists who could not take Part III because they were licensed before it existed.

Do older graduates need extra coursework to license in a new state?

In some states. Oregon, Maine, Alabama and New York require added therapeutic or glaucoma training of earlier graduates, and Illinois requires extra training verification forms by graduation year.

Licensed Before Part III: Routes for Long-Practicing Optometrists

Q: Does New York accept NERCOATS?

Yes. New York accepts NBEO Parts I and II plus NERCOATS in place of Part III. New Jersey and Vermont also accept NERCOATS.

NBEO's three-part series is now so standard that most boards simply ask for Parts I, II and III plus TMOD. That is easy for anyone who graduated in the last few decades. It is a real problem for an optometrist licensed before Part III was offered, or who passed a regional clinical exam instead, or who trained before TMOD existed. Those optometrists are the ones endorsement was built for, and several boards still keep a route for them. Others offer nothing beyond the full series, so the order in which you approach states matters.

Which states kept a route for earlier licensees?

Texas: License without Examination

Texas requires Part III passed on or after June 1994 for its standard Acceptance Application. For optometrists licensed in another state before 1994 who could not take Part III, it offers the License without Examination ($305). The applicant must be currently licensed as a therapeutic optometrist in good standing elsewhere; have passed an exam equivalent or superior to Texas's at the time; have practiced therapeutic optometry, or taught full time at an accredited college of optometry or medicine, for at least five of the seven years before applying; have no pending discipline; and never have had a license suspended or revoked. Applicants still need passing scores on NBEO Parts I, II and TMOD, and the Texas Jurisprudence Exam. Texas is explicit that the process "is NOT for a person who has taken and failed Part III."

Two practical points. Each state where you have been licensed fills out a Texas verification form describing your initial and therapeutic licensure, so the board can judge equivalence. And the board approves these files at regular meetings, so the complete file must be in its office at least 30 days before the meeting. See Texas optometry licensing.

New York: endorsement for non-NBEO licensees

New York's endorsement "applies only to those applicants who were licensed without having taken the NBEO, Parts I, II and III or the NBEO Parts I and II and the NERCOATS examination." NYSED says that "for the most part, this is an option for applicants who graduated from a professional optometry program prior to 1969." Applicants need at least five years of practice following initial licensure within the 10 years before applying, and anyone who failed a licensing exam New York uses is not eligible unless they later passed a comparable one.

Indiana and Wisconsin

Indiana asks for an NBEO score report showing Parts I, II, III and TMOD, but applicants who never passed Part III, before 1994, send exam details from each state and get extra board review. Wisconsin's endorsement route needs five years of practice in another state and its law exam, and those who practiced five years before 1996 need only Parts I and II.

States that judge you by the exams of your era

Several boards ask for whatever was required when you were first licensed. Iowa wants results for all NBEO exams current at the time of initial licensure. Arkansas wants all NBEO parts that were required at graduation. South Carolina's endorsement route accepts the NBEO exam offered at the time of first licensure, or a TMOD pass. North Carolina, which has no endorsement route, says earlier candidates need every part offered when they tested, plus the ISE.

Does NERCOATS still count anywhere?

Yes, in three states. New York accepts NBEO Parts I and II plus NERCOATS in place of Part III, New Jersey's rules ask for Part III or NERCOATS, and Vermont accepts NERCOATS scores along with TMOD. Montana's endorsement route accepts Part III or an equivalent state exam.

Where will you need extra coursework?

Scope rules have moved since many experienced optometrists trained, and several states make earlier graduates catch up before licensing them at today's tier.

Oregon: applicants without Part III document an approved 100-hour course, and those who took TMOD before 2002 complete a board-approved AOT course first.
Maine: new licensees receive only the therapeutic advanced glaucoma license, and graduates before October 1996 need added glaucoma and pharmacology coursework.
Alabama: anyone licensed in any state before Oct. 1, 1994 needs a 72-hour board-approved therapeutics course for therapeutic licensure.
New York: graduates before Jan. 1, 1993 go through the SUNY College of Optometry for TPA certification, and graduates before Jan. 1, 1984 contact the board about DPA certification.
Illinois: requires extra training verification forms depending on graduation year: diagnostic, topical therapeutic and oral therapeutic forms before 1984, diagnostic and oral forms for 1984 to 1993, and the oral form for 1994 to 2007. Graduates from 2008 on need only the school's education form.
Texas: the Optometric Glaucoma Specialist certification is automatic only for graduates after May 2008; earlier graduates complete a 30-hour glaucoma course and exam to add it.

Which states offer no alternative to the full series?

Many. California's requirements list Parts I, II, III and TMOD, Connecticut wants all three components of Part III, and several other boards list the full series without describing an exception. Utah tells applicants missing a part to contact the board about other options, which is worth doing before assuming the answer is no. Where a board describes no route, the only sure path is the missing NBEO exam itself, which a licensed graduate of an accredited program can register for; see which NBEO parts each state asks to see.

How should an experienced optometrist sequence applications?

Inventory your exams. Which NBEO parts, NERCOATS or state exams you passed, and when. Order an NBEO score report for yourself if you are unsure.
Collect practice history. Dates of therapeutic practice and any full-time teaching, state by state.
Start where your record fits. Texas, New York, Indiana, Wisconsin and the era-based states first; full-series states later, if at all.
Prepare for comparison. Illinois endorsement applicants send a copy of the licensing acts and rules of their original state for the period they were licensed there. Texas compares your original exam with its own.

Our post on choosing between endorsement and NBEO scores and the guide to how states count years of practice cover the rest.

How do we help long-practicing optometrists?

The readiness review ($149) includes a pre-1994 screen: it maps the exams you passed against every target state's rule, flags coursework you would need, and ranks the states by how well your record fits. A license by endorsement or on NBEO scores is $699 per state, and a certification add-on such as a glaucoma or legend drug certificate is $249. You sign every application and attestation. See pricing.