Your First Optometry License Outside Your School's State

ASCO's 2025-26 Annual Student Data Report counts 1,712 optometry graduates in 2025, from 23 schools. Many of them take a first job in a state other than the one where they trained, and each needs at least one license before the first patient. The first license is also the easiest one you will ever get: your NBEO scores are fresh, your school records are a phone call away and no board will ask about years of practice. The trick is matching the state's calendar to your start date.

Where should your free NBEO score reports go?

During exam registration, NBEO lets each candidate name up to five states to receive score reports at no charge, and releases them automatically once you complete each state board's licensure requirements. If you named fewer than five, you can name another within one year of graduation by emailing the NBEO registrar. After that, and for any report beyond five, you buy it. Boards want reports straight from NBEO; New York, for one, does not accept student copies.

Use the five well: the state of your first job, any state where you might take a second job or relief work, and a state you might move to within a few years. More in sending NBEO score reports to a new board.

Which states license a new graduate on NBEO scores alone?

Many. These boards license on a complete NBEO record plus their own paperwork, with no years of practice and no state clinical exam:

• Texas: Parts I, II and III and TMOD, the Texas Jurisprudence Exam through NBEO's online system, fingerprints, an NPDB self-query, CPR or BLS and a 2-hour controlled substance course. The $205 Acceptance Application can be filed in your last semester. Graduates after 2008 also apply for Optometric Glaucoma Specialist certification at the same time.
• California: pass the California Laws and Regulations Exam (CLRE) first, then file Part 2 with NBEO scores and certifications. The board says not to file Part 2 before graduation; early filings wait in the general queue.
• New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Oregon, Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana and others follow the same pattern, with their own law exam, coursework or certifications. New York adds child abuse and infection control coursework; Minnesota's NBEO scores are released only after NBEO receives your final transcript.

See states that license without years of practice for the full list.

Which states run on an exam calendar?

A few states license only through their own exam, and missing the date costs months:

• Oklahoma licenses only through its State Board Exams, given once a year in July, with online registration opening in April and documents and fingerprint cards due in mid-June. Candidates need NBEO Parts I and II and TMOD, and must have passed the Laser Therapy for the Anterior Segment course at Northeastern State University or be an NSU graduate. See Oklahoma's once-a-year board exam.
• North Carolina has no endorsement route and examines twice a year (2027: Feb. 18 to 21 and Aug. 20 to 23). Applications are due 60 days before the exam, files must be complete 30 days before, and the fee is $1,000. Working in North Carolina before licensure, as anything other than a technician, needs an intern permit.
• Alabama gives its Standard Examination once a year in July, with the notarized application and $500 fee due at least 30 days ahead. New graduates may be able to get a temporary license, and Part III may be passed after the state exam but before full licensure.
• New Mexico holds its jurisprudence and clinical practicum exam once a year (July 18 in 2026).
• Mississippi gives its jurisprudence exam only in January and July, and Louisiana holds its licensing exam once a year in July.

If your job is in one of these states, work backward from the exam date before you sign a start date.

How long do NBEO scores stay usable?

Longer than you need for a first license, but the clocks are real for later moves. Vermont says scores must be used within three years of passing, Alaska's exam route wants them within four years, Kentucky's standard application within five and Arizona's regular application within 10. After those windows, experienced optometrists use endorsement routes that count years of practice instead; see endorsement or NBEO scores. Oregon also asks applicants who graduated more than 12 months earlier to upload proof of CE.

Does your graduation year change what you can do later?

More than graduates expect. Texas qualifies every graduate after 2008 for glaucoma certification. South Dakota requires the LSPE of graduates after July 1, 2024 who want to add advanced procedures, and West Virginia requires graduates after May 1, 2025 to have the LSPE or a postgraduate laser course. Vermont's 2028 advanced procedures specialty exempts graduates from 2019 on from its 32-hour course. If you took the ISE or LSPE in school, keep those score reports with your NBEO record; see ISE and LSPE requirements.

What should you do in your last semester?

1. Confirm the job's state and its route. NBEO scores, CLRE first, or an exam calendar.
2. Name your five free score report states at NBEO registration.
3. Book the law exam. Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and West Virginia give theirs through NBEO's Online State Law Exam. See NBEO's Online State Law Exam.
4. Start fingerprints early. Minnesota says its background check can add three to four weeks; California sends out-of-state applicants fingerprint hard cards by mail.
5. Ask your school for transcripts to be sent directly; Wisconsin, for one, will not accept documents from the candidate.
6. Plan DEA after the license. A DEA registration needs a practice address in the state and, in Illinois and a few others, a state controlled substance license first. See DEA registration.
7. Put the first renewal on your calendar. California exempts licensees issued within a year of graduation from CE for the first renewal, and Ohio requires no CE for the first renewal, but the renewal itself still comes due.

Is a second license worth getting now?

Sometimes. If you expect to move or work in two states within a few years, a second license on fresh NBEO scores is simpler now than by endorsement later, when some states will count your years of practice and ask for verifications from every state you have held. Weigh that against the renewal fees and CE for a license you may not use; see keeping several renewals on one calendar.

How can we help a new graduate?

The Optometry Licensing Readiness Review ($149, credited in full toward a first application) maps your NBEO record, graduation year and job start date against the target state's route and calendar. The Optometry License, One State service is $699 per state ($799 where a state exam or interview is required), and State Law Exam Logistics is $249 per state. You register for and sit every exam and sign every application; we prepare the file, order score reports and verifications, and track the board. See pricing or the state license index.