South Carolina Optometry Licensing and the Glaucoma Requirement

South Carolina's endorsement rule turns on two questions about your current practice, not your years of it. Under S.C. Code section 40-37-245 and the board's endorsement requirements (revised March 2025), you must have practiced at the therapeutic level during the preceding 12 months, or 24 of the last 36, and you must be "authorized by law to treat glaucoma" in the jurisdiction where you are licensed. An optometrist from a state where glaucoma treatment is not part of their license cannot use endorsement. Everyone who does qualify passes the South Carolina Optometric Jurisprudence Examination, and the endorsement application and exam fee is $525.

The details below come from the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Optometry's endorsement overview and fee page, Chapter 37 of Title 40 of the South Carolina Code and Regulation 95-5.

What does South Carolina endorsement require?

The board's overview lists:

• A completed application and payment of fees.
• Graduation from a school or college of optometry accredited by the Accreditation Council for Optometric Education that requires four years of attendance. Institutions accredited by other bodies must be reviewed by the board first.
• Verification of a current license in good standing in another jurisdiction, with therapeutic-level practice in the preceding 12 months or 24 of the last 36, and authority to treat glaucoma.
• Documentation of passing the NBEO exam offered when you were first licensed, or passing TMOD.
• Passing the South Carolina Optometric Jurisprudence Examination.

Section 40-37-245 adds that all your optometry licenses must be current and in good standing, and that no professional license in any other state may have been suspended, revoked or restricted for any reason other than nonrenewal or a failure to complete required CE.

Which documents go into the application packet?

With the application itself:

• The $525 application fee, which must be paid to transmit the application. Fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
• A copy of a valid driver's license, state ID or passport.
• A signed copy of your Social Security card.
• A notarized Verification of Lawful Presence form.
• Legal documentation of any name change.
• Written explanations for any yes answers in the personal history section. The board notes that it may ask for more information or "a Board appearance may be necessary."

Sent directly to the board by the issuing agency or institution:

• An official transcript from your school's registrar, by email or mail.
• License verifications from every state where you are or have been licensed. The board accepts states' own verification forms.
• Your NBEO scores, requested from NBEO.

The board also notes that DEA registration is required for licensees who prescribe controlled substances, and points to the South Carolina Department of Public Health's Bureau of Drug Control for the state's requirements. See DEA registration for optometrists in more than one state.

When do you take the jurisprudence exam?

You become eligible once your completed application is submitted. When it is approved, the board emails instructions and a user ID to take the exam online. A score of 70 or higher passes, and the board is notified automatically, so you do not send a certificate. The board directs candidates to the optometry laws and regulations on its website as study material.

How long is a South Carolina application open?

One year from the date the board receives it. If everything is not in within that year, "you must begin the application process from the beginning," including a new application fee, transcripts and license verifications. A slow verification from a former state is the usual reason files run out of time; order them on day one. Ordering verifications from every state you have held covers the mechanics.

What does South Carolina law require of a glaucoma-treating optometrist?

Section 40-37-310(C) sets a specific standard. When treating and managing glaucoma, the optometrist must aim for a stable range of intraocular pressures unlikely to cause further optic nerve damage for that patient and record that target range in the chart. "If no measurable progress is achieved in realizing the selected range of pressures within sixty days of initiating treatment, the optometrist shall refer the patient to an ophthalmologist." For acute angle closure glaucoma, the optometrist starts treatment immediately and then makes an appropriate referral to an ophthalmologist. Subsection (B) also requires referral to an appropriate medical or osteopathic physician when additional evaluation or treatment is needed. Charts that do not record a target pressure range are a compliance gap for anyone arriving from a state without this rule. Glaucoma certification in California, Texas and Pennsylvania shows how other states structure glaucoma authority.

Which other practice rules come with the license?

• No surgery, including laser surgery. Section 40-37-310(D) prohibits optometrists from performing surgery and states: "An optometrist is also prohibited from performing laser surgery." Removing superficial ocular and adnexal foreign bodies is allowed.
• Malpractice coverage. Section 40-37-310(E) holds optometrists to the same standard of care as physicians and requires malpractice insurance coverage of at least $1,000,000.
• Kiosk and online refraction. Under section 40-24-20(C), a glasses or contact lens prescription "may not be based solely on the refractive eye error of the human eye or be generated by a kiosk." Section 40-24-10 defines a kiosk to include an automated application on a phone, computer or internet device "used in person or remotely to provide refractive data." A violation is misconduct. A valid prescription must also carry an expiration date one year from the exam, or a stated medical reason for a shorter period. Online vision tests and South Carolina's kiosk rule covers what this means for remote services.

How does South Carolina renewal work?

Licenses renew every two years under section 40-37-240(D), and the board's biennial renewal fee is $230. Each renewal needs at least 40 hours of CE on subjects relevant to optometry, excluding office management or administration. At least 16 of the 40 hours must be pharmacology or pathology related, and up to 4 may cover mandated health care programs such as HIPAA, Medicare and Medicaid, or ethics or jurisprudence. Secondary practice locations display board-certified duplicate licenses. Optometry CE requirements across states compares South Carolina with other states.

Where does a licensing service fit in a South Carolina move?

Our Optometry License, One State service is $699 for South Carolina. We confirm your therapeutic practice window and glaucoma authority before you pay the board, prepare the application with a question-by-question guide, order transcripts, verifications and NBEO scores to arrive inside the one-year window, and flag the notarized lawful presence form and Social Security card copy. You answer and sign the application, sit the jurisprudence exam, carry the required malpractice coverage and pay the board. If you need to add glaucoma authority in your current state first, the $149 readiness review maps the steps. See the South Carolina licensing page to compare states.