Program areas at ICO
GENERAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES AT THE ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY (ICO): Classroom instruction for Doctor of Optometry Degree; Continuing Education and Faculty Research serving approximately 480 students per year. ICO's 4-year program is focused entirely on optometry. Our students receive robust clinical experience, including hands-on patient care in the IEI beginning in their very first year. Understanding that being a doctor extends beyond eye care, ICO offers courses in financial literacy, practice management, and other real-world aspects of optometry. Our top-notch resources expose students to tomorrow's technologies and modes of practice.
DORMITORY: The Residential Complex provides affordable and safe on-campus living quarters for optometry students, prospective students, visitors, and their families. The RC hosts events to promote camaraderie and healthy student life.
CLINIC: The Illinois Eye Institute (IEI) acts as a safety net provider of eye and vision services for the Chicago area, serving diverse patients with complex needs. The clinic received 77,613 patient visits in the previous year (50,121 to providers, 27,492 to optical). The site is a vital community resource for Medicaid and Medicare carriers, as well as underinsured and uninsured patients. Specialty areas of the clinic include (but are not limited to) Pediatrics, Development Disability Clinics, Binocular Vision Service, Urgent Care, Cornea and Contact Lenses, Glaucoma Care, Retina and Vitreous Care, and Low Vision Care. The IEI acts as a teaching clinic that aides in the education of students as they pursue Doctor of Optometry degrees.
The organization receives other program service revenue related to its bookstore, faculty research, student loans and administration of Illinois eye institute and Illinois eye institute foundation.