April 20, 2026

State tribute marks Michigan College of Optometry’s 50 years of strengthening essential vision care

The Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University is celebrating its 50th anniversary with recognition from the state of Michigan, including signatures from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislators.

"The proclamation reflects MCO's critical role in vision care in Michigan," Dean Daniel Taylor said. "Most optometrists practicing in Michigan are MCO graduates. Our college has established a history of academic and clinical excellence, reflected in the practice of our graduates."

The state tribute recognizes the college was founded to address a shortage of optometrists. Until recently, MCO was the only college of optometry in the state.

“For 50 years, the college has served as the primary pipeline of optometrists for our state, recruiting students from all 83 Michigan counties and preparing graduates who practice in communities large and small,” the tribute reads.

“Through its University Eye Center and outreach initiatives such as Students in Need of Eyecare and partnerships in Flint and Detroit, it has expanded access to essential vision services and strengthened community health across Michigan.”

MCO opened in the summer of 1975, when the entire program — faculty offices, library, conference room and all — operated out of a single room in Ferris State's Science Building. Classes began Sept. 8, 1975, with the college relocating to the West Building that fall.

Today, MCO enrolls 37 to 40 students per class and houses the University Eye Center, a full-service clinic serving patients across Northern and Western Michigan and beyond. The clinic offers specialty care in ocular disease, vision rehabilitation, pediatrics, and other areas, with doctoral students working alongside licensed optometrists.

Taylor said the college's next chapter will bring new challenges and opportunities.

"The next fifty years will take MCO to new places, with clinical, research, and technological changes pointing us toward a bright future of patient care," he said.

"As we seek to learn how to use artificial intelligence appropriately in patient care, and how to navigate a world of expanding optometric scope of practice, our guiding light remains unchanged: a focus on patient care. As long as optometry and MCO keep patient care in the forefront, the next 50 years will be as successful as our first."

MCO will host a public open house to celebrate its anniversary on Aug. 8, 2026, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the college.