Optometrists living or practicing in the United States must be members of an Affiliate Association which will be either a state association, the Optometric Association of the District of Columbia, or the Armed Forces Optometric Association. Student members must be members of the American Optometric Student Association (AOSA) and of another affiliated association as listed previously.  Students attending a program outside of the United States and the District of Columbia are not required to be a member of another affiliated association in addition to AOSA.  (At this time, AOA only records the AOSA affiliation for student members.)

Membership Categories Defined

All membership categories are considered to be “Dues Paying Memberships” even if the annual dues are zero.  Detailed descriptions of membership categories are described in the Bylaws of the American Optometric Association.

Affiliate Members:

• Active Member: has earned a Doctor of Optometry degree from a school or college that has been accredited or pre-accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE); is a member in good standing of  the appropriate affiliated association.

  Product Code: ACTVMEM
   
• Partial Practice Members: qualified as an Active Member who works 16 hours or less a week in compensated, optometrically related activities.
  Product Code: PRTPRAC
   
• Student Member: attends an ACOE accredited optometric school or college; is a member in good standing of the American Optometric Student Association and of an affiliated association, unless attending a program outside of the United States or the District of Columbia.  Student members pay $0 dues.
  Product Code:  STUDENT
   
• Federal Service Members: qualified as an Active member but is on active duty or retired from service in the armed services of the United States or the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service; or is an employee or retired employee of the Veterans’ Administration or other federal government entity.
  Product Code:  FEDSERV
   
• Post-Graduate Member: qualified as an Active Member, but is a resident or intern in an accredited or pre-accredited program or in a program which the AOA Board of Trustees has determined to be an equivalent program.  Full-time enrollees in a graduate program also qualify as a post-graduate member.
  Product Code: POSTGRD
   
• Optometric Educator Member: qualified as an Active Member and is a full-time educator primarily engaged in teaching, research, or administration in an accredited optometric school or college; works 16 hours or less per week in the profession of optometry.
  Product Code:  OPTEDUC
   
• Retired Member with Benefits: qualified as an Active Member; is 55 years old as of January 1 of the current membership year; no longer receives compensation for optometrically related activities. These retired members continue to receive AOA benefits by paying nominal dues.
  Product Code:  RETIRED
   
• Retired Member without Benefits: qualified as an Active Member; is 55 years old as of January 1 of the current membership year; no longer receives compensation for optometrically related activities. These members are members in name only, pay no dues and receive no benefits
  Product Code: RETNOBN
   
• Life Member: qualified as an Active Member and has been a member of the AOA for 45 cumulative years.   Members with a terminal or debilitating illness may have the years of membership waived if approved by the AOA Board of Trustees. Life Members pay $0 dues.
  Product Code:  LIFEMEM
   
• Honorary Member: an individual who has rendered outstanding service to the profession of optometry. Honorary Members cannot be an optometrist.
  Product Code: HONRMEM

Associate Members:

• International Member: an optometrist as defined by the World Council of Optometry who resides in a US possession, commonwealth, or territory or in a foreign country.
  Product Code:  INTLMEM
   
• Public Member: an individual who is not an optometrist but has a substantial interest in the profession and contributes to the interests of the AOA.  Public members may reside in the United States or a foreign country.  Individuals living in the United States must be approved by the affiliated association of the state where the member lives or works.
  Product Code: PUBLMEM
   
• Paraoptometric Member: a Paraoptometric who is sponsored by an optometrist; the optometrist must be a current member of the AOA.
  Product Code:  PARASCT
   

Dues Structure

Affiliate Member Dues

Affiliate Members must also belong to the affiliates association where they live or work or AFOS; student members must also belong to AOSA.  Each affiliate association requires membership dues which are set by that association independent of AOA. The member joins both his or her association and AOA.  The affiliate collects AOA’s dues and remits them to AOA no less than quarterly. Members may also choose to join “Sections” which provide additional benefits based on areas of optometry specialties. Each Section membership requires additional dues. The Sections are: Contact Lens and Cornea, Sports Vision, and Vision Rehabilitation.

It is important to note that associate members are exempt from the affiliate dues structure. These members either join AOA directly rather than through an affiliate, or in the case of Paraoptometric members, by Member sponsorship.

Annual Dues for Affiliate Members are as follows:

• Active Members:  100%
• Partial Practice Members:  60%
• Federal Service Members:  100%
• Optometric Educator Members:  50%
• Distinguished Members:  0%
• Student Members:  0%
• Post-Graduate Members:  $35
• Retired Members- with benefits:  $100
• Retired Members- without benefits:  0%
• Life Members:  0%
• Honorary Members:  0%

Ascending Dues Schedule

A member is first eligible for AOA membership when in optometry school.  AOSA charges nominal dues, however, the AOA membership is $0.  Student members receive free Section memberships.

Post-Graduate students receive membership at a nominal cost of $35 for each year of their residency.

New graduates who join as Active Members qualify for the reduced, ascending schedule of dues for the year they graduate and the next four years.  The ascending schedule is a percentage of full active dues.

• Graduation year Calendar year of earning Doctor of Optometry: 0%
• 1^st calendar year following graduation: 10%
• 2^nd calendar year following graduation: 20%
• 3^rd calendar year following graduation: 50%
• 4^th calendar year following graduation: 75%

Dues are assessed at the full rate beginning with the fifth year after graduation. Post-graduate students begin the Ascending Dues Schedule the first calendar year following completion of their program.

Associate Member Dues

Annual Dues for Associate members are as follows:

• International Members are assessed a percentage of full dues based upon World Bank Country Income Data, a 4-tiered ranking of a country’s per capita income
• ​​​​​​​Paraoptometric Members pay zero dues, but must be sponsored by an active member
• Public Members pay dues as determined by the AOA Board of Trustees.

Constitution and Bylaws

This article is derived from American Optometric Association’s Constitution and Bylaws, Effective January 1, 2014. This document can be found at; http://www.aoa.org/Documents/about/02-Constitution-and-Bylaws-Effective-1-1-14.pdf

Most of this information is derived from Article I --- Membership.