BY: SAMANTHA BARTLETT, DVM

The AVMA has received proposals for almost a dozen new veterinary colleges in the United States. Currently there are only 33 accredited veterinary colleges in the nation. The 2022-2023 school year saw a record number of veterinary students exceeding 4000 for the first time. To create a new veterinary college, each institution must go through an accreditation process from the AVMA Council on Education (COE). The COE first does a consultative site visit to create an unofficial report on the proposed college’s plan. The institution will then correct any deficiencies found during the COE’s initial visit and document those changes to the COE. The COE then does an official comprehensive site visit and allows the college to apply for a letter of reasonable assurance. This letter is not an accreditation but does allow the college to begin enrolling students under the presumption that the college will achieve accreditation status if the college follows its plan submitted to the COE. 

The proposed new veterinary colleges include: 

• Ana G. Mendez University in Puerto Rico waiting on letter of reasonable assurance form the AVMA. The university currently has a veterinary technician program which has been accredited for associate and bachelor’s degrees since 2018. 
• Arkansas State University hopes to open a new veterinary medicine program in 2025 or 2026. The university has not scheduled a consultative site visit as yet. 
• Chamberlain University is run by Adtalem Global Education, which also owns Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. The proposed veterinary college would be in Stockbridge, Georgia.
• Clemson University proposed to open a College of Veterinary Medicine making it the University’s first professional school and the first veterinary program in the state of South Carolina.
• Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee is proposing a second veterinary college on a campus in Orange Park, Florida. 
• Lyon College is proposing a veterinary college in a new branch campus in Little Rock, Arkansas. 
• Rowan University is seeking to establish a new veterinary college in Harrison Township, New Jersey. 
• Utah State University proposes a new College of Veterinary Medicine with a distributive model for clinical training. 
• University of Maryland Eastern Shore is proposing a veterinary program in Princess Anne, Maryland. 
• Rocky Vista College is proposing a new veterinary program but is still in the idea stage at this time. 
• Muray State University has approved a feasibility study for developing a new veterinary school in Kentucky.