Nearly a dozen newly proposed veterinary colleges have been announced in the past two years, which represents a sizeable potential increase to the existing 33 US veterinary colleges, according to a recent press release from the American Veterinary Medical Association. Some universities have already secured site visits from the COE while others are just in the discussion stage.

All must seek accreditation from the AVMA Council on Education (COE), which is done by requesting a consultative site visit. The consultative site visit provides the proposed veterinary college with an unofficial report on the plan’s readiness to apply for a letter of reasonable assurance. Once any deficiencies in the plan have been addressed and document to the council, the proposed veterinary college can then apply for a comprehensive site visit to determine if the plan meets the criteria for a letter of reasonable assurance.

A letter of reasonable assurance is not a pre-accreditation action but indicates that the proposed veterinary college may gain accreditation in the future if the program completes all the plans it presents to the COE. Receiving this letter allows the institution to begin enrolling students.

The eight proposed veterinary programs include: Ana G. Méndez University in Puerto Rico, Arkansas State University, Chamberlain University, Clemson University, Lincoln Memorial University, Lyon College, Rowan University and Utah State University.

Three remaining institutions have been mentioned as possible sites for new veterinary colleges but not much information is currently available.

One is the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a historically Black college and university in Princess Anne, Maryland. It’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences has a preveterinary program that graduates an average of five to seven students per year.

The second one is Rocky Vista College. This private, for-profit medical school opened in 2006 and has campuses in Parker, Colorado; Ivins, Utah; and Billings, Montana. It lists Dr. Robert Murtaugh, a veterinary specialist, educator, and consultant, as dean of its proposed College of Veterinary Medicine, but the position has yet to be officially announced. He said the veterinary college is still just in the idea stage at and that internal discussions are underway.

The third is Murray State University. Its board of regents voted August 25 to approve a feasibility study on developing a veterinary school. A task force will examine the current veterinary workforce in the state and work toward developing the first veterinary program in Kentucky, according to a university press release.