AVMA / AAVMC Report Looks at Market for Veterinary Education

The American Veterinary Medical Association and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges have released the 2016 Report on the Market for Veterinary Education, making it available for free download by all AVMA members as part of the AVMA’s 2016 economic reports series.

Some key findings from the report:

• Starting salaries for new veterinary graduates and the number of new graduates obtaining full-time employment prior to graduation are increasing. These changes are due to an increase in disposable income that occurs in an economic expansion. 

• However, the debt load of new veterinarians also has continued to increase, offsetting the income gains. As a result, the debt-to-income ratio for new veterinarians has held steady at nearly 2 to 1. A more sustainable debt-to-income ratio would be 1.4 to 1. 

• For at least the last three decades, the public has been defunding public education, while the real costs of operating schools has risen. For the veterinary profession, this has shifted the burden of providing animal health from the taxpayer to the animal owner. 

• 2015 applicants to U.S. veterinary schools had a relatively accurate idea of the debt load of new veterinarians.

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