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.
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