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Marking its first hundred years, Arkansas State University continues to expand in exciting ways.
Arkansas State University plans to create a College of Veterinary Medicine to serve the needs of our state and region. In a state currently without a College of Veterinary Medicine, the A-State project can fulfill the dreams of numerous Arkansans who wish to stay home for their education as well as attract students from out-of-state.
Establishing a College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at Arkansas State University meets multiple needs for the State of Arkansas. Arkansas is among several states without a CVM making the state dependent upon other states to educate and provide its veterinary workforce.
As a consequence, Arkansas is underserved with veterinary services of all types. It is estimated that Arkansas has among the lowest number of veterinarians per capita of all states.
From A-State’s founding in 1909, the university has been an integral part of the agricultural fabric of the greater Delta region. Establishing a College of Veterinary Medicine brings together the uniquely positioned resources of A-State with a distinct and growing need for veterinary practitioners.
Currently, Arkansas students wanting to pursue a veterinary education must apply to schools in other states, often at great inconvenience and expense.
Approximately 45 students from Arkansas obtain admission at out-of-state schools each year where they pay much higher non-resident tuition. Currently, the State of Arkansas provides support for the difference between resident and non-resident tuition for only 9 of these students each year.
A-State is currently navigating through the accreditation and approval process.
The A-State CVM has a targeted opening date of fall 2026, pending successful accreditation. We are proposing a class size of 120 admitted once per year in the fall.
Arkansas State is committed to offering a world-class education at a price that is accessible to Arkansans who dream of practicing veterinary medicine.
Tuition for Arkansas residents has been proposed at $34,000 per academic year, with out-of-state student cost at $54,000 per academic year. Nationally, the average annual cost of tuition for in-state DVM students according to the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges was $34,289 per academic year for residents and $55,158 for non-residents in 2022-23.
Students interested in applying for admission to the A State CVM will need to complete a slate of required undergraduate courses. The majority of courses are focused on science and biology. Usually, three or four years of undergraduate work are necessary to complete these prerequisites. Most students have an undergraduate degree by the time they apply.
Most A-State pre-veterinary students will be enrolled in the College of Agriculture or the College of Sciences and Mathematics. The required and recommended courses can be found on their websites.
Once the A-State CVM receives the appropriate approvals, applicants will utilize the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) national application service VMCAS, which serves all accredited CVMs. The application is available on the AAVMC website.
We have determined to institute a four-year program with the first three years consisting of two semesters each of basic and clinical sciences in the veterinary medical disciplines in a lecture/recitation and clinical skills laboratory format.
The final year encompasses the full 12 months in a distributive model clinical education. That model is conducted off site in private clinical practices or other educational institutions such as animal shelters and diagnostic labs. Most of the recently established CVMs utilize the distributive model which is recognized by the AVMA COE and offers several advantages.
