The AVMA Council on Education will conduct 10 accreditation site visits at schools and colleges of veterinary medicine through December 2026, per the council's schedule released this month.

The visits cover newly proposed programs seeking consultative review and established colleges returning on their full evaluation cycle. The council did not name the institutions in the announcement.

What does the Council on Education actually do?

The COE is the only programmatic accreditor for veterinary medical education in the United States recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Recognition also extends through the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and equivalent bodies in Canada and elsewhere.

The council publishes accreditation standards covering curriculum, faculty, facilities, clinical resources, research, library resources, students, admissions, and outcomes assessment. Every AVMA-accredited institution granting the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree must show sustained compliance. No exception. No opt-out.

How does a site visit actually work?

A team of council members and AVMA staff spends several days on each campus. Inspections cover teaching hospitals, student records, case logs, and direct interviews with administrators, faculty, and students. The team writes a confidential report. The council then votes on accreditation status at a subsequent meeting.

Outcomes range from full accreditation to focused or major noncompliance findings. Probationary status carries public disclosure. Adverse action of any kind forces institutional response.

What changes for the schools involved?

A noncompliance finding triggers a written remediation plan. The council may reduce accreditation status from full to provisional at its discretion. A focused follow-up visit often follows, and a third visit may follow that one.

Preparation for a comprehensive visit pulls significant institutional resources. Faculty time, administrative staff hours, and document preparation each cycle consume months of effort. A failed visit forces a second round of the same work, with no guarantee of a different result.

Why does this matter outside the academy?

Accreditation status controls the licensure pipeline. Graduates of AVMA-accredited colleges sit for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination, or NAVLE, on the standard path. Graduates of non-accredited programs must complete an equivalency certification before sitting for the same exam.

Employers and state licensing boards treat AVMA accreditation as a baseline credential filter. Federal agencies do the same. Loss of accreditation interrupts graduate placement, complicates state licensure, and ripples outward to practice ownership, specialty board certification, and public health programs that recruit veterinarians.

What does the 2026 timing capture?

Several U.S. veterinary colleges are mid-expansion. New satellite campuses, larger class sizes, and new teaching hospitals have cycled through capital construction in the past decade. The council has historically paid close attention to operational capacity at institutions with new facilities.

A new teaching hospital must demonstrate sustained case throughput. A new campus must show sustained instructional capacity. Clinical rotations must show adequate caseload volume and case diversity. The same scrutiny applies to each.

What's next?

The 10 scheduled visits will conclude by December 2026. The council typically releases accreditation decisions in the meetings that follow, with formal action surfacing in 2027 council sessions. Schools that received consultative visits this year may request comprehensive candidacy visits in 2027 or 2028.