AVMA Will Spin Off Veterinary Accreditation Under New Federal Rule

The AVMA will create a new nonprofit accrediting agency for veterinary medicine after a U.S. Education Department final rule published October 30 required accreditors to sever structural and financial ties with professional associations — or lose federal recognition.

The rule, called the Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization final rule, is the most significant overhaul of higher education accreditation in decades. It takes effect July 1, 2027, with some portions phasing in through 2028, according to Education Department staff.

The current AVMA Council on Education will keep accrediting veterinary colleges "for as long as necessary [with respect to the ED rule] to ensure an orderly transition," according to a November 4 letter the AVMA sent to state veterinary licensing boards.

What does the rule actually change?

The department's position, stated in the rule itself, is blunt: "The Department strongly believes that close relationships between accrediting agencies and related, associated, or affiliated trade associations has led to the outsized and direct influence of accreditation standards and decisions."

Accrediting agencies and their affiliated professional organizations must now be structurally and financially independent. The rule prohibits shared staff, services, technology, facilities, equipment, IT infrastructure, and office space.

More than 30 accrediting bodies must adjust, including the AVMA COE and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits human medical programs.

Today, the AVMA and the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges support the COE, though the council sets its own standards and makes accreditation decisions independently. Under the new rule, that arrangement no longer qualifies.

The rule carries practice-level weight. Accreditation determines whether veterinary students can access Title IV federal loans and grants, and 46 states plus the District of Columbia require graduation from an AVMA COE–accredited school in statute or regulation for licensure. Losing recognition could jeopardize graduates' eligibility for licensure and disrupt state practice laws, the AVMA warned.

How will the new accreditor be built?

The AVMA plans to establish a nonprofit that will house the new accrediting agency, formed and governed to comply with the final rules, AVMA President Dr. Jen Quammen said.

"AVMA is committed to supporting continuity in veterinary medical education accreditation while preserving the independence of accreditation standards, evaluations, and decisions," Quammen wrote in the November 4 letter.

Costs may shift. Accrediting agencies must establish their dues independently, and the AVMA currently subsidizes roughly 50% of AVMA COE accreditation expenses — a subsidy that could end, affecting veterinary college budgets.

Council composition will also change. Today, an AVMA selection committee appoints eight members, the AAVMC appoints eight, the council elects three public members, and the Canadian VMA appoints the Canadian representative. More than 65 site visitors conduct college visits, and many council and site team members are current or former veterinary faculty. The final rule bars members from voting on standards or policies if they work at an accredited institution — a direct hit to the educator-heavy roster.

Quammen defended the current model in an open letter this fall: "The COE's composition brings together veterinary practitioners, educators, researchers, and public representatives with subject matter expertise across disciplines." Moving accreditation away from a profession-led nonprofit model, she wrote, could affect educational quality, accreditation standards, graduate outcomes, animal health, and public health.

What is at stake for students and states?

The numbers frame the risk. The AVMA COE accredits 40 veterinary colleges in the U.S. and its territories — seven provisional developing colleges and one developing college holding a letter of reasonable assurance that permits seating its inaugural class. The council has held Education Department recognition as a programmatic accreditor since 1952, and the AVMA has set education standards since 1921.

In September comments to the department, AVMA CEO Dr. Janet Donlin pressed for a careful transition. "An abrupt or poorly structured transition may jeopardize graduates' eligibility for licensure; disrupt access to federal educational loan programs that assist healthcare education, create uncertainty for currently accredited veterinary programs; and delay accreditation and increase costs for programs already in the accreditation pipeline," she wrote.

The AVMA had sought a longer transition period but says it will comply. Quammen said the association will "work closely with the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges and individual colleges/schools to ensure these ED changes will not have a negative impact on veterinary students and the ability of the profession to meet the needs of the public and animals we all serve."

Implementation planning has already begun, and the AVMA says it will keep licensing boards informed through further correspondence as the new accrediting entity takes shape before the July 2027 deadline.