Accreditation Of Vet Tech Programs
Accreditation of vet tech programs is done by the AVMA. There are 5 different levels of accreditation that the AVMA gives vet tech schools depending on their quality. Schools are inspected with respect to many different aspects of their programs.The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) oversees vet tech school quality through the committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA).
In order to be considered for accreditation the tech program must apply to the AVMA. Then a site team comes out and inspects their facilities, the qualifications of the instructors, and other things, like the amount of hands on time students get with live animals.
There are several different classification of accreditation that vet tech schools can receive. The classification is decided upon by the CVTEA committee after the report is received from the site inspection team.
Possible Classifications of Accreditation of Vet Tech Programs
Full Accreditation: This is only for programs that meet or exceed the standards of accreditation set by the AVMA.
Provisional Accreditation: This is for new programs where students have not completed the entire curriculum or for programs with not enough students to evaluate the program fully yet. Vet tech programs can only remain on provisional accreditation for 5 years at the most. Students who graduate here are still considered graduates of an AVMA accredited program.
Probational Accreditation: Programs on probation do not meet all the accreditation standards, but they are still considered accredited. The AVMA says this is not a punitive classification, but merely remedial. Programs with this classification have up to 2 years to improve. Graduates are still considered graduates of an AVMA accredited program.
Terminal Accreditation: This is for vet tech programs that are closing down, but still have some students finishing the program. This type of program is still accredited.
Accreditation Withdrawn: this is when a previously accredited program has their accreditation withdrawn. Graduates of this program are not considered to be graduates of an AVMA accredited program.
Number of Vet Tech Programs
There are 150 programs in the world that are AVMA accredited. There are six states that do not have vet tech programs, those are Alaska, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, and Rhode Island.
