AAVMC’s tool compares costs of vet schools

By Veterinary Practice News Editors

The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) has a new web-based IT tool that can help veterinary college applicants and students make better decisions regarding the cost and course of their professional education. The Cost Comparison Tool (CCT) provides a convenient, transparent and reliable resource for estimating the cost of attending a veterinary college in the United States.

“Bringing this tool online is an important step forward for the profession, for the academic institutions that support it, and for everyone who dreams of becoming a veterinarian,” said AAVMC Chief Executive Officer Dr. Andrew T. Maccabe. “Educational debt is a complex problem, but we believe empowering people with information is a very promising strategy for improving this situation.”

The CCT allows users to compare data for resident and non-resident tuition as well as the cost of attendance. In addition, users can see the average size of the freshman scholarship award and the percentage of first year students receiving an award.

The tool was developed by the AAVMC following the “Fix The Debt Summit” held in April of this year at Michigan State University. The current debt-to-income ratio (DIR) for recent graduates in veterinary medicine is about 2:1; experts believe that ratio should be about 1.4:1.

The existing DIR and rising educational costs represent a multi-faceted and ongoing challenge for the profession, one that is being addressed by a variety of stakeholders from professional practice, academia and the private sector. By combining its unique access to institutional data and relationships with prospective veterinary students in a single tool, the AAVMC has been able to make an important contribution to this effort.

“Increased transparency and accountability is important,” Maccabe said. “We think providing clear, easy to access data regarding the various components of financing a professional education will help applicants make comparisons, analyze opportunities and ultimately make better financial decisions.”

Find out more about the tool at the AAVMC website here.