Virginia latest state to tackle large animal veterinarian shortage

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin this May signed legislation establishing a grant program to incentivize large animal veterinarians to work in underserved areas of the state by offsetting the costs of obtaining a veterinary degree.

The new law directs Virginia’s state veterinarian to have the program up and running no later than July 1, 2026. Every year, the state veterinarian will select up to four large animal veterinarians from a pool of applicants who commit to working in a veterinary shortage area. Virginia will compensate each participant with a $110,000 grant.

“(It is) an important step to address critical shortages in large animal veterinary care in communities across the Commonwealth,” Youngkin wrote in a post on X.

Veterinary shortage areas

Virginia is the latest of more than two dozen states to offer educational loan repayment or scholarships to practicing veterinarians or veterinary students in exchange for working in a state-designated area where veterinary services are in short supply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has determined nearly every U.S. state has at least one rural or livestock-producing region lacking adequate veterinary services.

The AVMA estimates that in 2024, just 3.4% (3,424) of the total U.S. veterinary workforce (130,415) were employed in a food animal practice. For perspective, the nation has shed roughly 90% of its large animal veterinarians since 1945, according to a 2023 study by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.

Today, the vast majority of veterinarians—71% (71,693) per the AVMA—work in companion animal medicine. Experts attribute this shift in the veterinary profession to several factors, including urbanization, the cost of a veterinary degree, and the demands of working with livestock and horses compared with cats and dogs.

Congress sought to address the nation’s large animal veterinarian shortage with passage of legislation establishing the  Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) in 2010. The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) administers the program, which offers education loan repayment to veterinarians in exchange for working in a USDA-designated veterinary shortage area for up to three years.

The VMLRP accepts roughly 85 applicants each year. Program participants who make a three-year commitment may receive up to $40,000 annually to repay their student loan debt. In 2025, the USDA declared 243 rural veterinary shortage areas in 46 states, which is the highest number of shortage areas ever. Since 2010, NIFA has made 883 awards as new and renewal service agreements; meanwhile, nearly 2,200 applications have been received to participate in the program since its inception.

Typically, applications for the VMRLP open in early March, but the program’s website, last updated February 11, says, “All NIFA Requests for Applications are currently under review.” Previously scheduled informational webinars and application deadlines are now also listed as “TBD.”

The White House announced in February a plan to temporarily freeze federal grants pending their review, which is ongoing.

States filling the gaps

The shortage of food animal veterinarians has grown so acute that states are increasingly rolling out their own solutions. In 2024, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced the launch of the Nebraska Elite 11 Veterinarians Program, a state initiative akin to the VMLRP. The program pays six years of tuition for up to 11 Nebraska residents through four years at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and four years at an out-of-state veterinary college. In return, these newly minted veterinarians must practice food animal medicine for eight years in Nebraska or repay the money.

“The need for production animal veterinarians is undeniable. It’s an issue for Nebraska and other state’s as well,” Pillen said at the time. “Through this collaboration with UNL, Nebraska will be a leader in boosting the number of graduates in this field.”

Another example is the Veterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas. Originally passed by the state Legislature in 2006 as a financial incentive to provide rural areas in Kansas with committed veterinarians, it was enhanced in 2022 based on the program’s demonstrated success.

Each recent veterinary graduate is required to work at a full-time veterinary practice in one of 92 Kansas counties with fewer than 40,000 residents. For each year the early career veterinarians work in rural Kansas, up to $25,000 per year of qualifying student loans are forgiven over a period of four years.

“As of September 2024, 89 veterinary students have been accepted into the program, and 98% of veterinary graduates are fulfilling or have met their loan obligation through service in a Kansas rural county. Ninety-four percent of previous graduates who completed their four-year obligation remain in a qualifying county. Seventy-seven percent remain in the original practice and community they entered after graduation,” according to a Kansas State University press release.