Best Vet Schools in The US: Top 5 DVM Programs in 2025
Are you looking to start a career as a licensed veterinarian? Navigating the best vet schools in The US is difficult in the rapidly expanding veterinary field. Nevertheless, the veterinary industry's steady growth presents plenty of opportunities for animal lovers to transform their passion into a career. Picking the ideal program can be especially challenging depending on the cost, curriculum, location, and student’s individual needs. This guide will help you navigate the best veterinary schools, so you can make the most educated decision for yourself in 2025.
What is a vet school?
A vet school, or veterinary school, is an educational institution that offers a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program to prepare students to become veterinarians. These schools should provide comprehensive education in veterinary medicine, covering subjects such as animal biology, nutrition, anatomy, physiology, disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, surgery, animal husbandry, and more. Vet schools should include hands-on clinical experience, research opportunities, and training in various animal species, including pets, farm animals, and wildlife.
Completing vet school is a costly and lengthy process that takes many years of work. If you're looking for a more accessible entry point into veterinary medicine, The Academy of Pet Careers' veterinary assistant program takes only 5 months to complete.
Want to become a vet assistant?
Learn more about our vet assistant school to jumpstart your pet career.
What makes a vet school the best?
When we look for quality vet schools, we consistently search for the same criteria:
- Curriculum: What will students be learning during the program?
- Cost: How expensive is tuition? What financial aid options are available?
- Experience: What is the course structure like? Does the school have a positive reputation?
- Bonus features: What makes the program unique?
All schools mentioned in this guide are accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
Best Online Vet School
University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine
There are no actual online vet schools, as in-person experience is pertinent to becoming a successful and knowledgeable vet. However, University of Missouri (Mizzou) offers many veterinary classes and programs online to supplement students on their journey to becoming a veterinarian.
Curriculum: On top of general education courses, vet students must take courses in biological science, biochemistry, anatomy, animal husbandry, immunology, animal reproduction, genetics, microbiology, animal nutrition, and more.
Cost: Tuition is estimated to be between $15,000 to $40,000, depending on whether the student is in-state, out-of-state, or international. If you count additional fees, totals costs add up to about $35,000 to $61,000. Mizzou offers scholarships, grants, loans, and veterans benefits to help students pay for education.
Experience: Students spend the first two years mostly in classrooms and laboratories, while they devote the second two years to clinical study in the MU Veterinary Health Center, a critical and specialty care facility. In the Veterinary Health Center, students get real world experience working with animals.
Bonus features: Mizzou offers 100% online classes, but also full programs and certificates for those looking to get into a DVM program, current veterinary students, and graduate veterinarians. These programs in Veterinary Sciences are designed to help current and future veterinarians reach their career goals from anywhere in the country.
Best Vet School for Large Animal Medicine
Texas A&M Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
All veterinary students should gain hands-on experience working with different kinds of animals, including large animals. That said, if you want to specialize in large animal medicine, Texas A&M's Large Animal Clinical Sciences may be a great match for you.
Curriculum: Their DVM Professional Program includes studies in anatomy of small animals, clinical skills, physiology, immunology, histology, anatomy of large animals, disease, pathology, pharmacology, surgery, diagnostics, and more.
Cost: Tuition ranges from about $12,000 to $47,000 depending on multiple factors. As for additional costs, totals expenses can be expected to range from about $21,000 to $82,000. Texas A&M offers loans, grants, and scholarships to help students attend school.
Experience: The first two years are mostly dedicated to classroom learning. Come year three, students can choose which "career track" they would like to focus on. The fourth year varies greatly depending on the career track, including companion animal, rural/mixed animal, and equine career tracks.
Bonus features: Not only can Texas A&M cater your "career track" towards large animal science, but their Large Animal Teaching Hospital provides a space for equine and rural veterinary medicine students to gain real world experience with large animals right on campus.
Best Vet School for Exotic Animal Medicine
University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medicine
If traditional small animal or large animal health sciences aren't for you, exotic animal healthcare maybe your perfect fit. If so, University of California, Davis (UC Davis) has a DVM program with great resources for future veterinarians who want to work with exotics.
Curriculum: Students at UC Davis learn immunology, hematology, pharmacology, nutrition, toxicology, neuroscience, oncology, disease, anesthesia, surgery, mixed animal practice, zoological medicine, avian/reptile medicine, and more.
Cost: Tuition is estimated to be around $11,000. When you add in professional fees, student service fees, campus-based fees, and course material fees, the cost adds up to about $32,000. UC Davis offers scholarships, grants, and loans to help students lower the cost.
Experience: Years one, two, and three combine classroom learning with regular hospital rotations with a senior student. The fourth year introduces externships and specialized clinical experience. The flexible program allows students to focus on the area they want to specialize in, including zoology, poultry, and mixed animal practices.
Bonus features: While the curriculum can be flexible depending on your chosen specialization, those interested in exotic animal healthcare can gain real world experience in the Companion Exotic Animal Medicine & Surgery Service. This sect of their teaching hospital helps vet students and clients by caring for birds, rabbits, rodents, hedgehogs, ferrets, reptiles, fish, amphibians, and wildlife.
Best Vet School for Laboratory Research
Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine
Lab work is a major part of any veterinary curriculum. Cornell goes above and beyond by creating a pathway for those in their DVM program (or in other programs) to focus on laboratory research in their studies.
Curriculum: Cornell vet students must complete courses in cell biology, genetics, general pathology, parasitology, neuroanatomy, diagnostic imaging, clinical procedures, animal disease, and more, including electives.
Cost: Tuition rests between $45,000 and $67,000 depending on whether the student is in or out-of-state. If you consider additional fees, the total cost to attend ranges between $78,000 to $100,00. Cornell uses scholarships, loans, grants, and veterans benefits to help students lower the cost.
Experience: Students spend the first year mostly in the classroom, while the second and third years introduce clinical rotations. The program dedicates the fourth year to clinical practice and externships. They also offer unconventional groups and activities for vet students, including a Cornell veterinary theater company.
Bonus features: Part of Cornell's veterinary college is the Animal Health Diagnostic Center, which provides resources and diagnostic services to clients and vet students. The Diagnostic Center houses 12 different testing laboratories for students to take advantage of, including labs for bacteriology, endocrinology, toxicology, virology, and more.
Best Vet School for Job Placement
North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine
After all that time and effort spent studying veterinary science, most students have the same goal of jumping right into their new career. With North Carolina State University, or NC State, career services are an integral part of the veterinary program.
Curriculum: NC State's curriculum consists of anatomy, physiology, infection and immunity, animal behavior, anesthesiology, pharmacology, radiology, surgery, pathology, toxicology, epidemiology, nutrition, and more.
Cost: Tuition ranges from about $25,000 to $57,000, with additional expenses rising the cost to about $48,000 to $80,000. On top of financial aid, the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine Personal Financial Service offers resources to help students budget, plan, and manage their finances.
Experience: The first three years of the DVM program consist of pre-clinical coursework. The fourth year is dedicated to clinical training. The program caters training to the students' "focus area", which includes specialties like epidemiology, clinician science, pathology, and more.
Bonus features: NC State is one of very few colleges of veterinary medicine to have their own career center. Their Career Services and Personal Development Office offers career coaching, courses, workshops, career fairs, and their own personal veterinary job board.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of vet schools out there, and it can be difficult to choose one with quality education that suits your needs. While there are advantages and disadvantages to any veterinary school, these schools shine in their respective categories. If you're looking to start a rewarding career in veterinary medicine, consider attending one of these schools. If becoming a doctor of veterinary medicine isn't the right fit for you, consider becoming a veterinary assistant as an alternative.
Hope Allen
Hope Allen combines her lifelong passion for animals with her digital marketing expertise. Growing up in a veterinary family, she gained hands-on experience working as an office assistant and sterilization tech at their mobile practice. This foundation, coupled with her degree in design and digital content strategy from Lindenwood University, allows her to bring unique insight to pet-focused content.