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Associate veterinarian education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become an associate veterinarian. Associate veterinarians usually study veterinary medicine, biology, or animal science. 47% of associate veterinarians hold a bachelor's degree, and 41% hold an doctoral degree. We analyzed 1,322 real associate veterinarian resumes to see exactly what associate veterinarian education sections show.
The most common colleges for associate veterinarians are the Tuskegee University and the Tuskegee University.
There are also many online associate veterinarian courses to help get the education required to be an associate veterinarian.
There are certain associate veterinarian certifications that you should consider. These associate veterinarian certifications include Surgery and Internal Medicine.
What education do you need to become an associate veterinarian?
What degree do you need to be an associate veterinarian?
- Bachelor's, 47%
- Doctorate, 41%
- Master's, 5%
- Associate, 4%
- Other Degrees, 3%
What should I major in to become an associate veterinarian?
- Veterinary Medicine, 45%
- Biology, 18%
- Animal Science, 12%
- Other Majors, 19%
Most common colleges for associate veterinarians
| Associate veterinarian common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| Tuskegee University | 10.00% |
| Colorado State University | 9.29% |
| Ohio State University | 7.86% |
| Texas A&M University | 7.50% |
| Purdue University | 7.14% |
Best majors for associate veterinarians
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Medicine | 45.2% |
| 2 | Biology | 18.0% |
| 3 | Animal Science | 11.5% |
| 4 | Veterinary Science | 5.5% |
| 5 | Zoology | 2.7% |
Best colleges for associate veterinarians
The best colleges for associate veterinarians are Tufts University, Stanford University, and Cornell University.
An associate veterinarian with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for associate veterinarians. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become associate veterinarians.
1. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
In-state tuition
$11,830
Enrollment
29,474
2. Texas A&M University
College Station, TX • Private
In-state tuition
$11,870
Enrollment
53,194
3. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$55,188
Enrollment
15,105
4. Tufts University
Medford, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,382
Enrollment
5,597
5. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Enrollment
34,564
6. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
In-state tuition
$10,555
Enrollment
30,360
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
8. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$10,595
Enrollment
30,184
9. North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$9,101
Enrollment
23,708
10. University of California - Davis
Davis, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$14,402
Enrollment
30,698
20 best online courses for associate veterinarians
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2. Trauma Emergencies and Care
Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...
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4. Pet First Aid (Advanced)
Learn essential knowledge and skills to be able to confidently carry out emergency first aid on a pet animal...
5. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children
Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...
6. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care
This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...
7. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course
The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...
8. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale
Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...
9. Health for All Through Primary Health Care
This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...
10. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes
COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...
11. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care
In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...
12. Medical Emergencies: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation
In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) assess a basic medical patient 2) describe general pharmacologic principles and the skills associated with medication administration, 3) explain airway physiology, the assessment of the airway and available interventions for airway management, 4) identify, assess and formulate a plan to stabilize a patient with a...
13. Medical Emergencies: CPR, Toxicology, and Wilderness
In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: (1) Identify the signs and symptoms associated with a patient in shock, to describe the major categories of shock, to assess a patient with signs of shock and formulate a plan for treatment to stabilize the patient for transport, (2) Identify a patient in cardiac arrest and to describe the components of high performance CPR...
14. Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation
Kidney transplantation is a major advance of modern medicine which provides high-quality of life for patients with end-stage renal disease. What used to be an experimental, risky, and very limited treatment option more than 50 years ago is now routinely performed in many countries worldwide. The number of renal transplants is expected to rise sharply in the next decade since the proportion of patients with end stage renal disease is increasing. Are you interested in clinical kidney, pancreas...
15. Introduction to Cataract Surgery
This comprehensive course will give you the fundamental knowledge needed to begin performing cataract surgery by phacoemulsification and extracapsular removal. Each step from preoperative evaluation to postoperative care will be covered to help prepare you for the operating room...
16. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers
This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...
17. Thinking About Care
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18. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers
COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...
19. Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations
Have you ever needed health care and thought that there must be better ways to get or deliver health care? For example, have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way to get a diagnostic test or treatment at home? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to deliver health care? If you have, this course is for you. Course content includes an overview of health care delivery including healthcare consumerism, the patient's...
20. Case Studies in Personalized Medicine
Learn how advances in biomedicine hold the potential to revolutionize drug development, drug treatments, and disease prevention: where are we now, and what does the future hold? This course will present short primers in genetics and mechanisms underlying variability in drug responses. A series of case studies will be used to illustrate principles of how genetics are being brought to bear on refining diagnoses and on personalizing treatment in rare and common diseases. The ethical and...
Top 10 most affordable universities for associate veterinarians
The most affordable schools for associate veterinarians are University of Florida, purdue university, and north carolina state university.
If the best universities for associate veterinarians are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for associate veterinarians.
1. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
2. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
In-state tuition
$9,992
Cost of attendance
22,430
3. North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$9,101
Cost of attendance
23,600
4. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
In-state tuition
$11,830
Cost of attendance
26,252
5. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
In-state tuition
$10,555
Cost of attendance
25,497
6. Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS • Private
In-state tuition
$8,650
Cost of attendance
24,275
7. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$10,595
Cost of attendance
25,919
8. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
In-state tuition
$11,207
Cost of attendance
25,275
9. Utah State University
Logan, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$8,138
Cost of attendance
18,531
10. Iowa State University of Science and Technology
Ames, IA • Private
In-state tuition
$8,988
Cost of attendance
20,476
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for associate veterinarians
The hardest universities for associate veterinarians to get into are Tufts University, Stanford University, and Cornell University.
Some great schools for associate veterinarians are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for associate veterinarians based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Tufts University
Medford, MA • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,461
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
3. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,471
4. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
Admissions rate
52%
SAT average
1,365
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
6. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Private
Admissions rate
47%
SAT average
1,390
7. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
Admissions rate
49%
SAT average
1,345
8. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
Admissions rate
58%
SAT average
1,309
9. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
Admissions rate
39%
SAT average
1,362
10. North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC • Private
Admissions rate
47%
SAT average
1,336
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for associate veterinarians
The easiest schools for associate veterinarians to get into are Washington State University, oregon state university, and iowa state university of science and technology.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an associate veterinarian without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for associate veterinarians.
1. Washington State University
Pullman, WA • Private
Admissions rate
77%
SAT average
1,123
2. Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR • Private
Admissions rate
81%
SAT average
1,205
3. Iowa State University of Science and Technology
Ames, IA • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,219
4. Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI • Private
Admissions rate
78%
SAT average
1,224
5. Lincoln Memorial University
Harrogate, TN • Private
Admissions rate
60%
SAT average
1,116
6. Brigham Young University - Idaho
Rexburg, ID • Private
Admissions rate
97%
SAT average
1,140
7. Utah State University
Logan, UT • Private
Admissions rate
89%
SAT average
1,201
8. North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
1,170
9. Texas A&M University
College Station, TX • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
1,291
10. Louisiana State University and A&M College
Baton Rouge, LA • Private
Admissions rate
74%
SAT average
1,242
Average associate veterinarian salary by education level
| Associate veterinarian education level | Associate veterinarian salary |
|---|---|
| Doctorate Degree | $87,877 |
Associate veterinarian education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025