Best degree programs for Veterinarians, ranked by enrollment
11 college programs and 52 schools train Veterinarians. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $130,100 median wage, 83,900 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
11 college programs at 52 schools train veterinarians, graduating 4,853 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Veterinary Medicine. The job pays a median of $130,100 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About veterinarians
Diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals. Includes veterinarians who conduct research and development, inspect livestock, or care for pets and companion animals.
A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal reproduction, health management, conservation, husbandry and breeding and preventive medicine like nutrition, vaccination and parasitic control as well as biosecurity and zoonotic disease surveillance and prevention.
Read more on Wikipedia →Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
11 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veterinary Medicinemain feeder CIP 01.8001 | 3,882 | 80.0% | 34 | — | — |
| 2 | CIP 01.8101 | 740 | 15.2% | 23 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 3 | CIP 01.8110 | 63 | 1.3% | 6 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 4 | Comparative and Laboratory Animal Medicinemain feeder CIP 01.8102 | 47 | 1.0% | 6 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 5 | Veterinary Pathology and Pathobiologymain feeder CIP 01.8108 | 46 | 0.9% | 6 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 6 | Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiologymain feeder CIP 01.8107 | 30 | 0.6% | 4 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 7 | Veterinary Infectious Diseasesmain feeder CIP 01.8106 | 29 | 0.6% | 4 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 8 | Small/Companion Animal Surgery and Medicinemain feeder CIP 01.8104 | 11 | 0.2% | 1 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 9 | Veterinary Physiologymain feeder CIP 01.8109 | 3 | 0.1% | 2 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 10 | CIP 01.8103 | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
| 11 | CIP 01.8199 | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $30,855 | $21,335 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What veterinarians earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $163,920 | 9,170 | 0.93× | 6 | 507 |
| Floridalimited | $131,660 | 5,360 | 1.00× | 2 | 378 |
| Tennesseemoderate | $124,350 | 1,730 | 0.98× | 3 | 300 |
| Texaslimited | $131,330 | 6,270 | 0.83× | 2 | 251 |
| Ohiomoderate | $125,060 | 3,430 | 1.15× | 3 | 229 |
| Arizonalimited | $152,020 | 2,080 | 1.19× | 2 | 226 |
| New Yorklimited | $131,830 | 3,390 | 0.65× | 2 | 221 |
| Alabamalimited | $105,630 | 1,020 | 0.89× | 2 | 186 |
| Illinoislimited | $133,580 | 2,330 | 0.71× | 2 | 172 |
| Coloradolimited | $130,840 | 2,340 | 1.51× | 1 | 169 |
| Pennsylvaniamoderate | $133,520 | 3,490 | 1.07× | 4 | 166 |
| Iowalimited | $124,610 | 1,000 | 1.19× | 1 | 165 |
| Georgialimited | $126,590 | 2,670 | 1.01× | 1 | 163 |
| Minnesotalimited | $133,110 | 2,140 | 1.34× | 1 | 159 |
| Washingtonlimited | $160,510 | 2,390 | 1.25× | 2 | 150 |
| Missourilimited | $114,660 | 1,920 | 1.21× | 2 | 146 |
| Virginialimited | $126,730 | 2,700 | 1.22× | 2 | 145 |
| Kansaslimited | $107,080 | 1,000 | 1.29× | 1 | 124 |
| Mississippilimited | $105,370 | 480 | 0.76× | 1 | 123 |
| Louisianalimited | $124,370 | 950 | 0.91× | 1 | 117 |
| Michiganlimited | $125,390 | 2,030 | 0.86× | 1 | 111 |
| Massachusettslimited | $140,260 | 1,920 | 0.98× | 1 | 107 |
| Oklahomalimited | $98,090 | 1,150 | 1.25× | 1 | 103 |
| North Carolinalimited | $129,240 | 2,940 | 1.10× | 1 | 95 |
| Wisconsinlimited | $108,780 | 1,830 | 1.15× | 1 | 94 |
| Indianalimited | $124,530 | 1,500 | 0.87× | 1 | 90 |
| Oregonlimited | $128,880 | 1,660 | 1.57× | 1 | 82 |
| Marylandlimited | $163,170 | 1,430 | 0.96× | 1 | 37 |
| New Mexicolimited | $129,390 | 460 | 0.99× | 1 | 19 |
| South Dakotalimited | $88,650 | 280 | 1.13× | 1 | 12 |
| Kentuckylimited | $104,100 | 1,190 | 1.10× | 1 | 6 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery.
- Inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper.
- Examine animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries.
- Collect body tissue, feces, blood, urine, or other body fluids for examination and analysis.
- Operate diagnostic equipment, such as radiographic or ultrasound equipment, and interpret the resulting images.
- Educate the public about diseases that can be spread from animals to humans.
- Counsel clients about the deaths of their pets or about euthanasia decisions for their pets.
- Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension4.1
- Active Listening4.1
- Active Learning4.0
- Critical Thinking3.9
- Speaking3.9
- Science3.9
- Writing3.5
- Monitoring3.3
Knowledge areas
- Biology4.7
- Medicine and Dentistry4.7
- Customer and Personal Service4.5
- English Language4.3
- Mathematics3.7
- Education and Training3.5
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.1
- Written Comprehension4.1
- Oral Expression4.1
- Inductive Reasoning4.0
- Deductive Reasoning4.0
- Near Vision4.0
Core activities
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.8
- Getting Information4.5
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.5
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.5
- Documenting/Recording Information4.3
- Performing for or Working Directly with the Public4.3
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Veterinarian
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Veterinarians11 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.8001Veterinary Medicine
- 01.8101Veterinary Sciences/Veterinary Clinical Sciences, General
- 01.8102Comparative and Laboratory Animal Medicine
- 01.8103Large Animal/Food Animal and Equine Surgery and Medicine
- 01.8104Small/Companion Animal Surgery and Medicine
- 01.8105Veterinary Anatomy(no graduates reported)
- 01.8106Veterinary Infectious Diseases
- 01.8107Veterinary Microbiology and Immunobiology
- 01.8108Veterinary Pathology and Pathobiology
- 01.8109Veterinary Physiology
- 01.8110Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health
- 01.8111Veterinary Toxicology and Pharmacology(no graduates reported)
- 01.8199Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Other
- 60.0301Veterinary Anesthesiology Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0302Veterinary Dentistry Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0303Veterinary Dermatology Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0304Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Medicine Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0305Veterinary Internal Medicine Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0306Laboratory Animal Medicine Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0307Veterinary Microbiology Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0308Veterinary Nutrition Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0309Veterinary Ophthalmology Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0310Veterinary Pathology Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0311Veterinary Practice Residency Program(no graduates reported)
- 60.0312Veterinary Preventive Medicine Residency Program(no graduates reported)
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Veterinarian?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Veterinary Medicine, which awarded 3,882 degrees in 2024-25, 80.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Veterinarian?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 11 programs to this occupation. The largest are Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences. Together they graduate about 4,853 people a year.
How much do veterinarians earn?+
The median is $130,100 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $73,920 at the 10th percentile to $215,700 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for veterinarians growing?+
BLS projects a +9.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 3,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
52 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 11 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do veterinarians work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Veterinary Medicine Doctor (DVM), Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), Emergency Veterinarian (Emergency Vet), Small Animal Veterinarian (Small Animal Vet) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1131.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card