Pennsylvania·Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations·SOC 29-2056

Best Veterinary Technologist programs in Pennsylvania, ranked by enrollment

Perform medical tests in a laboratory environment for use in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases in animals. Prepare vaccines and serums for prevention of diseases.

11 schools in Pennsylvania run programs that feed this job, graduating 307 people a year. The job pays a median of $46,430 in Pennsylvania across about 6,620 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledVeterinary Technician (Vet Tech)Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT)Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT)Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT)Veterinary TechnologistVeterinary X-Ray OperatorVeterinary Nurse (Vet Nurse)Swine Technician (Swine Tech)
Graduates / yr
307
in Pennsylvania
Median pay · Pennsylvania
$46,430
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
6,620
people employed
Schools
11
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
52%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,082
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Pennsylvania page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1307
100.0%
11$33,581$14,171

Top 11 schools in Pennsylvania

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 11 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Vet Tech Institute
Pittsburgh, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
116Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$30,99074%$18,65078%
2YTI Career Institute - York
York, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
43Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$32,09745%$17,792
3Harcum College
Bryn Mawr, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
28Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$39,28844%$27,244
4Pennsylvania Western University
California, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
23Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant52%94%
5Wilson College
Chambersburg, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
19Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$35,55448%$18,58692%
6Lancaster County Career and Technology Center
Willow Street, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
16Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant91%
7Great Lakes Institute of Technology
Erie, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
15Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$18,15564%$19,736
8Lehigh Carbon Community College
Schnecksville, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
15Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$37,38130%
9Institute of Medical Careers
Pittsburgh, PA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant76%$20,376
10Manor College
Jenkintown, PA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$43,30826%$19,08295%
11Northampton County Area Community College
Bethlehem, PA Public · 1 feeder programs
7Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant$34,33524%

All 11 schools in Pennsylvania

Every school in Pennsylvania with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Pennsylvania that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Vet Tech InstitutePittsburghPrivate for-profit1161
YTI Career Institute - YorkYorkPrivate for-profit431
Harcum CollegeBryn MawrPrivate not-for-profit281
Pennsylvania Western UniversityCaliforniaPublic231
Wilson CollegeChambersburgPrivate not-for-profit191
Lancaster County Career and Technology CenterWillow StreetPublic161
Great Lakes Institute of TechnologyEriePrivate for-profit151
Lehigh Carbon Community CollegeSchnecksvillePublic151
Institute of Medical CareersPittsburghPrivate for-profit131
Manor CollegeJenkintownPrivate not-for-profit121
Northampton County Area Community CollegeBethlehemPublic71

What veterinary technologists and technicians earn in Pennsylvania

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Pennsylvania
$46,430
Mean annual
$47,270
Jobs in state
6,620
What the range looks like
10th pct$36,480Median$46,43090th pct$60,280
Versus the national median
-2.0%

U.S. median $47,380. Pennsylvania pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.31×

Concentrated here: Pennsylvania employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Pennsylvania

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
$48,340median
3,370 jobs
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
$46,650median
430 jobs
Pittsburgh, PA
$45,420median
1,310 jobs
Lancaster, PA
$46,020median
330 jobs
Gettysburg, PA
$44,860median
40 jobs
Reading, PA
$45,570median
190 jobs
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
$45,510median
280 jobs
State College, PA
$44,940median
120 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+9.1%
Much faster than average
Openings per year
14,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
12,200
134,200 → 146,400
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Veterinary Technologists and Technicians page.

How to become a Veterinary Technologist

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionSpeakingWritingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Pennsylvania

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 2 majors mapped to Veterinary Technologists and Technicians2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 01.8301Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant
  • 01.8399Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing veterinary technologists and technicians programs in Pennsylvania.

What degree do you need to become a Veterinary Technologist?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant, which awarded 307 degrees in Pennsylvania in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Veterinary Technologist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 307 people a year in Pennsylvania.

How much do veterinary technologists and technicians earn in Pennsylvania?+

The median is $46,430 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.0% below the U.S. median of $47,380. 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 veterinary technologists and technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +9.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 14,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Pennsylvania?+

11 institutions in Pennsylvania reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 veterinary technologists and technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Veterinary Technician (Vet Tech), Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT), Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT), Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-2056.

Veterinary Technologists and Technicians in other statesCaliforniaTexasArizonaFloridaColoradoNew YorkVirginiaWashington

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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