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In August 2026, the Department of Education posted its notice of proposed rulemaking related to its stated goals of Accreditation, Innovation and Modernization. This rule would make significant changes to the current process of accreditation for colleges of veterinary medicine, and other health profession education institutions.
AAVMC responded to the notice with a set of comments. As a part of the larger higher education community, AAVMC also signed onto comments created by the American Council on Education, of which we are a member.
AAVMC’s public comments focused on three main points:
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Clarifying that the anti-trust “negative factor” does not relate in any way to the voluntary uptake of the CBVE Framework and Model. This is important to allow future accrediting agencies to adopt the model without concern.
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Educators employed by the colleges should vote in the adoption of profession-wide standards, while recusing themselves from any action about their respective schools. The regulations as proposed would allow educators to input on the standards but then the adoption decision would solely fall to the agencies’ decision-making bodies. AAVMC argues that educators are best suited to evaluate compliance and adoption of new standards, while avoiding unnecessary expense and/or harm to student education.
- A multi-year, phased-in approach would help avoid an accreditation gap. The current American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Education (COE) will need to continue its work accrediting schools, supporting graduate licensure and keeping new schools on track to complete development. Meanwhile, a restructured COE (“COE 2.0”) and potentially other accrediting agencies are under consideration. These entities will need to launch before the current COE retires to avoid a gap in which the current COE is no longer recognized and new agencies are not yet fully operational. An orderly, phased transition would ease anxiety across the profession and help ensure a stable pipeline of veterinary graduates.
One final consideration is that state licensing boards may need to revise their practice acts, which currently require graduates to come from an “AVMA”- or “AVMA COE”-accredited institution to qualify for licensure. Implementing such sweeping changes across the 49 affected jurisdictions will take time and careful consideration.
AAVMC’s work continues to consider future accrediting agencies and their role in the veterinary profession for the good of our colleges and students. Our work alongside other key organizations will continue and more updates will be shared in the coming months.
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