Demand for Veterinary Education The Veterinary Applicant Pool

Lisa M. Greenhill, MPA, EdD

Associate Executive Director for

Institutional Research & Diversity

Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges

Applicant Research Portfolio• Fourth Year of this Growing Collection of Research

• General Applicants• Applicants Who Do Not Complete Their Applications• Applicants Who Apply to International Institutions• Post-Admissions Cycle Survey

• Variety of Research Topics• Demographics• Career Interests• Level of Financial Literacy & Financial Behaviors• Debt Impressions• Application Experience

2,247 2,1932,381

2,843

2,981

3,586

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

19

82

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First Year DVM Student Enrollment at the US Colleges of Veterinary Medicine

AAVMC Internal Reports1980-2015

Year 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Enrollment 2,027 2,254 2,247 2,320 2,247 2,281 2,279 2,207 2,208 2,194 2,193 2,195 2,258 2,296 2,276 2,283 2,334 2,326Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Enrollment 2,299 2,361 2,381 2,382 2,406 2,488 2,570 2,570 2,657 2,704 2,766 2,793 2,843 2,933 3,013 2,981 3,310 3,586

7,286

3,922

6,783

4,440

6,769

6,600

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

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Year

Veterinary School Applicant Figures AAVMC Internal Data Reports

1980- 2015

19 years 16 years

56

73

82 84 85 86 88 89 8995

100 102 102 102 104109

113 114 117 120 120 120 123 123 126132 134

139 142

162

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

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180

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College of Veterinary Medicine

Number of Seats in the First Year ClassBy College of Veterinary Medicine

AAVMC Internal Reports2014-2015

320

209

169

138

120

100

7770

6049 43

1912

5 00

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

CA TX FL NY IL

OH MI

NC

GA

PA

VA

CO TN WI

MN LA NJ

MD

WA

MA

MO IN AL

KY

OK IA AZ

KS

OR

PR SC MS

CT

UT

WV

MT

NM AR

NH

NV ID ND SD VT

DE RI

WY HI

NE

ME

AK

DC VI

Enrolled First Year Students by State* Residency at the Time of Application

American Students OnlyAAVMC Internal Reports

2015

*Includes enrollees from US territories and the District of ColumbiaOrange bars indicate states and territories with no college or school of veterinary medicine. .

2,570 2,570 2,657 2,704 2,7663,331 3,449

3,968 4,116 4,038 4,230

4,453 4,5815,194

5,740 5,920

6,208 6,1436,265 6,305 6,769 6,744

1.9 2.0

2.2

2.3 2.4

1.91.8

1.6 1.51.7

1.6

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

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0

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4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009* 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Ap

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Academic Year Ending

VMCAS Applicants and First Year SeatsUS and International Institutions

AAVMC Internal Reports2004-2014

First Year Seats VMCAS Applicants Applicant to Seat Ratio

*2009 is the first year data is available forAAVMC International Members

3.55

3.54

3.57

3.57

3.60

3.56

3.35

3.4

3.45

3.5

3.55

3.6

3.65

3.7

3.75

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Ave

rage

Gra

de

Po

int

Ave

rage

Academic Year Ending

1st Year Student Pre-Vet GPA10 Year Trend

AAVMC Internal Reports2006-2015

The mean science pre-vet GPA for 1st year students in 2014 was 3.48.

Additional Admitted Applicant Information

• Average Years of Pre-professional Preparation:• 5.6 Years

• GRE Scores – Class of 2018• Average Verbal Percentile= 65.1

• Average Quantitative Score = 58.1

• Degree status of Class of 2018 at admission• No Degree Completed = 9.7%

• BS/BA Completed = 85.1%

• MS/MA Competed = 4.9%

• PhD Completed = .3%

• 2014-2015 Academic Year• Resident Tuition - $22K (median)

• Non-Resident Tuition – $46.3K (median)

Where are applicants from?

0

100

200

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Northeast Midwest South West Canada ForeignNational

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Ap

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ants

Rural Suburban Urban

16.9

27.5%31.2%

18.5%

0.8% 0.8%

85.8%

1.6%

6.8%

2.1%

5.5%

0.8%

0% 50% 100%

White/Middle Eastern

AmericanIndian/Alaskan Native

Asian

Black/AfricanAmerican

Hispanic

NativeHawaiian/Pacific…

Decline to Answer

Race/Ethnicity

86.7%

13.0%

0.3%

Gender

Female Male Other Categories

Applicant Career Path Interests

65.9

41.0

37.5

31.6

28.4

26.6

23.9

22.1

12.2

5.3

0.1

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0

Private Practice

Production/Large Animal

Equine

Research

Shelter Medicine

Public Health

Training

Federal Government

Corporate Veterinary Medicine

Public Policy

Other Career Path

Percentage of interested Applicants

Age Percent

10 or younger 57.4%

11-16 20.4%

17-25 18.1%

When applicants develop an interest in veterinary medicine

More Demographics

• Most respondents attended a public undergraduate university• 73.6% in 2015• Regional variation – NE applicants more likely to attend private

institutions• 44% of applicants have taken community college courses.

• Reasons = dual HS enrollment & cost• Average 26 credit hours

• More than 1 out of 5 respondents are first generation college students• 2015- 20.9%

Applicant’s Undergraduate Debt (At time of application)

• Low overall levels of reported undergraduate debt• 46.9% reported no undergraduate student debt

• 78.7% have less than $30,000 in undergraduate debt

58.3%

56.4%

52.2%

23.9%

1.7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Financial Support from Family

Merit Scholarship

Working

Need Based Scholarship

Military Benefits

Factors Contributing to Low Undergraduate Debt

7.9%

11.5%

54.3%

26.3%

Not working

Volunteer Work

Part time for pay

Full time for pay

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

VMCAS Applicant’s Work Status

381 477

1,074

1,264

1,975

-

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

Research Experience Food AnimalExperience

Small AnimalExperience

VeterinaryExperience

Equine Experience

Mean Applicant Experience Hours By Type

Time length based on a 40 hour work week.

Do you plan to bring your pet to vet school?

69.7%

18.8%

11.4%

Yes

No

No, but financially responsible

• Only 12% are planning to rent additional boarding facilities or accommodations.

• Average applicant reported pet expense budget per month= $436.40

• $21,000 at the end of 4 years. • This is a hidden cost to students as

it is not something they seem to consciously include in budget.

• Students are also apt to adopt animals along the way.

2015 Applicants’ Debt Estimate

Applicants Average Estimate= $162,050

25% said less than $100K14.3% said over $250K

Concern about Debt and Employment After Graduation

9.2%

17.1%

23.7%31.5%

18.5%

Concern about Ability to Pay off Student Loans within 10-25 years

17.0%

33.9%25.8%

16.5%

6.8%

Concern about Employability After Completing DVM

Some General Observations

• Only about 25% of applicants are 1st time college attendees and less than 20% are from other underrepresented backgrounds.

Willingness to Pay

• Applicants are willing to pay a lot of money to become a vet.• This is in part because of a lack of financial literacy and

knowledge about the cost of a veterinary medical education and the more general costs of being in graduate school or “adulting.”

• This is also a fiscal representation of passion for the profession.

Some Research Observations

• Increases in financial literacy are generally not correlated with improved financial decision making until 40+.

• More affluent youth are more likely to make poor financial decisions because of low financial literacy levels.

• There are few standards for what constitutes “good financial education.”

• The best practice is to have a certified financial planner or advisor available as a part of the student services suite. • The challenge remains to move past the taboo of talking about money.

I own pets because I love them and want

to be a vet.

Demonstrate you know what you’re getting into for low or

no wages.

Admission & Graduating

Debt

$30K Internship/

Residency

You won’t make money, but you have passion.

A Cycle of Inadvertent Messaging Becomes

Reality

• Some Concluding Thoughts• Applicants are still interested.

• Applicants are still competitive.

• Applicants’ levels of financial literacy is no different than their peers.

• Increased financial literacy is not correlated with improved behavior before middle age.

• Their passion for the profession may contribute to a willingness to pay the increasing costs of attendance.

• We can continue to anticipate slow declines in the number of applicants—this can only be abated by active recruitment and education.

• This will impact the applicant to seat ratio, and while this is concerning, the overall competitiveness of the pool can absorb some of these changes.

Please send inquiries to:

Lisa M. Greenhill, MPA, EdD

Associate Executive Director for

Institutional Research & Diversity

lgreenhill@aavmc.org

202-371-9195