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Veterinarian Loan Repayment Programs by State

State programs that pay down a veterinarian’s student loans, forgive a loan taken out during veterinary school, or pay a grant for years of rural or shortage-area practice.

Each page is built from the program’s own official page and the law it cites (read 2026-09-23): the award, the service commitment, who qualifies and the application status on that date.

The federal Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program is national and is covered in which loan-repayment programs apply to veterinarians.

Repayment an employer offers in a contract is a separate thing, covered in signing bonuses and employer loan repayment.

What rural practice involves, and how VMLRP designates shortage areas, is in rural practice and shortage-area incentives.

ArkansasOut-of-State Veterinary Medical Education Loan Repayment ProgramAmount not published · Not accepting applications (September 23, 2026)GeorgiaGeorgia Veterinary Education Loan Repayment Program (GVELRP)Amount not published · Accepting applications (September 23, 2026)IowaRural Iowa Veterinarian Loan Repayment ProgramUp to $60,000 · No application window published (September 23, 2026)KansasVeterinary Training Program for Rural Kansas (VTPRK)Amount not published · No application window published (September 23, 2026)KentuckyKentucky Rural Veterinary Medicine Student Loan Repayment ProgramUp to $87,500 · Not accepting applications (September 23, 2026)MaineMaine Veterinary Medicine Loan ProgramUp to $140,000 · Not accepting applications (September 23, 2026)MinnesotaMinnesota Rural Veterinarian Loan Repayment ProgramUp to $75,000 · No application window published (September 23, 2026)MissouriDr. Merrill Townley and Dr. Dan Brown Large Animal Veterinary Student Loan ProgramAmount not published · Not accepting applications (September 23, 2026)NebraskaNebraska Production Animal Rural Veterinarian Grant ProgramUp to $150,000 · No application window published (September 23, 2026)New MexicoNew Mexico Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment ProgramUp to $80,000 · Not accepting applications (September 23, 2026)North DakotaNorth Dakota Veterinarian Loan Repayment ProgramUp to $80,000 · Not accepting applications (September 23, 2026)OklahomaOklahoma Rural Veterinary Scholarship and Loan Forgiveness ProgramUp to $100,000 · Not accepting applications (September 23, 2026)TexasRural Veterinarian Incentive Program (RVIP)Up to $180,000 · No application window published (September 23, 2026)VirginiaVDACS Large Animal Veterinary Grant ProgramUp to $110,000 · Not accepting applications (September 23, 2026)

Programs without a page, and why

These states have, or had, a veterinarian loan-repayment law or program that could not be confirmed as funded and open on its own official page on September 23, 2026.

  • Colorado (Veterinary Education Loan Repayment Program (VELRP)): Colorado State University's program page says no funding is available for new applicants: the one-time 2021 funds are fully allocated and new funding is not expected during the 2026 legislative year.
  • Ohio (Veterinarian loan repayment program (ORC 4741.40–4741.47) and Veterinary Student Debt Assistance Program): The Ohio Department of Agriculture's veterinary resources page points only to the federal VMLRP, and no current Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board page for either state program could be read; funding and cycle are unverified.
  • Tennessee (none found): The Tennessee Department of Agriculture's veterinary resources page lists only the federal VMLRP; no state program was found.
  • Wisconsin (Veterinary loan repayment grant program (2025 Wisconsin Act 177)): Enacted in April 2026 and administered by the Higher Educational Aids Board, but HEAB publishes no program page, application or funding yet.
  • Wyoming (Veterinarian Loan Repayment Program (W.S. 11-18-119)): The statute and 2015 Livestock Board rules exist, but no current Wyoming Livestock Board page describing the program, its funding or an application cycle was found.

A state missing from both lists has not been written up yet, which is not a statement that it has no program.

AVMA’s own state summary was last updated August 2017 and has been withdrawn, so this list was rebuilt program by program.