Vet Tech Programs in Arizona
AVMA lists 6 CVTEA-accredited veterinary technology programs in Arizona, and all 6 print plain FULL ACCREDITATION — no probationary, initial or terminal entries to decipher.
Every program awards an associate degree, and Penn Foster College in Chandler adds the state's only bachelor's; it is also the one Arizona program on AVMA's distance-education list.
Arizona's CVT is voluntary, and the Board's packet glosses its education requirement as graduation from an AVMA-accredited program — a requirement an accredited program meets whether it sits on this list or on AVMA's distance list.
Accredited programs
6
Offer an associate degree
6
Offer a bachelor's
1
Status to check
0
Source: AVMA Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA), “Veterinary technology programs accredited by the AVMA CVTEA” and “Distance education programs in veterinary technology accredited by the AVMA CVTEA”, retrieved 2026-09-23. “Status to check” counts programs whose AVMA status line reads anything other than plain full accreditation.
Check the list and the board before you enroll
AVMA-accredited programs in Arizona
AVMA lists 6 accredited veterinary technology programs in Arizona, alphabetically below, with each degree, date and status line exactly as AVMA prints it. A struck-through degree is one AVMA marks as discontinued.
Veterinary Technology/Animal Health Program · Mesa, AZ
- Associate of Applied Science
Initial accreditation: February 3, 2006 · Next evaluation (as AVMA lists it): 2028
FULL ACCREDITATION
Veterinary Technician Distance Education Program · Chandler, AZ
- Associate in Science
- Bachelor of Applied Science
Initial accreditation: January 5, 2006 · Next evaluation (as AVMA lists it): 2027
FULL ACCREDITATION
Veterinary Technology Program · Tucson, AZ
- Associate of Applied Science
Initial accreditation: January 29, 2003 · Next evaluation (as AVMA lists it): 2031
FULL ACCREDITATION
Veterinary Technology Program · Mesa, AZ
- Associate of Applied Science
Initial accreditation: January 21, 2011 · Next evaluation (as AVMA lists it): 2027
FULL ACCREDITATION
Veterinary Technology Program · Phoenix, AZ
- Associate of Applied Science
Initial accreditation: January 20, 2017 · Next evaluation (as AVMA lists it): 2027
FULL ACCREDITATION
Veterinary Technology Program · Tucson, AZ
- Associate of Applied Science
Initial accreditation: September 2, 2011 · Next evaluation (as AVMA lists it): 2027
FULL ACCREDITATION
From AVMA’s CVTEA program list, retrieved 2026-09-23.
Six programs, four institutions, every entry fully accredited
All 6 Arizona entries award an associate degree, and every one prints AVMA's plain FULL ACCREDITATION line — there are no probationary, initial or terminal entries on this list, and no former names to reconcile.
Mesa Community College and Pima Medical Institute-East Valley are listed in Mesa, Pima Community College and Pima Medical Institute-Tucson in Tucson, Pima Medical Institute-Phoenix in Phoenix, and Penn Foster College in Chandler.
Pima Medical Institute-East Valley, Pima Medical Institute-Phoenix and Pima Medical Institute-Tucson are three separate AVMA entries for one school, so the 6 programs belong to 4 institutions.
AVMA's entry gives each program's city, degree, initial-accreditation date, next evaluation and status line; anything else, from schedules to clinical placements, is a question for the school.
Penn Foster College, the one bachelor's on the list
Penn Foster College in Chandler is the only Arizona program on AVMA's list that awards a bachelor's — a Bachelor of Applied Science — and its entry also carries an Associate in Science, so both degree levels sit in one entry.
AVMA lists the program as the Veterinary Technician Distance Education Program.
Its initial accreditation dates to January 5, 2006, and AVMA's by-state list and its distance-education list agree on the entry: FULL ACCREDITATION, next evaluation 2027.
The two lists are maintained separately and can disagree elsewhere; for this program they match.
Read the bachelor's question and the distance question together, because in Arizona they have the same answer.
Penn Foster College and the distance-education route
Penn Foster College is the only Arizona-based entry on AVMA's distance-education list, and its distance listing shows the same status line and the same 2027 next evaluation as its by-state entry.
AVMA names 13 distance programs in all, each listed under the state where it is based, and this page prints the full list below its program cards.
For any program on that list, an Arizona resident needs two answers from the school before enrolling: whether it admits students living in Arizona, and how it arranges the supervised clinical hours every accredited program requires at a practice near the student.
What Arizona's credential asks of a program
Arizona certifies veterinary technicians as Certified Veterinary Technicians through the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board under A.R.S. § 32-2242, and the Board states plainly that certification is voluntary — working as a veterinary technician in Arizona does not require it.
The statute asks for graduation from a two-year veterinary technology curriculum, or the equivalent of such graduation as determined by the Board, at an institution the Board approves, and the Board's application packet glosses that approval as an AVMA-accredited program.
No experience-based route appears in the packet, and the Board itself reviews applicants who did not graduate from an AVMA-accredited program.
Every program on this list holds the accreditation the packet's gloss names; an applicant must then be at least 18 and pass the VTNE — within five years of applying, unless an out-of-state credential exception applies — plus Arizona's open-book state exam of 50 true/false questions on the Veterinary Practice Act and the Administrative Rules.
Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board
Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT) — the statute speaks of a person 'desiring to be certified as a veterinary technician' under A.R.S. § 32-2242, and the Board's application packet is issued under that section.
Age 18 plus satisfactory evidence of graduation from a two-year curriculum in veterinary technology — or the Board-determined equivalent — at a college or institution approved by the Board, which the packet glosses as an AVMA-accredited program. No on-the-job route appears in the sources read.
Two: the VTNE, which must have been passed within five years of applying unless an employment-based exception applies, and Arizona's own open-book State CVT exam of 50 true/false questions covering the Veterinary Practice Act and the Administrative Rules.
AVMA’s distance-education list
AVMA names 13 programs on a separate distance-education list. Each is listed under the state where it is based. Whether a program admits students living in Arizona, and how it arranges clinical placements there, is a question for the program.
From AVMA’s distance-education program list, retrieved 2026-09-23.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many accredited vet tech programs are in Arizona?
AVMA's CVTEA list, retrieved September 23, 2026, names 6 accredited veterinary technology programs in Arizona.
All 6 award an associate degree, and Penn Foster College in Chandler also awards a Bachelor of Applied Science — the state's only bachelor's.
Every entry prints plain FULL ACCREDITATION on the list as retrieved.
Accreditation status changes, so check AVMA's own list for the current entry before you apply to any of them.
Is there a bachelor's degree vet tech program in Arizona?
Yes, one.
Penn Foster College in Chandler is the only Arizona program on AVMA's list that awards a bachelor's: a Bachelor of Applied Science listed alongside an Associate in Science in the same entry.
AVMA lists the program as the Veterinary Technician Distance Education Program, and both of AVMA's lists print FULL ACCREDITATION with a next evaluation in 2027.
Ask the school how the two degree levels are structured before you enroll.
Can I get certified in Arizona without graduating from an accredited program?
The sources read leave that question to the Board.
The statute asks for graduation from a two-year veterinary technology curriculum, or the equivalent of such graduation as determined by the Board, at an institution the Board approves — approval the Board's packet glosses as AVMA accreditation.
No experience-based route appears in the packet, but the Board itself reviews the eligibility of applicants who did not graduate from an AVMA-accredited program.
Ask the Board directly before you plan around any program that is not on AVMA's list.
Are there online or distance-education vet tech programs for Arizona residents?
Penn Foster College, listed in Chandler, is the one Arizona-based entry on AVMA's distance-education list, and that list of 13 programs is where an online option has to come from.
The full list renders lower on this page, each program under its home state.
For any of the 13, ask the school two questions before enrolling: whether it admits students living in Arizona, and how it arranges the supervised clinical hours at a practice near you.
More Arizona Veterinary Technician Resources
Sources
- AVMA CVTEA — Veterinary technology programs accredited by the AVMA CVTEA (Arizona section and status definitions) (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- AVMA CVTEA — Distance education programs in veterinary technology accredited by the AVMA CVTEA (retrieved 2026-09-23)
- Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board — CVT requirements as summarised on the Arizona requirements page (retrieved 2026-09-16)
- Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board — Certified Veterinary Technicians (CVT) page and Application Packet (Rev. 6/26) (retrieved 2026-09-16)
Program list: AVMA CVTEA, retrieved 2026-09-23. Page last updated 2026-09-23.