Vet Tech Programs in Hawaii
AVMA lists 1 CVTEA-accredited veterinary technology program in Hawaii: Windward Community College in Kaneohe, which awards an Associate in Science on plain full accreditation, with AVMA's next evaluation set for 2029.
No Hawaii-based program appears on AVMA's distance-education list.
The single in-state campus is not the only route to the credential, though: Hawaii's registration also admits a comparable out-of-state credential, and an AVMA-accredited distance program qualifies the same way.
Every applicant needs the VTNE.
Accredited programs
1
Offer an associate degree
1
Offer a bachelor's
0
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 Hawaii
AVMA lists 1 accredited veterinary technology program in Hawaii, 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 Program · Kaneohe, HI
- Associate in Science
Initial accreditation: March 15, 2013 · Next evaluation (as AVMA lists it): 2029
FULL ACCREDITATION
From AVMA’s CVTEA program list, retrieved 2026-09-23.
One program, an associate degree, and no status line to check
Windward Community College in Kaneohe is the single entry on AVMA's Hawaii list, under the program name Veterinary Technology Program.
It awards an Associate in Science, and its track carries plain full accreditation: initial accreditation dated March 15, 2013, and AVMA's next evaluation set for 2029.
Nothing in the entry needs a second read — no deficiencies are printed, the school carries no former name, and it is not on AVMA's distance list.
What the list does not tell you is everything a visit or a call decides: the schedule, the clinical placements, the school's published VTNE pass rate.
Those are questions for the school itself.
No Hawaii-based program on AVMA's distance list
AVMA's separate distance-education list names no program based in Hawaii; Windward Community College is not on it.
The list carries 13 distance programs in all, each listed under the state where it is based, and this page reproduces that list below.
A Hawaii resident considering one of the 13 is asking the same questions any distance student asks: does the program admit students living in Hawaii, and how does it arrange the supervised clinical hours every AVMA-accredited program requires at a practice near the student?
Both answers come from the school, not from AVMA's list.
What Hawaii's registration asks of a program
Hawaii registers veterinary technicians through the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, under HRS chapter 472.
Section 472-3 asks every applicant to have passed the VTNE and to meet one of three conditions: graduation from a program accredited by the AVMA's Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities, an out-of-state credential in good standing from a state with comparable standards, or — for applications filed before July 1, 2021 only — a notarized employer statement certifying years of practical Hawaii experience.
The accredited-program condition is not limited to the campus above: any AVMA-CVTEA-accredited program meets it, including the 13 distance programs.
The registration is mandatory to use the title, not to work in a practice as supervised support staff, under section 472-2.
Hawaii Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs (DCCA), Professional & Vocational Licensing Division — not the Board of Veterinary Medicine, which governs veterinarians only
A Veterinary Technician (VT) registration under HRS chapter 472; the statute's two titles are veterinary technician and registered veterinary technician, with RVT or VT as the letters a registrant may append.
Age eighteen plus the VTNE, then one of three §472-3 routes: an AVMA-CVTEA-accredited program, a comparable out-of-state credential, or (applications before July 1, 2021 only) a notarized employer statement of five years of practical Hawaii experience.
The Veterinary Technician National Examination is a statutory prerequisite for every applicant; no Hawaii-specific jurisprudence exam was found in the sources read.
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 Hawaii, 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 Hawaii?
AVMA's CVTEA list, retrieved September 23, 2026, names 1 accredited veterinary technology program in Hawaii: Windward Community College in Kaneohe, awarding an Associate in Science on full accreditation.
No Hawaii program appears on AVMA's separate distance-education list.
Accreditation status changes, so check AVMA's own list for the current entry before you apply.
Is Windward Community College's vet tech program accredited?
Yes.
AVMA lists Windward Community College on full accreditation, with initial accreditation dated March 15, 2013 and the next evaluation set for 2029.
Its status line is plain full accreditation, with no deficiencies or conditions printed alongside it, and it is the only program AVMA lists in Hawaii.
Check AVMA's list for the current status before you enroll, since accreditation status changes.
Is there a bachelor's degree vet tech program in Hawaii?
No. The one program AVMA lists in Hawaii, Windward Community College, awards an Associate in Science, and no Hawaii program on the list retrieved September 23, 2026 awards a bachelor's.
That does not block the credential: the statute asks for an AVMA-CVTEA-accredited program at any degree level, so Windward's associate degree meets it, and a CVTEA-accredited bachelor's program would too.
The VTNE applies either way.
Confirm your route with DCCA before enrolling.
Can Hawaii residents use an online distance-education vet tech program?
AVMA's distance-education list names no program based in Hawaii; Windward Community College is not on it.
The list does carry 13 distance programs in all, each listed under its home state, and this page reproduces the list below.
Because those programs are CVTEA-accredited, they can meet the same accredited-program condition as an in-state program.
Ask each school whether it admits students living in Hawaii and how it arranges clinical placements near you, and confirm the route with DCCA before enrolling.
Can I qualify for Hawaii's vet tech registration through work experience?
Only if you applied before July 1, 2021.
The statute then allowed a notarized employer statement certifying five or more years of practical Hawaii experience, with no credit for experience gained outside the state.
That window is closed.
Today the routes are any AVMA-CVTEA-accredited program — in Hawaii, on the mainland, or by distance — or a comparable out-of-state credential, and the VTNE applies in every case.
More Hawaii Veterinary Technician Resources
Sources
- AVMA CVTEA — Veterinary technology programs accredited by the AVMA CVTEA (Hawaii 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)
- Hawaii DCCA, Professional & Vocational Licensing Division — Veterinary Technician Program page, as summarised on the Hawaii requirements page (retrieved 2026-09-16)
- Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 472, Veterinary Technology Practice, as summarised on the Hawaii requirements page (retrieved 2026-09-16)
Program list: AVMA CVTEA, retrieved 2026-09-23. Page last updated 2026-09-23.