Vet Tech Programs in Maryland
AVMA lists 1 CVTEA-accredited veterinary technology program in Maryland: the Essex Campus of the Community College Of Baltimore County in Baltimore, which awards an Associate of Applied Science on plain FULL ACCREDITATION.
AVMA names no bachelor's program in the state and no Maryland-based program on its distance-education list.
Maryland's registration is voluntary to hold — the law protects the registered title, not the work itself — but the state writes an accredited-program route and an experience-based alternate route, both summarized below.
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 Maryland
AVMA lists 1 accredited veterinary technology program in Maryland, 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 · Baltimore, MD
- Associate of Applied Science
Initial accreditation: April, 1978 · Next evaluation (as AVMA lists it): 2025
FULL ACCREDITATION
From AVMA’s CVTEA program list, retrieved 2026-09-23.
One program: the Essex Campus of the Community College Of Baltimore County
Maryland's section of AVMA's list is a single entry: the Essex Campus of the Community College Of Baltimore County, listed in Baltimore under the program name Veterinary Technology Program.
Its only degree line is an Associate of Applied Science, so AVMA lists no bachelor's-granting veterinary technology program in Maryland, and it prints no former name and no campus-versus-distance split for the school.
The entry shows initial accreditation in April, 1978, a next evaluation in 2025 and a status line that reads simply FULL ACCREDITATION, so there is no status caveat to read past before applying.
That is the whole list — anything else, from schedules to clinical placements, is a question for the school.
No Maryland program on AVMA's distance-education list
The Essex Campus of the Community College Of Baltimore County is the only program AVMA lists in Maryland, and it is not on AVMA's separate distance-education list.
AVMA names 13 distance programs in all, each listed under the state where it is based; they appear lower on this page.
For any of them, a Maryland resident needs the same answers from the school: whether it admits students living in Maryland, and how it arranges the supervised clinical hours every accredited program requires at a practice near the student.
A distance program that admits Maryland residents can feed the state's registration through the same AVMA-approved-program route — the 13 programs are AVMA CVTEA-accredited — so the route exists even though the by-state list carries no entry based in Maryland.
What Maryland's RVT registration asks of a program
Maryland registers veterinary technicians as Registered Veterinary Technicians (RVTs) through the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, and holding the registration is voluntary: Agriculture Article §2-309(a) says a person may register, and the practice-side condition the statute sets is employment by a veterinary practitioner — what registration gates is the registered title, which §2-313 protects.
COMAR Title 15, Subtitle 14, Chapter 13 writes 2 routes in.
Route 1 is graduation from an AVMA-approved veterinary technology program, which is what the Essex Campus of the Community College Of Baltimore County entry above is.
Route 2 pairs an associate's degree or higher and 6 named science courses with a Maryland Technician Skill Assessment, 10,000 documented hours of work experience, 24 hours of technician continuing education and 24 hours in a veterinary emergency facility.
Either route ends in the same exams: the VTNE plus a State Board Examination, and the registration runs for 3 years.
State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (Maryland Department of Agriculture)
Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT) — the rule defines the term as 'a person who is registered with the Board as a veterinary technician,' and the Board's own page speaks of becoming licensed as an RVT even though the credential is a registration.
Two routes under COMAR 15.14.13.03: graduation from an AVMA-approved veterinary technology program, or an alternate route pairing an associate's degree or higher and six named science courses with a skill assessment, 10,000 hours of work experience, 24 hours of CE and 24 hours in an emergency facility.
The Maryland State Veterinary Technician Examination is both the VTNE and a State Board Examination; the state part is a read-and-attest to Maryland's technician laws, and previously passed exam scores must be no more than 5 years old.
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 Maryland, 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 Maryland?
AVMA's CVTEA list, retrieved September 23, 2026, names 1 accredited veterinary technology program in Maryland: the Essex Campus of the Community College Of Baltimore County in Baltimore, which awards an Associate of Applied Science.
Its status line is FULL ACCREDITATION, with initial accreditation in April, 1978 and a next evaluation in 2025.
Accreditation status changes, so check AVMA's own list for the current entry before you apply.
Is there a bachelor's degree vet tech program in Maryland?
No. The single program on AVMA's Maryland list, the Essex Campus of the Community College Of Baltimore County, awards an Associate of Applied Science, and that is the only degree line the list carries for the state.
A student who wants a bachelor's-level veterinary technology degree would need to look beyond this list, and should confirm with the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners how any program they are considering fits Maryland's registration.
Is the Essex Campus of the Community College Of Baltimore County's vet tech program accredited?
Yes.
AVMA lists it in Baltimore with a status line of FULL ACCREDITATION, initial accreditation in April, 1978 and a next evaluation in 2025.
The program awards an Associate of Applied Science.
AVMA's list itself carries no outcomes figures, so if a published first-time VTNE pass rate matters to your decision, ask the school directly for its current figure.
Can I become a vet tech in Maryland without an accredited program?
Yes.
Maryland's credentialing rule writes an alternate route for applicants who did not graduate from an AVMA-approved program: an associate's degree or higher with 6 named science courses, a Maryland Technician Skill Assessment, 10,000 documented hours of work experience as a technician, and 24 hours of technician continuing education plus 24 hours in a veterinary emergency facility — all before sitting the exams.
It is a demanding route; the accredited program on the list above is the direct one.
Confirm current details with the Board.
Do you have to be registered to work as a vet tech in Maryland?
Not to do the work, on the sources behind Maryland's requirements page.
Agriculture Article §2-309(a) says a person may register with the Board, and the practice-side condition in §2-313 turns on employment by a veterinary practitioner, not registration.
An unregistered employee of a Maryland practice can lawfully work as a technician; what the law reserves is the registered title, which §2-313 makes it a prohibited act to advertise without.
A registration runs 3 years and renews through the Board.
Confirm your situation with the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners before relying on this.
More Maryland Veterinary Technician Resources
Sources
- AVMA CVTEA — Veterinary technology programs accredited by the AVMA CVTEA (Maryland 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)
- Maryland Department of Agriculture, State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners — For Veterinary Technicians: Initial Licensure & Reinstatements, as summarised on the Maryland requirements page (retrieved 2026-09-16)
Program list: AVMA CVTEA, retrieved 2026-09-23. Page last updated 2026-09-23.