U.S. flag
    An official website of the United States government
      Here's how you know
    Here's how you know
    Contact UsDot gov**The .gov means it’s official.**
          
          Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.
    Https**The site is secure.**
          
          The **https://** ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.  National Institute of Food and Agriculture
    United States Department of Agriculture
  Menu
    Search Close
      Topics

    About Topics

NIFA supports research, educational, and extension efforts in a wide range of scientific fields related to agricultural and behavioral sciences.

View Topics Page
        Ecology Issues
  

        
      Environment
                              Natural ResourcesFarms and Ranches
  

        
      Farming and Ranching
                              Animals
                              Plants
        Health and Science
  

        
      Food Science
                              Human Science
                              Health
                              Advanced Technologies
        Future of Farming
  

        
      Business and Economics
                              Education
                              International Resources
  Grants

    About Grants

The lifecycle of grants and cooperative agreements consists of four phases: Pre-Award, Award, Post-Award, and Close Out.

View Grants Page
        Grant Basics
  

        
      Pre-Award Phase
                              Award Phase
                              Post-Award Phase
                              Close-Out Phase
                              Grant Training/Technical AssistancePrograms
  

        
      Capacity
                              Competitive (AFRI and Non-AFRI)
                              Non-Competitive
                              Program Operational Areas
        Funding Opportunities
  

        
      Search Funding Opportunities
                              Request for Application (RFA) Calendar
                              Request for Application (RFA) ListLoan Repayment
  

        
      Veterinary Medicine Loan RepaymentOur Partners
  

        
      Land-Grant University Website Directory
  Data

    Access to Data

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture is committed to serving its stakeholders, Congress, and the public by using new technologies to advance greater openness.

View Data Page
        NIFA Dashboards
  

        
      NIFA Grant Funding
                              NIFA Application Status DashboardNIFA Reporting System
  

        
      NIFA Reporting SystemREEPort
  

        
      REEport Tool
        Budget and Legislation
  

        
      Budget
                              Legislation
                              NIFA Administrative ActionsMore Tools
  

        
      CRIS - Current Research Information System
                              Data Gateway
                              PRS - Peer Review System
                              LMD - Leadership Management Dashboard
                              REEIS - Research, Education and Economics Information System
                              WebNEERS
                              ASAP - Automated Standard Application for Payments
        Access Data GatewayThe Data Gateway enables users to find funding data, metrics, and information about research, education, and extension projects that have received grant awards from NIFA.
  Resources

    View Resources PageThis website houses a large volume of supporting materials. In this section, you can search the wide range of documents, videos, and other resources.View Resources Page
        Documents
  

        
      All Documents
                              Forms
                              Instructions
                              Maps
                              Official Publications and Guidelines
                              Reports
        Promotional Materials
  

        
      Fact Sheets
                              Brochures
                              Presentations
                              Infographics
                              Webinars
        Featured Webinar
    Second Annual Virtual Grants Support Technical Assistance Workshop
    Check out this five-day workshop in March 2024 workshop, designed to help you learn about NIFA grants and resources for grants development and management.

    Read More
  About

    About NIFA

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture provides leadership and funding for programs that advance agriculture-related sciences.

View About Page
        News
  

        
      Newsroom
                              Press Releases
                              Blogs
                              AnnouncementsImpacts
  

        
      Featured Impact
                              All Impacts
                              NIFA Update
        The Institute
  

        
      Who We Are
                              What We Do
                              How We Work
                              USDA Administration Priorities
                              Career Opportunities
        Civil Rights
  

        
      Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights
                              Civil Rights Compliance Program
                              Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights Resources
                              Diversity and Inclusion Showcase
                              Contact NIFA's Office of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights
                              Language Access ServicesContact Us
 Producer and veterinarian checking on cows. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock
    Breadcrumb
    Home
                                About NIFA

    NIFA Publishes Report on Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program
    
  March 28, 2024SharePrint Friendly Email Twitter Facebook
    
    THE INSTITUTE
                            Who We Are
                            History
                              Relationship to USDA
                              Organizational Structure
                            Leadership
                              Institutes
                              National Program Leaders
                              Contact Us
                              What We Do
                            NIFA Strategic Plan 2022 - 2026
                              NIFA Annual Report 2022
                              Types of Federal Assistance
                              Panelist Information
                              How We Work
                            Research
                              Education
                              Extension
                            Cooperative Ext. System
                              Cooperative Ext. History
                              Partnerships
                            APLU Liaisons
                              Certified Non-Land-Grant Colleges of Agriculture
                              Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)
                              Land-Grant Colleges and Universities
                              NIFA's State, Federal and Other Partners
                              Public and Land-grant Universities Memorial Lecture Series
                              Grants Modernization Initiative
                              Career Opportunities
                              Visit NIFANifa Authors
  Lori Tyler Gula, Senior Public Affairs Specialist

  Since 2010, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) has served the needs of food animal veterinarians and stakeholders in animal agriculture across the nation by supporting veterinary educational debt repayment in return for veterinarians’ services in designated, high priority, shortage situations. In this time, the VMLRP has awarded nearly 800 food animal veterinarians with loan repayment assistance.

  “Food animal veterinarians who care for and safeguard the health of livestock, poultry and aquatic animals, ensuring their welfare as well as food safety, security and quality, are critical for the sustainability of the U.S. food system,” said Dr. Kathe Bjork, NIFA national program leader. “One of the most significant challenges identified for entering the profession and being successful as a food animal veterinarian is the cost of veterinary medical education and the resulting pressures of repaying student debt, especially considering the differences in compensation between food animal and companion animal veterinary practice types.”In 2003, the U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of VMLRP to respond to the challenges with recruitment and retention of food animal veterinarians as well as rising veterinary educational debt. The first awards were made in 2011, and by 2023, annual funding reached $10 million.As one part of its programmatic support for VMLRP stakeholders, the program has produced a summary of its activities and accomplishments and the challenges facing the profession in the VMLRP Program Summary 2010-2022. This report provides an overview of the VMLRP and summarizes trends and activities of the program to respond to the needs of animal health officials, food animal veterinarians, food and fiber animal producers and interested stakeholders, and includes program highlights and accomplishments.In addition, the report summarizes the amount of debt undertaken by awardees and the evidence of the increase in student loan debt among awardees documented over the program period.NIFA allocates the numbers of shortage areas to states, insular areas and federal jurisdictions based on agricultural census data, and animal health officials have used those allocations to nominate specific shortage areas. The number of shortage areas nominated by animal health officials was lowest in 2015 (186) but increased to 226 by 2022. The largest numbers of shortage areas were nominated in the midwestern and western U.S. and in Georgia, and the species identified as having the greatest need has been beef cattle.Over the period 2010-2022, the VMLRP received 2,061 applications from food animal veterinarians and entered into service agreements with 795 awardees. Demographics of applicants and awardees have changed over time with an increasing proportion of female applicants and awardees.The self-reported gender of applicants over the 13-year period shows that females outnumbered males in nearly every year. Of the 1,957 applicants who self-reported their gender, 58% were female. In only one year, 2012, did males exceed females with 55% of applicants, and by 2022, males comprised only 24% of those applicants who reported gender information.The VMLRP award amount has remained the same since the program’s inception, $25,000 per year for a three-year service agreement. Awardees may apply for a renewal award at the end of their three-year period if they have remaining veterinary educational debt. In 2010, the first year applications were accepted, females comprised 42% of awardees. In 2017 and most recent years, this percentage increased and in 2022, 75% of awardees were female.Although the award amount has remained the same, veterinary educational debt of awardees has not. The average amount of debt in 2011, $109,000, rose to $147,000 in 2022, an increase of 35%. Female awardees tended to have higher debt than males. The mean debt for female applicants in 2015-2022 was $145,245 and for males, $120,713. The median debt for females and males was $128,451 and $111,531, respectively.
  VMLRP Program Summary
  
  Since 2010 NIFA's VMLRP has served the needs of food animal veterinarians and stakeholders in animal agriculture across the nation by supporting veterinary educational debt repayment in return for veterinarians’ services in designated, high priority, shortage situations.
      View Program Summary

  Topic
    Education
              Workforce Development
              Animals
              Farming and Ranching

  Related Program
    The Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program

  Farm Bill Priority Areas
    Animal health and production and animal products
              Agriculture economics and rural communities
            Latest Updates
Latest Funding Opportunities
    Latest Blogs
    Latest Impactsfunding opportunity
      New Beginning for Tribal Students Program

      funding opportunity
      Research Facilities Act Program

      funding opportunity
      Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Education and Workforce Development
Latest Updates
Latest Funding Opportunities
    Latest Blogs
    Latest Impactspost
      Protecting Our Water

      post
      Number of AFRI FY 2024 Commodity Board Co-Funding Topics Breaks Record; Expands Focus on Nutrition

      post
      Tropical Birds Could Tolerate Warming Better Than Expected
Latest Updates
Latest Funding Opportunities
    Latest Blogs
    Latest Impactspost
      Tropical Birds Could Tolerate Warming Better Than Expected

      post
      Cultivating the Future: Agricultural Innovations for Climate Resilience

      post
      Nevada Researcher Aims to Improve Sorghum Hybrids for Dairy Cattle Feed Return to top
 Your feedback is important to us. Take the Website Survey
 National Institute of Food and Agriculture
    United States Department of Agriculture
  Menu
        POLICIES AND STATEMENTS
                            Freedom of Information Act
                              Information Quality
                              Our Performance
                              Privacy Policy
                              Accessibility Statement
                              Non-Discrimination Statement
          RELATED SITES
                            USDA.Gov
                              Office of the Inspector General
                              WhiteHouse.gov
                              USA.gov
                              AskUSDA
          RESOURCES
                            Report Fraud on USDA Contracts
                              Plain Writing
                              No Fear Act Data
                              Open Government
                              Careers
                              Survey (A-11)
                              Civil Rights
                              Language Access Services
                              Archives
                              Glossary
                              Sitemap
          Stay Connected
    To sign up for updates or to access your subscriber preferences, please click on the "Sign Me Up" button below.
    Twitter
      Facebook
      Linkedin
      Youtube
    Subscribe to our Newsletter
      Sign Me Up