Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment applications now open

After taking an almost year long hiatus, applications for the federal Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) recently opened January 13, 2026. The program will make its return with a with an increase in funding as well as new guidance and evaluation criteria for both renewal and first-time applicants.

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) stated anticipates that approximately $18 million in funding will be available in the federal fiscal year 2026 to help mitigate food animal and certain other veterinary services shortages in the US and its territories.¹ The funding, which is an $8 million increase from previous funding levels, a result of $8 million remaining from fiscal year 2025 funding and $10 million from fiscal year 2026.

“The purpose of the VMLRP is to ensure an adequate supply of trained food animal veterinarians are placed in identified shortage situations. The VMLRP incentivizes food animal veterinarians to serve in veterinary shortage situations in exchange for veterinary education loan repayment assistance,” the guidelines stated.²

“A short-term objective of the program is to match the specific area needs with the knowledge, skills, abilities, experiences, goals, and aspirations of applicants. The long-term objective of the program is to sustain clinical private and public practice in shortage areas by providing educational loan repayment support to veterinarians.”

RELATED: How the USDA Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program works

For this year, the maximum award amount is also increasing, from $25,000 to $40,000 per year for 3 years to repay student loan det, with an additional payment per year of $15,600 to cover tax liability, for a total maximum award of $166,800. This is compared to the previous maximum, which awarded $150,000.

Congress passed the VMLRP in 2010, which allows qualifying veterinarians to offset a massive portion of their debt from school in return for providing their services in areas with a specialty shorter, or just a geographic one, that are critical to food safety as well as animal and public health. The VMLRP receives about 150 applications on average, and issues out 90 awards each year.

The program did not issue a request for applications in the 2025 fiscal year because this past February, the White House announced it was temporarily freezing federal grants pending their review. For this new cycle, the USDA will use the fiscal year 2025 shortages that were identified in the fall of 2025, covering a record 243 veterinary shortage areas across 46 states.¹ The areas were nominated by state animal health officials and federal veterinary medical officers.

The administers of the program, NIFA, anticipate that 90% of the funding will be awarded to private veterinarians for mitigating Type 1 shortages, which are considered at least 80% full-time equivalent employees in food animal practice. Type 2 shortages, which are in rural areas and require at least 30% full-time equivalent employees dedicated to food animal medicine. The 10% left of the funds will then be awarded to veterinarians serving in Type 3 shortages, which are in public practice, specialty practice, or other areas of discipline like epidemiology, food safety, and public health.

Professionals that receive funding from the VMLRP commit to providing at least 3 years of veterinary services in designated shortage situations in return for up to $40,000 for student loan debt per year and has a maximum of 120,000. Tax payments equal to 39% of the total, in addition to the awarded amount, will be paid directly to the participant to offset the additional income claim when they receive the award. This comes out to a maximum of $46,800 for a contract lasting 3 years. The USDA is required to pay federal taxes on behalf of the award recipient since the program began in 2010.

For the 2026 fiscal year VMLRP, new applications are for individuals who have not received a VMLRP award that are in their last year of the VMLRP agreement or the first year after their agreement ended. Previous awardees with a state date of January 1, 2022, 2023, or 2024 may apply for renewal for their original shortage situation. Applicants that are submitting a renewal will apply using their assigned veterinary shortage situation identification code that received from their original award.

Applicants must also have a minimum of $15,000 in eligible student loan debt from a veterinary college that is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education. The guidelines also state that there could be greater flexibility in meeting designated veterinary shortage hourly requirement.

“Flexibility in meeting Designated Veterinary Shortage hourly requirements on a strict weekly basis may be considered if a participant experiences significant challenges, including, but not limited to, seasonality in demand for food animal services. VMLRP program staff are available to consult with existing awardees regarding such situations, and concerns over their potential should not deter applicants,” as stated in the guidelines.

Applicants for the VMLRP are required to submit a letter of intent stating their intent to apply. Specific instructions can be found on the VMLRP website, and letters should be emailed to [email protected] by February 19. Following that, the application deadline will be March 5, 2026.

There will be a technical assistance webinar scheduled and VMLRP staff will send out an announcement to share when it is scheduled. All applicants will be informed by September 30, 2026, and the awards will be effective on January 1, 2027

Reference

1. Larkin M. Applications open for federal Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program. American Veterinary Medical Association. Published January 22, 2026. Accessed January 28, 2026. https://www.avma.org/news/applications-open-federal-veterinary-medicine-loan-repayment-program
2. National Institute of Food and Agriculture US Dept of Agriculture. Notice of Funding Opportunity: Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP). Published January 2026. Accessed January 28, 2026. https://www.nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2026-01/FINAL_FY26_VMLRP_NOFO.pdf