Authorized by the National Veterinary Medical Services Act (NVMSA,) the program helps qualified veterinarians offset a significant portion of debt they incurred while pursuing their veterinary medicine degrees in return for their service in designated high-priority veterinary shortage situations for an allotted period of time. If a qualified veterinarian commits to at least three years in providing veterinary services in a designated veterinary shortage area, USDA’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture (NIFA) may repay up to $25,000 of their student loan debt per year.

Loan repayment benefits are limited to payments of the principal and interest on government and commercial loans received for the attendance at an accredited college of veterinary medicine resulting in a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or equivalent. All eligible veterinarians, including women, individuals from underrepresented groups, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the loan repayment program. The eligibility criteria can be found at http://www.nifa.usda.gov/nea/animals/in_focus/an_health_if_vmlrp_education_eligibility.html.

The VMLRP application cycle is open from May 9-July 8, 2011. A veterinarian may submit only one application per cycle. NIFA will host several webinar sessions for individuals who may be interested in applying this year. 

For more information contact the VMLRP via email at vmlrp@nifa.usda.gov. While the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) does not administer this program, comments or questions related to the shortage areas may be directed to comments@tahc.state.tx.us.