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Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant.

Types of Degrees Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. Majors Are Earning

People majoring in Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	1,600
Associate’s Degree	4,317
Bachelor’s Degree	513
Master’s Degree	2,563

What Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. Majors Need to Know

Programs in Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• English Language — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Biology — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Education and Training — Importance 3.3 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set developed in a Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Active Listening — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Writing — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Expression — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Getting Information	4.3 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.3 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.2 / 7
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.1 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.1 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.1 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.0 / 7
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings	4.0 / 7
Performing General Physical Activities	4.0 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.0 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
McAllister Software Systems AVImark	Medical software	—
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
FileMaker Pro	Data base user interface and query software	—
Veterinary practice management software PMS	Medical software	—
Practice management software PMS	Data base user interface and query software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. graduates include:

• Veterinarian Lab Technician (Veterinary Lab Tech)
• Animal Care Technician (Animal Care Tech)
• Animal Technician (Animal Tech)
• Veterinary Nurse (Vet Nurse)
• Emergency Veterinary Technician (Emergency Vet Tech)
• Internal Medicine Veterinary Technician (Internal Medicine Vet Tech)
• Animal Health Technician (Animal Health Tech)
• Veterinary Technician (Vet Tech)
• Veterinary Technologist
• Licensed Veterinary Technician (LVT)
• Certified Veterinary Technician (CVT)
• Veterinary Laboratory Technician (Vet Lab Tech)
• Swine Technician (Swine Tech)
• Veterinary X-Ray Operator
• Veterinarian Technician (Vet Tech)

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
High school diploma or equivalent	38.2%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	13.8%
Master’s degree	10.4%
Postsecondary certificate	10.3%
Doctoral degree	9.8%
Bachelor’s degree	5.9%
Post-doctoral training	5.6%
Some college courses	4.3%
Less than a high school diploma	1.6%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.1%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant.?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 89.2% of Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	8,054	89.2%
Men	972	10.8%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	4,510	50.0%
Asian	195	2.2%
Hispanic or Latino	3,164	35.1%
Black or African American	383	4.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native	85	0.9%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	28	0.3%
Two or More Races	401	4.4%
Race Unknown	242	2.7%
International Students	18	0.2%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. Graduates Earn?

College Scorecard reports median earnings of Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Wages typically rise steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$30,096
4 years	$32,594
5 years	$36,273

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $36,273 — roughly 21% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. Programs

Online study are documented by IPEDS for Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant.. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	3	12
Bachelor’s	3	2

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, Veterinary/Animal Health Technology/Technician and Veterinary Assistant. graduates earn a median of $32,594 four years after completion — about 14% below the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000). On earnings alone, this program does not show an income premium over the baseline; non-financial outcomes (career interests, certification requirements, advancement potential) are typically the stronger argument for fields in this range.

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	CIP Code
Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians	01.83
Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians, Other	01.8399

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.