Can You Study Veterinary Subjects Online?

The short answer is that parts of the veterinary field can be studied online, but not all of it, and the parts that can are mostly not the route to becoming a veterinarian. Our directory lists no fully online route to a veterinary degree that qualifies someone to practise as a veterinarian. This guide separates what exists online from what does not, using what schools and regulators say on their own pages.

Four different things called "veterinary study"

The word "veterinary" covers several distinct paths, and online availability differs for each. Our guide to veterinarian vs veterinary nurse vs veterinary technician sets out the roles; in short:

1. Veterinarian (a professional veterinary degree such as a DVM or BVM&S).
2. Veterinary nurse or technician/technologist (a distinct, regulated or credentialed role, depending on the country).
3. Veterinary assistant (a support role, often with certificate-level study).
4. Academic science and postgraduate study (master's and research degrees in veterinary or animal sciences, often for people who already hold a degree).

Veterinary technology and nursing: some online options exist

Several US programs deliver veterinary technology coursework at a distance. The pages we read show how varied they are.

Blue Ridge Community College (Virginia). Its catalog describes a distance-education option that takes three years part-time. Students meet twice weekly for classes and, per the page, attend campus for laboratories three times per semester. A coordinated externship of 350 hours in a veterinary hospital comes between years two and three. The page states that applicants must be employed at least 20 hours per week by a veterinarian willing to act as their preceptor, and it says both the on-campus and distance options are accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association and lead to eligibility for the Veterinary Technician National Examination (VTNE).

Appalachian State University (North Carolina). The online Veterinary Technology BS is listed as fully online, full-time or part-time, and its core curriculum includes 400 hours of practical experience through clinical experiences in veterinary clinics and other animal health settings. The page says the program is designed to prepare students for licensure or certification in North Carolina and refers readers to a licensure page for other states. It does not state a programmatic accreditation, so we do not infer one.

Purdue University (Indiana). The distance-learning page describes a 100% online associate degree that can be completed in as little as three years and carries the title "AVMA-Accredited Online Veterinary Technology Program." It links to a separate mentorship page for hands-on training; the details of that component were not on the page we read, so check them directly.

Dallas College (Texas). Its Veterinary Assisting Certificate is listed as a distance-learning program that can be taken on campus or online, and the page advises against mixing the two modes. This is an assisting certificate, not a technician credential, and the page does not describe an externship.

United Kingdom. The RCVS describes two routes to registered veterinary nurse status: a Level 3 diploma, offered full-time or apprenticeship-style alongside a job in practice, and a full-time integrated foundation or honours degree that includes clinical placements in an approved training practice. The RCVS pages we fetched did not describe an online route, and we do not claim one.

The recurring pattern is that coursework may be remote while hands-on hours are not. See clinical placements in online programs for how that works in practice.

Postgraduate study for people already in the field

A different group of online programs is built for people who already have a degree or a veterinary qualification:

• University of Florida offers an online MS in Veterinary Medical Sciences with a shelter medicine concentration. The page says it is fully online, asynchronous, with no campus visits, and welcomes veterinarians, veterinary students, technicians, shelter staff, volunteers and other animal welfare professionals. The stated minimum is a bachelor's or DVM/VMD degree. The page does not say that the degree leads to veterinary licensure.
• University of Edinburgh offers Advanced Clinical Practice by online learning. The page says it is intended for students with a veterinary degree or international equivalent and at least one year of postgraduate experience as a veterinary surgeon; it does not say the programme confers registration.
• University of Illinois offers an online master's in animal and veterinary sciences described as live and asynchronous. The page states plainly that the program "does not lead to veterinary licensure" and is not a DVM program.

These are useful for continuing education or a change of direction, but they are not an entry route to the profession. An applicant who assumes otherwise could spend years and money on a qualification that does not lead where they hoped.

Why there is no online route to becoming a veterinarian in our listings

Becoming a veterinarian involves supervised clinical training with live animals, and the veterinary degrees listed on this site are delivered on campus or through campus-based clinical programs. UK veterinary degrees, for example, are accredited by the RCVS, which says it is legally responsible for setting and monitoring standards for them. We found no accredited professional veterinary degree delivered fully online, so we do not list one. If you see a program advertising one, treat it with caution: ask which regulator recognizes it, in which country, and whether graduates are eligible to sit the licensing examination there. Our guide to understanding recognition and registration explains what to ask.

Questions to ask any online program

• Which credential does it lead to: a veterinary degree, a technician or nursing qualification, an assisting certificate, or an academic degree?
• Is there programmatic accreditation, and by whom? Some pages say so explicitly; others, like Appalachian State's, speak only of preparation for state licensure.
• Which states or countries is it designed for? Appalachian State's statement about North Carolina shows why this matters.
• What must happen in person: laboratories, externships, residencies, supervised exams?
• Who arranges and approves the practice site?

Where to look on this site

Browse online veterinary programs for programs whose schools describe online or hybrid delivery, and see our methodology for how labels are assigned. For choosing among all school types, read how to choose a veterinary school.

This guide describes what schools and regulators state publicly as of 2026-10-19; it does not promise admission, registration, employment or any outcome. Pages change, so confirm details with the school and the relevant regulator. Note that we could not retrieve the AVMA's own accreditation pages when preparing this guide, so statements about AVMA accreditation above are attributed to the schools that make them.