Diploma
Veterinary Assistant Career Diploma (online)
Penn Foster College · Veterinary Studies · No campus · institution based in United States
- Official award
- Veterinary Assistant Career Diploma
- Pathway
- Veterinary assistantStated for United States
- Format
- OnlineAbout 11 months fastest, about 16 months on average; self-paced
- Tuition
- Not published
About this program
Self-paced online veterinary assistant diploma with a 100-hour externship; kept separate from veterinary technology degrees and not a technician credential.
- Subject
- Veterinary assistant training
- Department
- Veterinary Studies
- Awarding body
- Not stated on the pages we checked
Qualification and professional pathway
Pathway is classified only from a statement on an official page. An award title such as DVM, BVSc, BSc or MSc does not decide it, and no degree, accreditation or listing by itself grants permission to practise anywhere.
- Degree level
- DiplomaA non-degree award, or a qualification at a level the national framework defines. It is not counted as an academic degree.
- Pathway
- Veterinary assistant trainingFormal veterinary assistant training. It is a different, entry-level role and is never a substitute for a veterinary nursing, technology or veterinarian qualification.
- Why we classify it this way
- The page says the program prepares students for a veterinary assistant career and the NAVTA Approved Veterinary Assistant exam.“Graduates are eligible to sit for NAVTA’s Approved Veterinary Assistant (AVA) exam.”Source
- Prior degree required
- Not published
Accreditation, evaluation and recognition
Recorded for this program and campus, with the authority’s role. Program accreditation, evaluation status, professional-body recognition, eligibility toward registration, institutional recognition, directory listings and memberships are different things; none of them is automatic permission to practise, and recognition in one country does not guarantee registration in another.
No accreditation, recognition or registration-pathway record for this program has been verified yet. That does not mean none exists; check the national authority and the institution.
Study structure
- Delivery
- OnlineAcademic instruction is online. Check the details for campus visits, laboratory work, attendance-based exams and mandatory clinical or workplace placements, which can still apply.
- Online instruction
- Online classroom instruction
- Mandatory campus attendance
- No
- Mandatory clinical or workplace placement
- Mandatory hands-on externship: 100 hours in a real vet clinic near the student, under the supervision of trained and licensed professionals, over 8 weeks.
- Placement arrangement
- Placement arrangement not published
- Must already work in a veterinary setting
- Not published
- Placement site approval
- Not published
- Live attendance
- Live attendance not published
- International enrolment
- Not published
- Study mode
- Not published
- Duration
- About 11 months fastest, about 16 months on average; self-paced
- Clinical placement
- 100-hour externship over 8 weeks100 hours over 8 weeks
- Intakes
- Not published
Source could not be re-checked automatically.
Teaching language
- Taught in
- English
- English
- English teaching not verifiedAn English-language website does not mean a program is taught in English.
Admissions
- Animal or veterinary experience
- Not published
- Interview
- Not published
Source could not be re-checked automatically.
Fees and costs
Original currency is authoritative. Each price keeps its basis (per year, per credit, whole program), academic year and student category, and is never converted. Annual tuition and whole-program tuition are different figures.
The institution does not publish tuition for this program on the pages we checked. Ask for current fees, what they include and whether clinical or laboratory charges, equipment and protective clothing, travel, placement expenses and insurance are extra.
Sources and verification
Not published on the program’s source pages: tuition, full-time or part-time options, intakes, animal or veterinary experience requirement, whether a prior degree is required, accreditation or recognition record.
Sources and how this was checked
Last checked 19 October 2026. Each fact carries a verbatim quote that is re-checked against the live page. Research methodology.
Sources (checked 19 October 2026)