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Veterinary Debt Initiative

About VDI

The VISION of the Veterinary Debt Initiative is for veterinarians to thrive in rewarding and financially sustainable careers.

The MISSION of the Veterinary Debt Initiative is to educate, advocate and provide leadership to ensure veterinarians can pursue a lifetime of financial success in a personally and professionally rewarding career.

The STRATEGIC PLAN is to raise awareness and provide access to resources that will enable Pre-Veterinary students, veterinary students and veterinarians to make highly informed financial decisions.

Resources

Here’s a Thought!

AAVMC CEO Shares Perspective on Educational Debt

Educational debt in the United States now exceeds $1.5 trillion. Many experts believe this level of debt represents a substantial threat to future economic wellbeing. This debt-load is the result of decades of rising tuition costs that have occurred across the spectrum of higher education and professional school, and it has certainly affected academic veterinary medicine. Read more.

Veterinary Debt Initiative Q&A:
Dumb Friends League Launches Innovative Student Loan Repayment Program to Hire and Retain Talent While Upholding Core Values

Strategic Plan

The Veterinary Debt Initiative has developed a multi-year strategic plan that encompasses the identification of initiative priorities and the objectives that support them. Key action to accomplish the objectives have been mapped out in a timeline. View the Veterinary Debt Initiative Strategic Plan 2018-2021 in a charted format here.

New & Noteworthy

COVID-19 and Federal Action on Student Loans

Updated April 24, 2020

The federal government has undertaken a number of measures to help the nation deal with the economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Several important actions have been taken that affect student loans. The Veterinary Debt Initiative has two resources specific to COVID-19 legislation. Please click here here to see a summary document and here for an in-depth video discussion on the impact of COVID-19 legislation for federal student loan borrowers and students.

VETERINARY DEBT INITIATIVE ROUNDUP

December 1, 2019

Led by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges and the Veterinary Medical Association Executives, the Veterinary Debt Initiative (VDI) is focused on helping veterinarians thrive in financially sustainable and rewarding careers. The VDI’s primary purpose is to raise awareness and provide access to resources that enable pre-veterinary students, veterinary students and veterinarians to make highly informed financial decisions. We want to bring your attention to these important resources and happenings:

VDI Strategy Tied to 2019 Veterinary Wellbeing Summit

The American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) and Zoetis teamed up to present the 2019 Veterinary Wellbeing Summit, “Putting the WE in Wellbeing,” Nov. 16-19 in Rosemont, Illinois.  Veterinary Debt Initiative (VDI) leadership was on hand to educate attendees on the wide-ranging importance of addressing educational debt— from the wellbeing of individual veterinarians to the viability of the profession itself. The VDI session “The Collaborative Approach to the Veterinary Debt Initiative,” outlined the VDI’s strategy for addressing this issue as well as multitude of debt-related resources available to participants. AVMA and AAVMC lead the Veterinary Debt Initiative with the Veterinary Medical Association Executives.

Followup stories related to the 2019 AVMA Economic Summit held Oct. 22-23 in Rosemont, Illinois:

Malinda Larkin of JAVMA News summarized the comprehensive results from the AVMA survey of the 2019 graduating class presented by Dr. Bridgette Bain, AVMA Associate Director of Analytics.

Financial planner Isaiah Douglass summarized his key learnings from the AVMA Economic Summit in the Oct. 31 blog post “AVMA Economic Summit-Takeaways” and “The Veterinarian Success” podcast Episode 21, “Disability Insurance 101 & AVMA Economic Summit Review.”

Lawsuit: CFPB Ignores Mismanagement of Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program

Chris Arnold of National Public Radio provided the latest details Nov. 25 on a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit student loan group, Student Debt Crisis, against the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Bureau (CFPB): “The lawsuit…alleges that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has abandoned its obligation to oversee companies that manage student loans, in particular a troubled loan forgiveness program.” Natalia Abrams, the founder of the Student Debt Crisis said: “We are suing the Department of Education and the CFPB because they are not doing their jobs.” Abrams continued, “Over the past year, I have spoken with hundreds of borrowers, sometimes multiple borrowers, every single day and had to break their hearts” because “they’ve fallen victim to problems with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.” Alex Sands, Assistant Director of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Government Relations Division, asks for veterinarians who have been affected by the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to share their story here. Sands also encourages veterinary students and veterinarians to visit the AVMA site to sign up for updates and get involved in advocacy efforts on this issue. The AVMA leads the Veterinary Debt Initiative with the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges and the Veterinary Medical Association Executives.

Click here to see the entire December issue.