The veterinary profession is adding new schools. It is also losing them before they open. Both things are true at the same time, and understanding what that means for the long-term supply of veterinarians is worth your attention if you are responsible for hiring.

The latest development: Midwestern University announced it will pause development of a planned veterinary school at its suburban Chicago campus, while maintaining its existing school in Glendale, Arizona. According to VIN News Service, this is the fourth planned veterinary school to be halted since 2023, following similar reversals from Chamberlain University, Marshall University, and Hanover College.

Four schools halted. Four programs that were supposed to produce new veterinarians and will not, at least not on their original timelines.

The Other Half of the Picture

Before this reads as alarm, here is the full count: six new veterinary schools have opened or are about to open, and six more remain in active development. The profession is not contracting. The pipeline is growing in some places and stalling in others, often simultaneously.

The schools that do not open represent a particularly painful gap. Each planned program came with admissions targets, faculty commitments, and prospective students who made decisions based on where they intended to apply. When a program pauses or cancels, those students reroute. The impact is diffuse and hard to measure, but it is real: people who might have entered vet med under one set of conditions decide not to, or choose a different path.

The schools that do open represent real capacity. But veterinary education takes years. A school that opened in 2024 will graduate its first class no earlier than 2028. The workforce shortfall that Mars Veterinary Health projects at 24,000 veterinarians by 2030 is not waiting for those graduates to arrive.

Why Practices Are Feeling This Now

The vet school pipeline conversation can feel abstract to a practice manager filling an open associate position in the next 90 days. But the connection is direct.

The current shortage exists, in part, because the profession underinvested in training capacity for years. The demand for veterinary care grew faster than the profession's ability to produce veterinarians. New schools were supposed to help close that gap. When four of them stall, the gap closes more slowly.

What does this mean practically? Fewer new graduates entering the labor pool in the years when they were expected to arrive. More competition among practices for the graduates who do finish. Longer vacancy windows, more pressure on existing staff, and more leverage for candidates negotiating compensation.

This is not a prediction. It is already the baseline reality in most markets.

What You Can Do About a Pipeline You Cannot Control

You cannot fix the vet school pipeline from inside your practice. But you can make decisions now that reduce your exposure to its fluctuations.

A few approaches that matter more in a tighter supply environment:

Hire before you are desperate. In a market where qualified candidates are scarce, practices that wait until they have an open position are at a structural disadvantage. Building relationships with new graduates, relief veterinarians, and associate candidates before you need them gives you options.

Invest in retention as a supply-side strategy. Every veterinarian who leaves your practice is one more vacancy in a market with fewer replacements. The retention math has always been compelling. In a tightening supply environment, it becomes more urgent.

Use relief strategically. Relief veterinarians are not just a stopgap. For many practices, a relief relationship is the most effective pipeline for future permanent hires. You see how someone works, they see how your practice operates, and the transition to a permanent role happens with information on both sides.

Think longer term on compensation. If candidate supply contracts and your compensation remains static, you will lose the competition for available talent. That does not mean overpaying. It means understanding what the market is paying and staying within range.

The vet school pipeline will continue to develop. Some of the six programs in active development will open. Some may not. The practices that plan as if supply will remain constrained, even if it improves, will be in a better position than those waiting for conditions to ease.

Find the Right Veterinarians for Your Practice

In a competitive hiring market, getting your open positions in front of the right candidates matters more than ever. Post a job on Hound and connect with qualified veterinary professionals actively looking for their next role.

Source: "Weekly Companion Animal News: June 22, 2026," Vet Advantage, June 22, 2026; "Midwestern U halts planned veterinary school," VIN News Service, referenced June 22, 2026.