April 2024

Advocacy Day 2024

This year we included many of our newest members for the first time. We also changed our “ask” of Congress, to reflect the current and growing need for clinical faculty. This year we had 86 participants targeting 29 states and making 164 meetings, including 33 with Members of Congress. Learn more about the issues currently on table here.

Dr. Rustin Moore, President and Board Chair, AAVMC representing The Ohio State University

Members of faculty representing University of Wisconsin -Madison (L to R) Drs. Michelle Turek, Jonathan Levine, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), Mark Markel and Kristi V. Thorson

Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) met with faculty representing University of Illinois


Advocacy Day photos - AAVMC/Imagine Photography DC

Release of VMLRP Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report


Food animal veterinarians are critical to maintaining a healthy, secure, and safe food supply. Today, there is a critical shortage of food animal veterinarians in both private and public practice, particularly in rural communities in the U.S. and insular areas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) provides approximately $9 million per year in funding to help eligible veterinarians offset a significant portion of debt incurred in pursuit of their veterinary medical degrees in return for their service in certain high-priority veterinary shortage situations. These are both critical programs for AAVMC advocacy efforts.


On April 23, 2024, NIFA published the VMLRP Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 annual report which provides a detailed review of the program, applicant and awardee statistics, DVM programs with funded alumni and shortage areas awarded. The FY23 annual report is available at the following link.



For more information about VMLRP please visit here.

NIH to increase pay levels for pre- and postdoctoral scholars at grantee institutions


The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced an increase in pay levels for predoctoral and postdoctoral scholars at NIH-funded external institutions. This is for recipients of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA). More information about this increase can be found here.


PSLF servicer update


The US Department of Education announced that, beginning on May 1, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) will no longer be managed through a designated loan servicer. Instead, MOHELA is planning to streamline and fully manage the program through StudentAid.gov. More information about his important change can be found here.

Proposed rule for student debt relief


The Biden Administration announced a proposed rule for student debt relief for several loan programs, including the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loans), the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins) Program, and the Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program. The rule is open for public comment through May 17th, 2024 and can be found here.



Gainful employment reporting delayed amid political pressure


The Department of Education announced that it has delayed the initial reporting requirements for its Gainful Employment regulation. This issue has been a concern for several of our members and for higher education in general. AAVMC sent the attached letter to the Department requesting more specific information about the metrics that the Department intends to use going forward. Information on the delay can be found here.

View letter from AAVMC here.


Advocacy Letters



The AAVMC continues to work closely with a wide array of organizations that share our interests in supporting the advancement of academic veterinary medicine, food security and public health. The letters below reflect some of that recent activity.



AAVMC Government Affairs



Please contact: Kevin Cain, Director for Government Affairs at kcain@aavmc.org or 202-371-9195 (ext. 117) with any comments, questions and suggestions about our program.

AAVMC Newsletters


The AAVMC is working hard to create a culture of diversity and inclusion in every dimension of academic veterinary medicine. To foster this goal, the photographs and illustrations which are used in our communications programs are aspirational, and do not necessarily reflect the levels of diversity and inclusion that currently exist.


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