Murray State’s proposed Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine program received full approval by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education during its business meeting Jan. 30. 

The Murray Sentinel posted the announcement on its Instagram page along with a screenshot of the Zoom meeting.

Initial program approval was received by the CPE’s Academic and Strategic Initiatives Committee on Jan. 26, announced University-wide via email. Laura Hoffman, a professor and appointed dean of the future School of Veterinary Medicine, said now that approval has been granted, accreditation is next on the to-do list.

“Next step would be scheduling a consultative site visit with the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education, as they would be the accrediting body,” Hoffman said. “The process for full accreditation with AVMA is over the course of several years, concluding with the first cohort of students graduating and obtaining a certain pass rate on their exam, the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination. Schools then continue to submit documents, often biannual reports, in addition to continued site visits to maintain their accreditation.”

Hoffman said this has been a new process for both her and the CPE, since the passage of Senate Bill 77 in 2025 – the piece of legislature allowing MSU to finally apply for a DVM program. The first step of the process was getting approval from the CPE, which also included a feasibility study conducted by Deloitte. 

According to the study, there is an increasing shortage of rural veterinarians for the state’s livestock industry. There are currently no veterinary schools in Kentucky, meaning students have to leave the state to continue their veterinary education – and many of those graduates do not return to the Commonwealth to practice veterinary medicine. The establishment of the state’s very first school of its kind may help keep veterinarians in Kentucky, the study reports. 

“This is such an exciting time for Murray State, this region, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Hoffman said. “We’re very thankful for the many individuals who played a role in this approval process, as this has been years in the making.”

According to a press release from the University, Murray State “remains on track to enroll the first class of DVM students as soon as Fall 2028.” The release also states that a $60 million Veterinary Sciences Building funded by the state legislature will be constructed on the University’s West Farm.