When I was in college, the conventional wisdom among students was that veterinary school was even harder to get into than medical school. Presumably this was because there were fewer veterinary schools than there are medical schools. I don’t know if that’s even true, but that’s what we thought, and it was therefore assumed that veterinary grads were rare and that vets would always make a good living.
No one even mentioned, back then, the massive debt loads that could be involved.
Well, it turns out that demand for vets is falling, and that many vets nevertheless have six-figure debt loads while the starting salary is down to $45,500.
In 2012, a mere 45 percent of graduating vets reported that they had accepted a permanent job offer — as opposed to a time-limited and lower-paying internship, or a residency — down from 84 percent in 1999. Last year, 39 percent of graduates had no job offers, up from 19 percent in 1999.
You’re almost better off being a law student, but not quite.
3:19 pm on February 25, 2013
