In fall of 2026, Purdue’s Veterinary Technology Distance Learning (VTDL) program is unveiling a new plan of study for online students. The new plan of study will reduce the number of credits required from 70 to 64, and it will enable students to complete the program in eight consecutive semesters.
According to Courtney Waxman, senior instructional technologist in the College of Veterinary Medicine, the VTDL program was due for a plan of study revamp, and the new plan will help students save time and money to degree completion — and keep Purdue’s VTDL program competitive in a burgeoning market.
“There are more online accredited programs now, and there was a big increase in online students after the pandemic,” Waxman said. “We want to stay competitive, so we asked ourselves, ‘what do students need out of their program, and how can we best prepare them while still maintaining accreditation requirements?’”
Through the curriculum review process, the VTDL team wanted to create a plan of study that was still rigorous while also upholding the program’s high standards of excellence. The new plan of study offers a more balanced course number to credit hour ratio per semester while preserving flexibility and streamlining pacing.
“The ultimate goal was to better support students,” said Waxman.
In addition to reducing credit hours and time to completion, the new plan of study also gives students the option to complete selective courses. Now, in addition to taking a core curriculum that covers the fundamentals of veterinary technology, students can also add selective courses to their plan of study in topic areas like animal diseases, equine behavior and lab animal management.
“We thought a lot about where our students are coming from,” said Waxman. “They don’t just work in small animal clinical settings. So we wanted the selectives to reflect that.”
Another big addition in the new plan of study is a Veterinary Technician National Exam (VTNE) preparatory selective course that prepares students to take the VTNE and start working as veterinary technicians. The VTNE is the next step graduates take on the path toward becoming credentialed, and the VTDL program wants to ensure students can be as prepared as possible.
Waxman describes the new plan of study as a labor of love, involving years of sustained effort and collaboration from the instructional team, advisors and other student experience experts, with the ultimate goal of redesigning the VTDL program so students can complete their degree more efficiently, affordably and successfully—without compromising accreditation standards or program quality.
The new plan of study will go into effect in fall of 2026. Current VTDL students may be able to transfer into the new plan of study depending on where they are in their program progression. Interested students should talk to their advisors for more information.
