ACCREDITATION

Accreditation is an independent evaluation of the College or Program that determines if particular standards are being met. The most important issue may not be if a program is accredited, but by whom is it accredited?

Accrediting Agencies

St. Petersburg College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the regional accrediting body for colleges and universities in the southeast. The Veterinary Technology Program and Distance Program are both accredited by the Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA) of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). There are currently more than 85 programs in the United States accredited by CVTEA.

Benefit to Students

• Accreditation by the regional accrediting body (SACS) means that credits earned at SPC will be accepted for transfer by other regionally accredited colleges and universities.
• Accreditation by AVMA means that graduates of the Program are eligible to sit for the certification, registration, or license exam in states that offer it.

A few states have no certification process for veterinary technicians. A few other states allow candidates who are not graduates of an AVMA accredited program to sit for their examination. Before enrolling, please check with the licensing or certifying authority in your state to verify the requirements for eligibility. See our table of the current eligibility status state-by-state according to written responses received from the credentialing agencies.

AVMA Accreditation

A program's accreditation status is either full, provisional or probational. Graduates of accredited programs normally have the same privileges regardless of which status is held. Provisional accreditation status is the category available to new programs which do not yet have graduates. Probational accreditation is awarded when a program has graduates and meets most but not all of the standards set by the accrediting body.

Accreditation Status: Full Accreditation

The Distance Program had provisional accreditation from November 1995 to November 1997. The first students began in August of 1994, and several have now finished all the courses and graduated. After there were graduates, the Program was no longer eligible for Provisional status and was changed to Probational Accreditation in November 1997.

The Program submitted an application for full accreditation, and had a successful site visit in June 2000. The site visit team recommended full accreditation to the CVTEA committee which awarded the Distance Program Full Accreditation status in November, 2000.