Veterinary Assisting
Carrington College
Private · College / university
A private career college certificate for veterinary support work.
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Three useful next steps
Review the exact program ↗
Check the award, entry checklist and next start.
Build your full budget ↗
Include preparation, supplies and travel.
Explore the connected career ↗
Compare duties, Oregon wages and required preparation.
PLAN YOUR PATH
Preparation, time and schedule
What this route covers
The Portland veterinary-assisting route is advertised as taking as few as nine months. Confirm practical-placement requirements; this award is not veterinary-technician licensure.
Before you apply
Review the Veterinary Assisting course map and have an advisor evaluate prior credits and placement before registering.
Your complete timeline
As few as 9 months; confirm cohort plan. Allow separately for prerequisite preparation, selection and the clinical start date.
Plan around the schedule
Campus labs and clinical externship. Ask for the actual days, start times and required travel from Portland. Online coursework does not necessarily make laboratories or placements remote.
Application and selection
Use the official Veterinary Assisting page to review the current entry checklist. Ask whether a separate department application, selection process or cohort start applies before committing to enrollment.
Details checked September 15, 2026. Confirm current requirements with the provider.
Questions to take to an advisor
What skills will I gain, what is the complete price, and do local employers also offer on-the-job training?
- Which required courses or placements are offered only once per year?
- Can you give me a written estimate covering every required term and practical expense?
- Which employment, transfer or licensing requirements remain after this award?
Published program length is not a personal completion estimate. Transfer credits, prerequisites, selection and course availability can change the timeline.
After the program
A veterinary assisting certificate is one option; some employers train assistants on the job. Compare the complete price and hands-on experience with local hiring requirements. This certificate does not qualify someone as a veterinary technician.
Cost and outcomes
Published base; complete personal budget still needed
Add program-specific fees, books, tools or supplies, exams, prerequisite study, travel and living expenses to the published base below. Your final cost depends on your course plan and financial aid.
Published tuition or budget base
The 2026 catalog's Oregon table lists $19,914 for the blended Veterinary Assisting certificate (effective October 24, 2025), including listed tuition, iPad/eBooks and required physical textbooks. Course repeats and accepted transfer credit can change the price; add travel, living and other personal costs. The April 2026 Oregon update changes other programs, not this listed row.
Official tuition and cost information ↗ · Checked September 16, 2026
A tuition rate or annual allowance is not a complete program price. Confirm your residency, course load, program fees and financial aid before comparing costs.
Open the cost planner →No verified exact-program earnings figure.
Historical College Scorecard earnings for a related certificate/diploma field are available below. These can combine multiple programs and institutional branches; they are not exact-program or current starting-pay estimates.
Historical related-field earnings
$33,050 median annual earnings 4 years after completion, in 2024 dollars.
Carrington College · Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians (CIP 01.83) · Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma. Cohort: 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic-year completers; earnings measured in 2022 and 2023.
College Scorecard covers federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled. This related field can combine programs and institutional branches; it is not an exact-program, campus-specific or current starting-pay figure. It is not directly comparable with Census outcomes because the population and dollar year differ.
U.S. Department of Education field-of-study data (ZIP) ↗
Data dictionary and cohort dates (Excel) ↗ · Checked September 16, 2026