Veterinary Technology
Portland Community College
Public · Community college
Prepare for veterinary technician work through animal care and laboratory study.
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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 program prepares veterinary technicians to support licensed veterinarians with animal nursing care. It differs from veterinary-assistant training and has separate certification steps.
Before you apply
Review the Veterinary Technology course map and have an advisor evaluate prior credits and placement before registering.
Your complete timeline
2 years full-time. Allow separately for prerequisite preparation, selection and the clinical start date.
Plan around the schedule
Campus and clinical. Ask for the actual days, start times and required travel from Portland area · Rock Creek. Online coursework does not necessarily make laboratories or placements remote.
Application and selection
Use the official Veterinary Technology 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
Which prerequisites, clinical placements and certification exams are required?
- 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 technology associate route includes practical animal care. Confirm program entry, the national examination and Oregon certification steps. Veterinary technician and veterinarian are different careers.
Cost and outcomes
Published components; build your full budget
PCC publishes resident tuition of $143 per credit. This is not the complete program price: add required fees, materials, any prerequisites and clinical clearances, examinations and placement travel.
Open the cost planner →Exact-program earnings are not separately identified.
Published related-field data; not an exact-program or campus-specific outcome.
Related-field graduate earnings
Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians · Associate degree
Portland Community College. Graduating cohorts: 2016-2020. This published field group (CIP 01.83) can combine several programs and campuses. We selected it as related context; it is not a verified result for this exact program.
- $43,639 median annual earnings 1 year after graduation
Amounts are in 2023 dollars. Census PSEO covers graduates meeting its earnings and employment-attachment rules; it excludes noncompleters and many self-employed or low-attachment workers. These are historical outcomes, not starting-pay estimates or a forecast.
Census PSEO Oregon data, 2026 Q2 (CSV download) ↗
Population, methods and limitations ↗ · Checked September 16, 2026