Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine rises to No. 3 in US, No. 5 in world in 2026 QS Rankings

The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) is the No. 3 veterinary school in the United States and the No. 5 veterinary school in the world, according to new rankings released from Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).

Of the top 10 veterinary schools in the world, the VMBS had the largest rise in the rankings this year, having gone up five places worldwide since 2025, as shown in the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject for Veterinary Science.

“These rankings are the result of years of hard work by an extraordinary community of educators, researchers and students who are deeply committed to advancing animal and human health,” said Dr. Bonnie R. Rush, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the VMBS. “Our college is filled with exceptional people who work every day to set the bar as high as possible. This ranking confirms what we already knew: Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences is among the best in the world.”

Dedication in the classroom, the clinic and to the state

The VMBS’ Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program is one of the largest in the nation, with 180 students accepted each year and more than 9,230 Aggie veterinary graduates.

The program also boasts one of the highest pass rates in the nation on the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE), with 96% of the 162 students in the DVM Class of 2025 passing the test. NAVLE is taken by DVM students from all 33 colleges of veterinary medicine in the country in their final year of study.

After three years of learning in classroom and laboratory settings, DVM students complete a full calendar year of clinical rotations at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), Texas A&M’s largest educational laboratory and the state’s only veterinary medical teaching hospital. The VMTH treats more than 26,000 cases each year across its small and large animal hospitals, where patients have access to the full spectrum of veterinary care — from annual preventive medicine to specialized services.

Unique clinical rotations — including with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and the VMBS’ Veterinary Education, Research and Outreach (VERO) program, located in Canyon — round out the fourth-year experience, allowing Aggie DVM students to gain hands-on experience working with large cattle herds and other food animals.

The VMBS’ partnership with TDCJ is one of the longest-standing agreements between state agencies and allows Aggie DVM students to gain hands-on experience performing annual exams, dental cleanings, surgeries and other clinical skills, under the supervision of VMBS faculty members, while supporting the veterinary care of the more than 275,000 cattle, chickens, pigs, horses and dogs that reside at 52 prison units across Texas. 

Aggie veterinarians graduate with a significantly lower debt-to-income ratio than their counterparts across the country, with an average of $64,000 less educational debt than the national average. Supporting that, the VMBS awarded $3.2 million in scholarships in 2024-2025, the fifth-highest among colleges of veterinary medicine in the U.S.

While many DVM graduates go on to internships and residencies across the country following graduation, 80% of Aggie graduates entering practice remain in Texas.

Trained to lead and serve

VMBS students have the opportunity to participate in research that supports advances in animal, human and environmental health alongside faculty members who annually receive millions of dollars in extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Defense, private foundations, industry and the state of Texas.

Programs such as the Veterinary Medical Scientist Research Training Program — which is funded by the NIH, the  Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars Program, the Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation and the VMBS — provide stipends to first- and second-year veterinary students for summer research, which often results in publications.

In the Texas Panhandle, veterinary students can work alongside VERO scientists to engage in collaborative, high-impact studies that aim to address some of the most pressing issues in the food animal industry today, such as antimicrobial resistance and bovine respiratory disease.

“The research conducted at this college has far-reaching impacts on animal, human and environmental health. Our faculty and students are doing world-class work, and those experiences not only drive our academic reputation, but they produce the next generation of scientists and leaders,” said Dr. Ramesh Vemulapalli, VMBS executive associate dean. “This recognition is a direct result of their outstanding accomplishments.”

In addition, the VMBS’ Veterinary Emergency Team (VET) trains DVM students to serve as leaders in disaster preparedness and response through a fourth-year clinical rotation. These experiences allow students — who are more likely to serve in a community affected by a disaster than generations before them — to work with VET and county officials to develop disaster preparedness plans for Texas counties and practice responding to disasters either by deploying with the VET or in disaster simulations.

To date, more than 1,900 veterinary students have helped over 100 Texas counties develop emergency response plans.

Finally, as part of the VMBS’ commitment to graduating veterinarians prepared to serve communities of all sizes, the VERO program provides intensive training in production medicine and rural veterinary practice.  Participating students are prepared for success in rural practice. 

QS World University Rankings by Subject for Veterinary Science are based on evaluations of academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact. The rankings are used by prospective students to help identify the leading universities in a particular subject.