NIFA anticipates that approximately $10 million in funding will be available in FY2024 VMLRP applications to help mitigate food animal veterinary service shortages in the United States. VMLRP helps qualified veterinarians offset a significant portion of the debt incurred in pursuit of their veterinary medical degrees in return for their service in certain high-priority veterinary shortage areas. The VMLRP supports NIFA’s Animal Systems portfolio by facilitating professional workforce development in critical agricultural sectors related to animal health and well-being. The program contains two general categories of participation: The VMLRP Request for Applications (RFA) and the 2024 veterinary shortage situations are now available. A new requirement this year is a Letter of Intent (LOI). Specific instructions are available in the VMLRP RFA. The deadline for LOI is April 1, 2024, and the application deadline is April 12, 2024. NIFA encourages interested applicants to thoroughly review the VMLRP RFA before starting an application. Questions about the VMLRP application process may be sent by email to mailto:VMLRP.applications@USDA.gov.
