LMU-OrangePark_2025

Lincoln Memorial University photo

Lincoln Memorial University's campus in Orange Park, Florida, is on track to open a veterinary school next year. LMU plans to start classes in June 2026.

A central premise of a lawsuit filed by Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee against the American Veterinary Medical Association has been undercut by a recent accreditation decision in the school's favor.

In the complaint filed in June, the university alleges that as part of an anticompetitive effort to restrict the supply of veterinarians and veterinary schools, the AVMA, through its accrediting arm, was limiting "the accreditation of new and existing veterinary schools by demanding that they meet arbitrary, unreasonable, and impossible-to-meet requirements."

LMU contended that the AVMA Council on Education (COE), the only accreditor of veterinary schools recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, was on track to "terminate … at its earliest opportunity" accreditation at LMU's 11-year-old veterinary school in Tennessee and deny approval of a proposed school in Florida.

Earlier this year, after a COE site visit to Florida, the accreditor warned LMU that its proposed three-year, year-round program had deficiencies in multiple areas. The COE has 11 minimum standards that schools must meet to attain and maintain accreditation. The standards cover areas such as clinical resources, facilities and equipment, finances, outcomes assessment and research programs.

In late August, however, the COE green-lit the program with a letter of reasonable assurance, which means the accreditor determined the developing program has a realistic plan to meet accreditation standards.

On Sept. 3, the AVMA filed a motion to dismiss the suit, saying that LMU's claims are "not ripe for adjudication" because there had been no harm to the school and may never be — a claim that has been partially borne out by events. In the filing, the AVMA did not say that the Florida school had been or would be approved by the COE, but that it had not been decided.

The letter indicating that the Florida program is on track to become accredited is an "important milestone," the program dean, Dr. Kimberly Carney, told the VIN News Service by email. Asked whether LMU would drop the lawsuit in light of the COE's decision, she said she "cannot comment on pending litigation."

How LMU's Tennessee program landed on probation

The accreditation status of LMU's existing program apparently remains unchanged since the lawsuit was filed.

The Tennessee school was placed on probationary accreditation in October 2024 due to a "major deficiency" in its research program. The decision followed a COE site visit that had been triggered years earlier by a "substantive change" request from the school. In 2019, it asked the COE to approve a near doubling of its class size, from 125 students to 225, through the addition of a second class per year. The COE granted that approval in 2022, and the first added cohort of students began their studies in January 2023.

In its lawsuit, LMU claims the research provisions are vague and onerous. It also expresses feeling blindsided, alleging that the COE approved the program expansion "with no mention of a need for increased research resources."  

In its response, the AVMA rejects that characterization, saying that the COE approval letter "did not inform LMU-TN that the dramatic increase in class size would not require 'any adjustments to LMU-TN's research offerings,' as LMU alleges."

The school has two years from October 2024 — which could be extended — to resolve the deficiency before potentially being moved to terminal accreditation, a status that allows for appeal and includes steps to protect the interests of enrolled students, according to COE policies and procedures.

While a school may operate without accreditation, approval by an accreditor authorized by the Department of Education is needed for its students to access federal financial aid, including loans.

No U.S. veterinary school on probation has lost its accreditation in recent memory.

Does AVMA have a conflict of interest?

At the heart of its argument about being treated unfairly, LMU alleges that the COE cannot exist as an arm of the AVMA without bias. In the suit, it contends that the AVMA's mission as a trade group, to protect and enhance the economic well-being of its members, conflicts with the accreditor's mission of "ensuring the entry-level competency of graduates of veterinary schools."

Concerns about the COE being too close to the AVMA are not new. The association has faced calls to spin off the accrediting arm in the past, perhaps most notably in the early 2010s, when more than 800 people, mostly veterinarians, submitted letters to the Department of Education critical of the accreditation process. The complaints included that the connection between the AVMA and the COE was a breeding ground for conflicts of interest.

The AVMA has long maintained that the association and the accreditor operate independently. In any case, it asserts in its court filing, the lawsuit is not the appropriate avenue for challenging the structure. If LMU has objections to accreditation standards or the relationship between the AVMA and the COE, it says, "Those objections should be addressed, not to this court, but to the USDE [U.S. Department of Education]."

The AVMA also says the federal department "recently reviewed the standards of the COE and the relationship between the COE and the AVMA, finding no fault in either."

What's next for LMU's Florida school

With the letter of reasonable assurance, the LMU program in Florida, located in Orange Park, near Jacksonville, may begin accepting students. An application portal is now open on the school's website and will remain open through Oct. 31.

Provisional accreditation is granted on the date the initial class matriculates. Schools become eligible for full accreditation after the first class graduates.

The inaugural class is projected to be 150 students. If all goes as scheduled, it would be the 37th veterinary school in the U.S.

LMU's program at Orange Park is one of 10 schools in the development pipeline in the U.S. None of the others has received a letter of reasonable assurance to date.