Colorado passed Proposition 129 in November 2024, creating the Veterinary Professional Associate, a new master's-level mid-level practitioner role in veterinary medicine. The vote established the role in state law. What it could not immediately deliver was the licensing infrastructure required to put VPAs into practice. That piece is now in motion.
According to dvm360, the Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine voted on June 11 to advance the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) as developer of the VPA licensing examination. The decision was not uncontested: AAVSB's own board had adopted a resolution in September 2025 opposing endorsement of the VPA role, and the Colorado board's rulemaking process drew 44 public comments split between backing AAVSB and recommending an alternative, including the NAVC and the International Council on Veterinary Assessment. The board opted to move forward with AAVSB anyway, forming a subcommittee to draft a memorandum of understanding rather than reopening a lengthy request-for-proposals process. There is no VPA without a licensure pathway, and there is no licensure pathway without a credentialing exam. This vote is what moves the concept forward, even if the path to it wasn't unanimous.
What the VPA Role Is Designed to Do
The VPA is designed to operate with indirect supervision from a licensed veterinarian, handling a defined scope of clinical tasks: routine exams, certain diagnostics, and select treatment protocols. The role sits between a credentialed veterinary technician and a full DVM, more autonomous than a CrVT, with a defined scope ceiling below the veterinarian's full authority.
Colorado State University is developing a five-semester master's program for VPA candidates. The first class is expected to enroll in fall 2026.
Colorado is the first state to create this role via ballot initiative, but the underlying tension it addresses, a shortage of licensed veterinary professionals that constrains care access, is not unique to Colorado. If the model works, other states will be watching closely.
What This Means for Practices Today
VPAs are still several years from the hiring pipeline. The exam development is assigned but not complete. CSU's program has not graduated its first class. The regulatory and credentialing apparatus is still being built.
But the relevant questions for practice owners are worth thinking through now, not at hiring time.
How would indirect-supervision staffing change your model? A VPA working autonomously within a defined scope could free DVM time for complex cases and surgery, particularly in general practice settings where a large portion of daily caseload is routine. For practices already relying heavily on experienced CrVTs at the top of their scope, a VPA extends that logic one step further.
Which states are moving next? Legislative activity around mid-level practitioner roles in veterinary medicine has been active in multiple states. Proposition 129 was contested, and not every ballot initiative will succeed. But the momentum behind scope-of-practice modernization in vet med is real, so it helps to know where your state stands.
How will VPA hiring actually work? This question is years away but not irrelevant. Practices that have thought through what they need from a mid-level role, including scope expectations, supervision structure, and compensation models, will be better positioned when candidates start arriving.
The Milestone That Matters
The AAVSB vote does not put a single VPA into a clinic. What it does is establish that the licensing infrastructure will be built. Colorado passed a law. Now someone is building the exam that makes the law operable. The concept has just started turning into credentialing, a moment practices should keep on their radar.