Midwestern pauses proposed Chicago veterinary college
Bottom line
Midwestern University is stepping back from a planned expansion into veterinary education in Illinois. The university said it will not proceed “at this time” with the proposed Chicago College of Veterinary Medicine at its Downers Grove campus and will pause further action tied to the program, including accreditation steps and related development work. The move reverses a buildout that had been advancing publicly: Midwestern had secured provisional membership in the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, won Illinois Board of Higher Education approval in November 2025 to offer a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program, and had been promoting a companion animal clinic in Downers Grove as a key training site for the future college. (midwestern.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the decision removes what had been one of the more visible proposed additions to the U.S. veterinary education pipeline. Midwestern’s Illinois plan had been framed as a response to veterinarian shortages and as an expansion of clinical training capacity in the Chicago suburbs, with projected first-year enrollment of 130 students and fifth-year enrollment of 503 in state filings. Its pause means those expected seats, clinical rotations, and future graduate output are no longer on the near-term horizon, even as workforce concerns continue to shape debate over whether the profession faces broad shortages, regional shortages, or both. (ibhe.org)
What to watch: Watch for whether Midwestern repurposes planned veterinary facilities, including the Downers Grove companion animal clinic slated for spring 2027, and whether it revisits the proposal after pausing accreditation and development activity. (midwestern.edu)
Midwestern University has halted plans for its proposed Chicago College of Veterinary Medicine, saying it will not move forward “at this time” with the Downers Grove, Illinois, program. In a recent university announcement, Midwestern said it will pause further action on the proposed college, including additional accreditation steps and related development activities, and instead focus its investments on established programs and colleges. (midwestern.edu)
The decision marks a notable turn because the Illinois veterinary school had appeared to be gaining traction. In 2024, Midwestern said the proposed College of Veterinary Medicine–Illinois had received provisional membership from the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. By late 2025, the Illinois Board of Higher Education had approved Midwestern’s request to offer a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in the state’s west suburban region. Midwestern’s public-facing program materials also outlined an ambitious launch timeline, at one point saying the first class was expected in 2027, while another admissions section said the school aimed to admit its first class in fall 2028, underscoring that the project was still moving through an evolving accreditation and implementation process. (midwestern.edu)
The university had also started tying bricks-and-mortar development to the proposed college. In June 2025, Midwestern announced plans for a 152,000-square-foot companion animal clinic at 3300 Finley Road in Downers Grove, in the former Fry’s Electronics building. The clinic was described as both a community-facing veterinary facility and a foundational training site for the proposed veterinary program, with an anticipated spring 2027 opening contingent on accreditation approval. Midwestern said the clinic would offer companion animal services and hands-on student training under faculty supervision. (midwestern.edu)
State records show the scale of what had been contemplated. In its Illinois approval materials, Midwestern described a four-year DVM program divided into eight didactic quarters and five clinical quarters, designed to meet AVMA Council on Education standards and prepare students for the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination. The filing projected 130 students in the first year and 503 students by year five, and said the program would help address a “profound shortage of veterinarians.” Midwestern also pointed to experience from its existing Glendale, Arizona, veterinary college, which the filing said has operated as a fully accredited program since 2018. (ibhe.org)
Industry reaction so far has centered less on controversy than on what the pause says about the economics and logistics of opening a veterinary school. Midwestern’s own statement said leaders weighed the resources, infrastructure, clinical capacity, and long-term investment required to support a second DVM program before deciding to stop. That rationale is notable in a period when multiple institutions are exploring new veterinary colleges, even as the profession continues debating whether workforce gaps are best addressed by expanding class seats, improving retention, targeting rural and food-animal shortages, or some combination of all three. Midwestern’s announcement did not provide a timeline for revisiting the Illinois plan. (midwestern.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is a reminder that adding DVM capacity is not just an accreditation question. It’s also a clinical placement, capital, faculty recruitment, and case-load question. A new school in the Chicago area could have expanded student pipelines, employer recruiting opportunities, and referral relationships in one of the country’s largest metro regions. Its pause may be especially relevant for practices, health systems, and educators that were watching for new externship partnerships, hiring pipelines, or competition for faculty and clinical staff. At the same time, the move may reinforce a broader point: workforce planning in veterinary medicine remains unsettled, with credible voices emphasizing persistent shortages in some sectors and geographies, while others argue the picture is more mixed by species, region, and practice type. (midwestern.edu)
What to watch: The next signals will likely come from Midwestern’s capital plans and website updates: whether the Downers Grove companion animal clinic still opens on its earlier timeline, whether the university maintains any veterinary-focused infrastructure or hiring in Illinois, and whether the AVMA COE process is formally withdrawn or simply left dormant. More broadly, watch whether other proposed veterinary programs continue advancing, because Midwestern’s pause may sharpen scrutiny of how much clinical capacity and financial backing new schools need before launch. (midwestern.edu)