International Journal of Economics and Finance; Vol. 8, No. 7; 2016 ISSN 1916-971X E-ISSN 1916-9728 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 201 Investigating the Financial Awareness and Behaviors of Veterinary Medical Students Amy M. Snyder 1 & Kenneth D. Royal 1 1 Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA Correspondence: Kenneth D. Royal, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, 1060 William Moore Dr., Raleigh, NC, 27607, USA. Tel: 1-919-513-6100. E-mail: kdroyal2@ncsu.edu Received: April 5, 2016 Accepted: April 21, 2016 Online Published: June 25, 2016 doi:10.5539/ijef.v8n7p201 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijef.v8n7p201 Abstract A sample of veterinary medical students were administered a modified version of the Financial Fitness Quiz (FFQ) to gain insights about current veterinary students money management behaviors (e.g., developing financial goals, having a spending plan, accumulating savings, etc.). Results demonstrate students possess a general awareness and conscientiousness toward personal finance. In some cases, veterinary students engaged in positive financial behaviors at a higher rate than average consumers in the United States, and most reported having more cash on hand to cover an emergency than average consumers in the United States. While students generally appear to understand the negative impact of debt, results indicate most students do not fully appreciate the value of personal budgeting or annual calculations of net worth. Keywords: economics, education, teaching, behavioral finance, finance 1. Introduction The rising cost of higher education has gained much attention in recent years. According to the U.S. Department of Education (Snyder & Dillow, 2015), the cost of undergraduate tuition, room and board at public institutions rose 39% between 2002-03 and 2012-13. The cost of a post-graduate education has also risen. In the past 15 years, students at the 28 U.S. veterinary colleges have experienced a nearly 250% increase in the mean cost of tuition and fees (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2015). Complicating matters, during the years 2008 to 2012 starting veterinary salaries fell and remain approximately $3,700 off the longer term trend (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2015). In 2015, the American Veterinary Medical Association‟s (AVMA) Veterinary Economic Division published a series of economic reports based on data collected from the AVMA‟s Senior Survey, Employment Survey and Veterinary Compensation Survey. The third report in this series, the 2015 AVMA Report on Veterinary Debt and Income, focused on the challenges faced by new graduates. The report identified two Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the veterinary profession: Debt-to-Income Ratio (DIR) and Net Present Value of the DVM degree (NPV). DIR is an indicator of the financial health of a veterinarian entering the profession. For 2014, the DIR index value was 2.05, indicating a level of debt slightly greater than two times starting income (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2015). NPV is an indicator of the lifelong value of a veterinary medical degree. It is a measure of the added value of a veterinary degree as compared to what might have been gained from a bachelor‟s degree alone. For 2014, the average NPV of a veterinary degree for women and men was $71,462 and $41,480, respectively (Knippenberg, 2015). DIR and NPV are important KPIs as both can be influenced in part by the actions of veterinary students. Specifically both DIR and NPV can be influenced by the training cost incurred by and the financial acumen of veterinary students (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2015). NPV can also be influenced by career path, work/life balance and retirement age chosen by future veterinarians, as well as socioeconomic factors (American Veterinary Medical Association, 2015). However, at present there are extremely little data focused on understanding veterinary students‟ financial behaviors. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the „financial fitness‟ of current veterinary medical students at a large, public university so as to reveal students‟ awareness and behaviors as it pertains to matters of personal finance.