Free RACE-Approved Veterinary CE in 2026: The Complete Guide

You need CE credits. You do not need to spend a fortune getting them. Here is the complete guide to free RACE-approved veterinary continuing education in 2026 and the platform your colleagues are already using.

Let's start with the reality every veterinary professional knows but nobody talks about loudly enough: continuing education is expensive.

Conference registrations. Online course subscriptions. Webinar fees. The cost of staying current in a profession that moves as fast as veterinary medicine adds up fast, and for early-career practitioners carrying student debt or practice owners managing tight margins, the CE budget is often the first thing that gets cut.

But your license renewal doesn't care about your budget. The hours are due when they're due.

Here is the good news: free RACE-approved veterinary CE exists, it is abundant, and the quality of what is available in 2026 is better than it has ever been. This is the complete guide to where to find it, what to look for, and which platform is doing it better than anyone else in the profession right now.

What Does RACE-Approved Actually Mean?

Before diving into resources, a quick clarification that matters for your license.

RACE stands for Registry of Approved Continuing Education, a program administered by the American Association of Veterinary State Boards. RACE approval means a CE provider has met established standards for educational quality, content relevance, and record-keeping. Most state veterinary licensing boards require that a significant portion — often all — of your CE hours come from RACE-approved sources.

When you are evaluating free CE resources, RACE approval is the non-negotiable. Free CE that is not RACE-approved may be valuable for your professional development but will not count toward your license renewal. Always verify before you invest your time.

The Free RACE-Approved CE Landscape in 2026

The options for free veterinary CE have expanded significantly in recent years, driven by pharmaceutical company sponsorships, nonprofit initiatives, and media platforms that have built CE directly into their content offerings. Here is what is currently available:

Manufacturer-sponsored webinars from major animal health companies — Zoetis, Merck Animal Health, Elanco, Boehringer Ingelheim, and others — regularly offer free RACE-approved CE tied to their product areas and broader clinical topics. These are legitimate educational resources, though the content naturally reflects the sponsor's therapeutic areas.

Veterinary association resources from organizations like the AVMA, AAHA, and specialty colleges periodically offer free CE to members and sometimes to non-members as well. Member dues can make these less "free" in the pure sense, but for practitioners already paying dues, the CE attached to membership is worth maximizing.

University-hosted continuing education from veterinary colleges occasionally offers free or low-cost CE through extension programs, online seminars, and outreach initiatives. Quality is generally high but availability is inconsistent and scheduling can be inflexible.

Veterinary media platforms that have built CE directly into their editorial content represent the newest and fastest-growing category of free CE — and the category where Vet Candy has built something genuinely different.

Vet Candy: The Free CE Platform Built by Veterinarians, for Veterinarians

Vet Candy is a veterinary media and education platform serving more than 50,000 millennial and Gen Z veterinary professionals through podcasts, video content, digital magazines, and email campaigns. It is the number one Apple Pets podcast in its category. And it offers free RACE-approved CE in a format that no conference, webinar platform, or subscription service has matched.

The CE content at Vet Candy is built around specialist-hosted series that combine real educational depth with the kind of production quality and voice that actually keeps you engaged through the material. These are not slide decks recorded by a webcam. These are studio-produced series hosted by board-certified specialists who know exactly what general practitioners need from this content.

Current free RACE-approved CE offerings at Vet Candy include:

Dermatology Secrets with Dr. Joya Griffin — A multi-module dermatology series hosted by veterinary dermatologist Dr. Joya Griffin. The cases that walk into your exam room every day, taught by the specialist who sees the referrals from those cases. Free. RACE-approved.

Endocrinology Secrets with Dr. Forrest Cummings — Four modules covering diabetes in dogs, diabetes in cats, Cushing's disease, and Addison's disease, hosted by veterinary internal medicine specialist Dr. Forrest Cummings. He built this course specifically for general practitioners and he knows exactly where GPs get stuck. Free. RACE-approved. Two CE credits.

Real Talk with Dr. Jessica Trice and Dr. Jennifer Remnes — A three-part wellness and professional development CE series covering happiness in veterinary practice, physical health and longevity, and workplace relationships. RACE-approved. Brought to you by Covetrus.

All of it is available on demand at myvetcandy.com/ce-on-demand. No scheduling. No registration fees. No subscription required. Watch it when you want, earn the credits, and keep your license current without touching your CE budget.

How to Maximize Your Free CE in 2026

A few practical strategies for getting the most out of free CE resources:

Know your state's requirements before you start accumulating hours. CE requirements vary significantly by state — the number of hours required, the breakdown between categories, and the RACE approval standards all differ. Check your state licensing board's current requirements and plan accordingly. (Vet Candy has a full guide to CE requirements by state — link below.)

Document everything as you go. Free CE platforms vary in how they handle record-keeping. Some issue certificates automatically. Others require you to request documentation. Whatever the system, keep your own records with dates, provider names, topic areas, and credit hours. Do not count on the platform to have your history available indefinitely.

Use free CE strategically for weak spots. The best use of free CE is not just hour accumulation — it is targeted professional development in the clinical areas where you feel least confident. Vet Candy's specialty series are particularly well-suited for this because they are built around the clinical topics that challenge general practitioners most.

Stack your free hours before spending money. With the volume of quality free RACE-approved CE available in 2026, there is no reason to pay for hours until you have exhausted the free options. Start at myvetcandy.com, work through the specialist series, and then evaluate what gaps remain in your requirements before opening your wallet.

The Bottom Line

Free RACE-approved veterinary CE has never been more accessible, more varied, or higher quality than it is right now. The barrier between you and your next renewal cycle is not money — it is knowing where to look.

Start at Vet Candy. The CE is free, the content is built by specialists who know your clinical reality, and the platform was designed by veterinary professionals who understand exactly what you need from continuing education.

Earn free RACE-approved CE now at myvetcandy.com/ce-on-demand