19 Nebraska students selected for inaugural food animal veterinary scholarship program (2024)

Gov. Jim Pillen, center, celebrates 19 Nebraska students as the inaugural recipients of a state-funded scholarship for veterinary medicine at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Pillen is a former veterinarian who began his college education at UNL. Aug. 26, 2024. (Courtesy Office of Gov. Jim Pillen)

LINCOLN —Sydney Hutchinson had a lifelong dream to attend a veterinary program offered in Nebraska and Iowa for her doctoral medicine degree, but in February she was on track to attend Kansas State University instead.

Hutchinson said while it wasn’t her dream, an early admissions offer from the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine “was just too good to pass up.” She said the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, along with Iowa State University, didn’t offer a similar opportunity of the same magnitude.

“Conveniently enough, the day that I had my interview with Kansas State was the same day that the press conference announcing Nebraska’s Elite 11 program took place [on Feb. 29],” Hutchinson said at a Monday news conference.

“Nebraska Elite 11” program

Hutchinson and 18 other students joined Gov. Jim Pillen in celebrating the inaugural class of the “Nebraska Elite 11 Veterinarian Program” that Pillen and UNL launched in February. The state-funded program fully covers six years of tuition for up to 11 Nebraska residents through eight years of veterinary education, with a competitive selection process.

Pillen graduated with his veterinary medicine degree in 1983 from K-State after getting his bachelor’s degree in animal science at UNL four years prior.

Up to 25 first-time freshmen can start in the program and have 50% of their tuition covered in their first two years. Up to 13 students will be selected to continue and have 100% tuition covered in years three and four before graduating from UNL.

Nebraska began a joint four-year doctoral veterinary medicine program with Iowa State in 2007. Tuition is assessed at Iowa’s resident tuition level. The State of Nebraska plans to fully cover related tuition and fees for up to 11 students — the “Elite 11” — in the professional program.

In return, those students will sign a contract with the Nebraska Department of Labor agreeing to return to Nebraska after graduation and practice veterinary medicine for eight years in the state.

That work must be done in a Nebraska county with fewer than 40,000 people, which excludes five of the 93 counties: Douglas, Lancaster, Sarpy, Hall and Buffalo, according to recent legislative estimates. The new veterinarians must also spend more than 50% of their time working with production animals (cattle, swine, sheep, poultry and other forms of livestock).

“Elite 11” students who fail to complete the terms of their contract would agree to pay back their covered educational expenses.

‘Don’t let anybody steal your dream’

Pillen, a former University of Nebraska regent, said one of the barriers to having production-animal veterinarians is cost, so multiple states have struggled to recruit large animal veterinarians. He thanked UNL for taking a “proactive approach” that will give back to Nebraska.

“Having that North star of your dream, that’s why you will all be successful,” Pillen told the students at his news conference. “You don’t let anybody steal your dream because you can accomplish anything you want if you’re willing to work hard enough.”

The scholarships are funded through the Nebraska Department of Labor’s newly created Workforce Development Program, which is established in the state’s annual budget. The Legislature approved transferring $40 million to the development program collected originally through a tax on state unemployment insurance. Up to $10 million will be available for a four-year period.

A similar $10 million workforce grant program was created in 2022 through federal COVID-19 recovery funds, and the state later picked up the tab in 2023.

Scholarship recipients will receive specific programming, mentorship and internship opportunities. A spokesperson for Pillen said current veterinarians indicated that extra support would have made a difference had it been in place when they went to school.

‘Truly a game changer’

Tiffany Heng-Moss, dean of UNL’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, said the program is a “big win” for Nebraska, including for its veterinary workforce and agriculture.

Heng-Moss and UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett noted the livestock industry contributes more than $6 billion to Nebraska’s economy. Heng-Moss said it will be “truly a game changer.”

Hutchinson said the “Elite 11” program will cause Nebraska students to stay in the state, help the veterinary industry overcome one of its biggest challenges of high college debt and ensure Nebraska will “be able to continue what we do best, and that’s feed the world.”

“I would not be here at the University of Nebraska without the Elite 11 program,” Hutchinson said Monday. “Although not every student situation is the same as mine, the reality is that Nebraska students, both now and in the future, would be lost to other states without it.”

The 19 inaugural students for the first year and their hometowns are:

Originally published on nebraskaexaminer.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.