Utah State University veterinary school bill passes House

SALT LAKE CITY — Despite concerns about the state's tight budget, a bill that would create a veterinary school at Utah State University passed the Utah House.

"It's a tough time to do it, but it's the right thing to do," Rep. John Mathis, R-Vernal, the bill's sponsor, said Friday.

HB57 would create a joint veterinary program with Washington State University that would take 20 Utah students and 10 out-of-state students a year. Students would spend the first two years at USU doing coursework and the second two years in Washington, where they could take advantage of the school's animal hospitals and clinics.

Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, gave the legislators a "friendly reminder" that the proposal would cost the state $1.7 million, including hiring six new faculty.

"If we're going to subsidize higher ed, I would suggest subsidizing students," said Dougall, House budget committee vice chairman.

There are about 600 licensed veterinarians in Utah. Most are concentrated along the Wasatch Front, leaving a shortage in rural areas of the state.

While legislators acknowledged the need for more veterinarians in Utah, especially those specializing in large animals, some voiced concern that students wouldn't return to work in Utah after receiving their degrees.

Lawmakers voted down an amendment by Rep. Johnny Anderson, R-Taylorsville, that would require students to work in Utah for four years after graduation.

"We should be assured that the citizens putting up the money receive benefit," he said.

Utah doesn't currently have a veterinary school, but students can apply for a grant from the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education to attend a school in another state. Utah helps send about five students out of state each year at a cost of $580,000.

According to Mathis, a veterinarian who took advantage of the grant program, about half of the students who participate in the program return to Utah to work.

Rep. Michael Noel, R-Kanab, thinks all of the students who would attend the proposed veterinary school would return to the state.

"We don't need to coerce them to come," he said.

USU already has an agreement in place with Washington State's highly regarded veterinary school and approval from the state Board of Regents, so passage of the Mathis bill is the last hurdle to clear.

Ken White, head of USU's department of animal, dairy and veterinary sciences, said the school would be "a wonderful opportunity" to give students from rural areas a cost-effective way to practice as veterinarians where they grew up.

"This is doing the right thing for the right reasons," he said.

Resident tuition would be about $18,000 a year, with the first class starting in fall 2012.

The bill passed 48-23 and now moves to the Senate for its consideration.

Contributing: Paul Koepp

e-mail: averzello@desnews.com