Washington State University received permission from the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council on Education to welcome Utah State to a unique partnership that will increase vet school enrollment, and bring about $3 million to WSU.

Utah State has just been added to the WIMU veterinary program, a partnership consisting of the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Idaho Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Montana State University and Utah State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

WSU’s Dean of Veterinary Medicine Bryan Slinker said that around 3 million dollars in new revenue will go to the university as a result of this partnership.

“(The) American Veterinary Medical Association’s Council has already noted their satisfaction with the program,” Slinker said.

The AVMA Council on Education confirmed that having the program in place will help achieve the best veterinary medicine education possible.

Benefits from this collaboration style include smaller class sizes, personalized attention, and a more professional and developmental atmosphere.

Slinker said WSU is one of 30 colleges in the entire country with a veterinary program, which has been there for over a hundred years. The WIMU program can allow the program to expand.

By partnering with other schools, students in the region have a chance to pursue a veterinary major while staying close to home.

Utah State students will partake in the so-called 2+2 plan, which splits a 4-year program between two years of study at the Utah State campus and two years at WSU.

This program is not limited to Utah State. Slinker said that WSU has been partnering with Idaho’s veterinary program for over 40 years.

The difference with Idaho State’s program is that students transfer to WSU for the full 4 years of their education rather than following the 2+2 plan.

WSU has a similar collaboration with Montana State where students complete a 1+3 educational plan. Montana State students spend their first year at on campus and the next three years at the WSU campus.

By 2016, WSU’s full capacity for their veterinary program will be 460 students at any given time.

Tuition for those students will collectively top $11.2 million with additional tuition payments to those on campus at Utah State and Montana State.

“Utah State now has 30 students in both the first and second year in the program,” Slinker said.

Twenty of the students are residents and the other 10 are non-residents.

The only other colleges with similar programs are Nebraska and Iowa State, Slinker said.