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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Vet school funding returned for this year

After several series of discussions with Governor Mitt Romney, President Bacow and other Tufts officials succeeded in restoring funds from the state of Massachusetts to the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine during negotiations over the past week. Due to the Commonwealth's ongoing fiscal crisis, the Vet School had lost $3.6 million in funding that it was supposed to have received from the State of Massachusetts for 2003.

Though it is unknown exactly when the Vet School will receive the money, Bacow hopes that the Executive Branch will release the funding soon. The University did not threaten legal action against the state in regard to the restoration of funding.

"We have worked hard to get to this point through a number of discussions with legislative leaders, Governor Romney and his team," Bacow said in a March 7 press release. "As a result, I'm pleased to report that the Governor signed the supplementary budget that will restore the $3.6 million originally slated for 2003."

Romney's office could not be reached for comment.

Though the Vet School regained the money it had lost, the future is not so well defined, according to Bacow. "Unfortunately, as we heard this good news, we also learned that the Veterinary School was not funded in the Governor's fiscal year 2004 budget proposal," he said. "So we are continuing to work with the Massachusetts Legislature to restore funding for the Veterinary School in the fiscal year 2004 House and Senate budgets."

In Fiscal Year 2001, the state supplied the Veterinary School with 15 percent of its funding, approximately $5.6 million dollars. The fiscal year 2002 appropriation of $3.6 million was only nine percent of funding.

According to John McManus, the Associate Dean of Administration and Finance for the Vet School, Tufts uses the majority of its state appropriated funding for "unique workforce development needs; support of life science companies' research; providing locations for biotechnology firms to prosper; and providing over 400 veterinary hospitals with consultation and referral services."

"The balance of our state appropriation is used for tuition stipends for Massachusetts residents attending our school," McManus said. "This year, half of our students were Massachusetts residents." Though the Commonwealth has provided for a 15 percent tuition subsidy for Massachusetts residents, further cuts in state funding would mean less money for tuition subsidies.

According to Bacow, the Vet School has a reputation for being extremely cost-efficient and one of the most research productive schools of its kind in the nation. Yet it still must receive some state support in order to operate at a sufficient level.

"I believe the legislature understood this message. This legislative leadership has always been supportive," Bacow said. Over the years, Bacow and previous administrative officials have worked to emphasize the importance of the Vet School and to educate both the State House and Senate about why it is worthy of state support as a private institution.

While attending these meetings with the state legislature and members of the Administration, Bacow stressed the significance of the Vet School, particularly its meritorious reputation.

"[The Vet School] is a key component of the state's research infrastructure that supports biomedical research and the biotech and pharmaceutical industries in the Commonwealth," Bacow said.

The Vet School, located in North Grafton, MA, is the sole institution of higher learning for veterinary medicine in Massachusetts, where clinicians in its three hospitals are among the highest ranked in the world. Over 25,000 patients are treated each year. The Tufts' Foster Hospital for Small Animals has the nation's largest residency program in veterinary emergency and critical care. The Tufts Wildlife Clinic has been assigned by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as the official New England treatment center for rare and endangered species.

Fully accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Vet School annually enrolls over 300 students (80 per class) in a four-year program that leads to the doctor of veterinary medicine degree (D.V.M.). It is also the only veterinary school in the world to offer graduate degrees (M.S.) in the field of human/animal relationships and related public policies.