According to Alison Smith, director of development at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, between 65-70% of veterinary students apply for financial aid. The average aid they receive is about $10,000 per year, while the annual cost of attendance (tuition plus other expenses) is currently $78,000. So, financial aid only covers about 13% of students’ overall costs.
The majority of veterinary students graduate with educational debt of $160,000, or more if they also took out loans to fund their undergraduate studies.
Alayzha Turner-Rodgers DVM ’24 treating an owl at the Cornell Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital
To offset expenses, many veterinary students work outside jobs to help pay for their living expenses. Alison explains that holding a job becomes more difficult during the third and fourth years of school—as clinical rotations ramp up and students do their hands-on training.
“The final two years get harder and harder for veterinary students to figure out how to make ends meet,” says Kristin Pennock, director of student financial planning.
A new scholarship is born
Several years ago, Dean Lorin Warnick, DVM, PhD ’94 convened a Veterinary College leadership group to think through how to support students with high need to complete their degrees. The dean believed that a bold scholarship campaign would advance the college’s priority to make a DVM degree more affordable for students with substantial need.
In 2019 Alison attended a conference of veterinary development professionals, where she learned about a program at a peer institution that fully supported a few of their best and brightest students with need. After watching video clips of the scholarship students sharing how this financial aid had changed their lives, Alison was inspired to see if Cornell could launch a similar effort.
Alan Coberg DVM ’24 examining a beagle dog as part of his clinical skills lab
Alison shared her vision for the Reducing Educational Debt (RED) Veterinary Scholars program with the dean and members of his leadership team. They decided to launch a pilot program to fully fund two third- and fourth-year veterinary students—so that they could complete their degrees tuition-free. The group created an application process to select students with a stellar GPA, who demonstrated resilience and fortitude in pursuing their veterinary education.
There is no denying my passion to help make the DVM education more affordable, and Dean Warnick is right there with me. Student scholarships are the #1 fundraising priority for the college.
—Alison Smith, director of development at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
Cynthia Suprenant sitting on her Triumph Street Triple before gearing up for a ride
When Cynthia Suprenant adopted a kitten in 1992, she knew very little about feline leukemia (FeLV). This retrovirus affects 2–3% of cats in the U.S., and it can be transmitted to healthy cats when an infected cat sheds the virus. To learn more about the virus and the FeLV vaccine, Cynthia made the trip from her home near Saratoga Springs, New York, to do some research at the Veterinary College library in Ithaca.
With the support of her local veterinarian, Jim Glendening DVM ’70, Cynthia and her kitten Francine enjoyed three happy years together. When her cat passed in 1995, Dr. Glendening made a gift in Francine’s honor to the Cornell Feline Health Center. Cynthia was deeply moved.
She decided to make a gift, too, launching a lifelong relationship with the Veterinary College, which now spans nearly three decades. For the first few years, she supported the Feline Health Center. When another of her cats was experiencing seizures, Cynthia made her first visit to Cornell’s Companion Animal Hospital. Grateful for the expert care she received, Cynthia increased her annual giving.
Cynthia and the ‘Ball Society’ comprised of two knuckleheads and a cinnamon lady
“I increased my contributions a little bit more. One day, my phone rang, and it was Alison. I liked her—she’s really likable,” Cynthia says.
The two formed a relationship that has deepened into a friendship over the past 25 years. Alison shared more about the Veterinary College and their work on the forefront of wildlife health—work which resonated with Cynthia.
“I came to appreciate the role of veterinary medicine in not only companion animal care, but in research leading to animal AND human health developments, food production and food chain health, wildlife health, etc.,” Cynthia notes.
As someone who came from a humble background and knew firsthand what it’s like to graduate with debt, Cynthia empathized with the burden of debt faced by many Cornell veterinary students.
Cynthia’s maternal grandmother, Mabel E. Sullivan (1895-1981)
“My maternal grandmother directly inspired my giving. She was poor and lived joyfully and frugally on Social Security. Each month, she’d take a sheet of school paper and at the top, write her net Social Security check amount. Then, she’d list her essential expenses—property taxes, utilities, insurance, medicine, food, etc. After that, she’d list her discretionary expenditures like oil paints or a sun hat. Finally, she’d list money she wanted to give away—sometimes it was $5 to a grandchild at college or $10 to an appeal she received in the mail. She’d stop when it had all been spent. What’s better than that for a lesson in generosity?” —Cynthia Suprenant
Making a difference for Cornell students
When Cynthia learned about the RED Veterinary Scholars initiative from Alison, she was immediately on board. She had created her own endowed scholarship a few years earlier, and she asked Alison to roll her scholarship over into the new RED Veterinary Scholars fund. With Cynthia’s support, the RED Veterinary Scholars endowment grew large enough to support a third scholar annually.
What the RED Veterinary Scholars program does is help these students get to the finish line of their DVM program with less debt and more freedom to pursue post-graduate opportunities that serve the greatest good (like service in low-cost clinics).
—Cynthia Suprenant
Cynthia couldn’t be prouder to stand behind these promising young veterinary students.
“These students have already distinguished themselves by being admitted to one of the most selective veterinary colleges in the world—they’ve demonstrated academic strength, determination, character, perseverance, and that’s just to get in the door,” she observes. “By the time they’re closing in on completing two years of veterinary college, RED Veterinary Scholars have distinguished themselves by surviving and thriving in a very challenging course of study.”
Alison is following the careers of the RED Veterinary Scholars after graduation. She believes that the investment that Cynthia and others like her are making in these talented students is life changing.
“These kids could be my kids,” she says. “I just heard back from Natalie, who was in the first cohort that graduated in 2023. We have a little RED lapel pin that we give them when they graduate. Natalie told me she put it on her white coat immediately and wears it to work every day. She just feels so proud.”
