Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Claps filled the air as crews lifted the final beam into place at Arkansas State University’s upcoming College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) building on Monday.
A-State and CVM leadership, contractors and local government representatives were present at the topping off ceremony, in which a building’s final beam is installed, generally signifying the structure’s completion. Those in attendance signed the beam before it was placed.
“Today is more than a topping off ceremony. This final beam will go up. Now, in construction terms, this marks a high point, but in spirit, it marks momentum,” A-State chancellor Todd Shields said. “Arkansas and this entire region need more animal health professionals. This college will train them, hands-on, from Day One, solving real problems for producers, clinics, agriculture, and communities.”
Dr. Heidi Banse, dean of the CVM, spoke at the ceremony. She thanked the college’s founding team and its current staff, and spoke about some of the facilities related to the building.
Banse said the building will have lab spaces for students to practice anatomy and clinical skills, a surgical training space, as well as house faculty and administrative offices.
Additionally, she said, two barns are being constructed near A-State’s Bovine Farm and Equine Center, allowing students to learn to work with horses and cattle.
“We’re building out experiences here in town with a local emergency practice, Allied [Animal] ER, for our students to do their experiences here, and we’re going to, in part, staff that up with A-State faculty to support our students,” Banse said.
Banse concluded by thanking partners across the state that are contributing to the program, such as the Arkansas Department of Corrections, as well as the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, which are facilitating necropsy experiences.
She also thanked the National Toxicology Research Center, which is partnering with some of the college’s research work, and the nearly 400 general practice veterinary practices across Arkansas, southern Missouri and more that will work with the CVM.
Arkansas House District 32 Rep. Jack Ladyman (R-Jonesboro) briefly spoke about the building as well, expressing excitement about the ability to train new veterinarians in the state.
Since Arkansas currently lacks an in-state veterinary school, the state authorizes funding to assist with covering out-of-state tuition expenses for Arkansas residents pursuing veterinary medicine, as well as other medical careers, according to information from the University of Arkansas’s website.
“The state pays for, I believe, nine people to go out-of-state, their out-of-state tuition,” Ladyman said. “[To] study veterinary [medicine] has cost the state a lot of money. I think we want to teach our veterinarians here in Arkansas to be veterinarians that want to stay here in the state.”
Adam Seiter, executive vice president of operations at Nabholz, the project’s contractor, said the company was looking forward to its completion. University officials broke ground on the building in March.
It is projected to open in Fall 2026, with a class of 120 students. Sixty of those spots are reserved for Arkansas residents.
Tuition and fees costs for the college, which the ASU System Board of Trustees approved in June, will be $17,250 per semester for in-state students and $27,250 per semester for out-of-state students.
The building will be approximately 56,000 square feet, with construction estimated to cost $33.2 million. In November 2024, the Board approved a $30.6 million bond issue to finance the project.
Lyon College in Batesville is also working to open a School of Veterinary Medicine in Cabot, which it plans to open in 2026. The A-State CVM will be the first public veterinary school in Arkansas, while Lyon’s will be the first private one.