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Lifetime dreams of Hayley (Leibel) Bentz, Lauren Larson and their 16 classmates were fulfilled when they graduated May 11 with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. 

This historic group of 18 was the first cohort to graduate from the University of Minnesota through the 2+2 Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine established with South ��ֱ���� State University. A group of 20 started classes on the SDSU campus in fall 2021 and after two years moved onto the University of Minnesota campus. 

“It’s neat to be part of the first class,” said Bentz, who earned her bachelor’s degree at SDSU and is working at a Mobridge vet clinic after graduation. “A lot of the practitioners in South ��ֱ���� are waiting for this. People are really curious about our program. My classmates and I get asked quite a bit about this,” said Bentz, who has wanted to be a veterinarian since age 8. 

Larson, who made being a veterinarian her career goal at age 5, said, “I had been hearing about this program since I was a kid. Most veterinarians within the state of South ��ֱ���� advocated for this for a very long time. I was born and raised in South ��ֱ���� and went to SDSU for my undergraduate. It felt right to start my veterinary education at SDSU. It felt perfect to continue my career at a school I knew I already loved.” 

At the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, a year is spent in classes and labs. Then another year is internships both at the University of Minnesota and at an unending list of locations of the students’ choosing. 

Ten applicants for each slot 

Each year a group of 20 students are chosen for the 2+2 program. Getting accepted has become increasingly competitive. When the Class of 2025 was forming, there were 137 applicants — 50 from South ��ֱ����. A year later there were 212 applicants with 72 hailing from South ��ֱ����. 

Out-of-state applicants dropped back a little for the Class of 2027. There were 193 total applicants with 79 from South ��ֱ����. 

For the class that began this fall, there were 246 applicants with 38 from South ��ֱ����. 

Larson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in ��ֱ���� science in December 2020, spent a semester working in a vet clinic in her hometown of Mitchell and then started the 2+2 program. 

Bentz almost didn’t become a veterinarian. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in ��ֱ���� science in 2018 and applied at veterinary schools in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Kansas. Zero for 4. 

“I had decided to go on a different career path (nursing). When I learned about this program, I thought it was worth a shot. It’s in my home state. I got my ��ֱ���� science degree there, and I knew I liked SDSU. I thought it would be more tailored to a rural ��ֱ���� practitioner,” said Bentz, who also retook classes to improve her GPA. 

Acceptance isn’t solely based on GPA, but it is a big factor. To be competitive, a GPA above 3.5 is needed, Bentz said. For her class, the mean is 3.52 with a midrange of 3.53-3.77. The numbers trend up for future classes. For the Class of 2028, the mean is 3.74 with a range of 3.64 to 3.90. 

Class melded well with U of M students 

Both Bentz and Larson said they felt prepared when they joined up with slightly more than 100 Class of 2025 students at the University of Minnesota. 

Bentz said, “We were all really nervous before heading up there. We wanted to be at the same level as our University of Minnesota cohort. It turned out to be just fine. … We blended in well with our cohort once we got up there. We worried way more than we should have.” 

While 17 of the 20 students in the Class of 2025 were South ��ֱ���� residents, just seven of them were SDSU graduates. Four were ��ֱ���� sciences majors with one each in psychology, general studies and microbiology and biotechnology. Overall, there were eight ��ֱ���� science graduates with the next most popular major being psychology with two. 

Larson said the group’s variety was beneficial with a “really good mix” of backgrounds, though the vast majority were from Minnesota or South ��ֱ����. 

‘Part of something bigger than myself’ 

After fall semester in the third year, students split into specialty tracks. “Four of us started doing small ��ֱ����. Fourteen did large ��ֱ����/mixed, and two did equine,” Larson said. 

As they complete their education, Larson said, “A good handful are coming back to South ��ֱ����.” Bentz said she knows of three others who are coming back to South ��ֱ���� for large ��ֱ���� practice. 

Larson said being part of the 2+2 program gave her an opportunity to “be part of something bigger than myself. … At the end of the day, I feel like I am giving back to South ��ֱ����. The program is helping to tackle a big problem of the Midwest with the shortage of veterinarians.” 

She noted only one or two in the cohort are leaving the Midwest. 

Before going their separate ways, all of them gathered at Luna and the Bear restaurant in the Cities for a banquet they planned themselves. 

“In vet school, you form this camaraderie that nobody else understands unless you go through it together,” Bentz said.