Penn Vet launches Stamps Scholars program for VMD students
Penn Vet said it has partnered with the Stamps Scholars Program to launch the Stamps VMD/VMD-PhD Fellows, a new merit scholarship for veterinary students entering in the 2026-2027 academic year. The program will provide full cost-of-attendance support for selected VMD and VMD-PhD students for up to four years, or designated years within the dual-degree track, plus enrichment funding for research, internships, global experiences, conferences, and leadership development. Penn Vet said the award will be its highest merit scholarship and described the partnership as part of a broader expansion of the Stamps program into graduate-level veterinary education. The school also recently highlighted the new fellowship during its 2026 Student Research Day, where leaders tied the scholarship to Penn Vet’s emphasis on student discovery, leadership, and advancing veterinary medicine through both clinical and research training. (vet.upenn.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the announcement lands in a profession still grappling with education debt and workforce pressure. AVMA’s 2025 economic report found average DVM debt in 2024 was $168,979 across all new graduates and $202,647 among those with debt, while 38.5% of graduates carried at least $200,000 in DVM debt. Against that backdrop, a full-cost scholarship tied to leadership and research development could help Penn Vet recruit high-performing candidates, support future clinician-scientists, and offer one model for reducing financial barriers that can shape career choices, specialty training, and long-term retention. Penn Vet’s Student Research Day offered a reminder of the kind of pipeline the school is trying to support: VMD and VMD-PhD students presented work spanning Penn Vet departments and centers as well as collaborations with the Perelman School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Crescenz VA Medical Center, including summer NIH/Boehringer Ingelheim projects and longer-term thesis research. (ebusiness.avma.org)
What to watch: Watch for details on how many students Penn Vet will fund each year, how the nomination and selection process works in practice, and whether other veterinary schools pursue similar high-value scholarship models. It will also be worth watching how closely Penn Vet links the fellowship to its broader research-training ecosystem, including programs and events such as Student Research Day that showcase translational and interdisciplinary work by VMD and VMD-PhD trainees. (vet.upenn.edu)