Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** abraham baldwin agricultural…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** abraham baldwin agricultural college (ABAC) is in tifton, georgia and has a student body of over 3,700 individuals. Most of the students are considered underserved because they come from rural and impoverished areas of the state, are first generation students, or minority individuals. Rural migration of younger populations has caused an economic imbalance throughout communities in the south, and they can lack needed services in these areas due to their declining numbers and reduction of skilled employees. Specifically, rural veterinary medicine is facing a national shortage of practitioners specializing in food animal medicine. Without an adequate supply of veterinarians caring for these animals, the supply chain could be negatively impacted. ABAC has a significant rural student population pursing degrees in biology and animal science and has had previous success of promoting veterinary medicine through their acceptance into veterinary college. We would like to further these efforts by continuing our existing partnership with university of georgia-tifton veterinary diagnostic and investigational laboratory and building new and lasting relationships with local veterinarian clinics, the state veterinarian's office, the georgia veterinary medical association, and white OAK pastures. We want to provide optimal opportunities for ABAC students to gain unique experiences that will help them be more employable by producing graduates that can return to rural communities and bring their skill sets to better serve those areas. Educational attainment by ABAC graduates returning to rural communities that participate in opportunities presented to them through the relationships formed with this proposal can help improve rural areas.