Small College Bets Big on Professional Schools

Lyon College, a small, private institution in Arkansas with a student enrollment of just under 700, plans to open professional schools for veterinary science and dentistry as soon as 2024. The plans are ambitious for a college of modest size and wealth, and its leaders acknowledge they did not make the decision lightly. They say Arkansas desperately needs both professional schools and is losing students, including undergraduates educated at Lyon, to out-of-state medical and veterinary schools. They’ve enlisted a private capital group to help fund the two initiatives.