Idaho’s colleges and universities seem to have two recurring budget priorities.
They want to add staff, and they want to give pay raises to staff already on hand.
The colleges and universities recently submitted their budget requests for 2025-26 — the first step in a process that will unfold at the Statehouse in the next six months or so.
The requests include several line items that fall under two jargony categories.
The four-year schools submitted $3.4 million in “occupational capacity enhancement” line items. These are, in essence, discretionary budget items. These requests are down considerably from the previous year, when the four-year schools wound up receiving close to $7 million in discretionary items.
Five schools sought money for “enrollment workload adjustment,” or EWA. As the name suggests, this money is designed to cover increased costs that come with increased student numbers. This budget is based on three-year enrollment patterns, and three colleges and universities are ineligible.
Here are thumbnails on the budget requests.
Four-year schools
Total 2025-26 request: $300,266,500, up 3.6%.
Discretionary line item: $1,178,400, to help cover pay raises. “Boise State has struggled to retain qualified staff who are frequently recruited by other employers that pay higher salaries for equivalent positions,” Boise State says in its budget request. “This has resulted in high employee turnover rates, particularly in classified and non-faculty positions.”
Enrollment-based dollars: Boise State is also seeking $195,700 in EWA funding.
Total 2025-26 request: $203,854,200, up 3.8%.
Discretionary line item: $996,300, also for faculty and staff pay raises. “Salary competitiveness is a long-term issue – not readily corrected in one year and easy to lose ground on.”
Total 2025-26 request: $172,768,100, up 4.3%.
Discretionary line item: $907,300 for salaries, and to help cover inflation.
Enrollment-based dollars: $988,100. Idaho State says it would spend the money on “high-demand health programs across the state,” as well as statewide recruiting efforts.
Total 2025-26 request: $42,952,100, up 3%.
Discretionary line item: $287,900. Lewis-Clark’s faculty salaries aren’t just lower than the state’s four-year universities; they also lag behind K-12 pay. This line item will almost erase the gap between Lewis-Clark and K-12.
Community colleges
Total 2025-26 request: $22,040,100, up 2.7%.
Enrollment-based dollars: $265,000, to fund three full-time positions: a student success coach, a student adviser and a student services operations director.
Total 2025-26 request: $20,707,900, up 4.2%.
Enrollment-based dollars: $475,700, to hire additional faculty and adjunct faculty.
Total 2025-26 request: $15,509,300, down 0.8%.
Enrollment-based dollars: While the state’s other two-year schools could receive additional funding to accommodate additional students, a long trend of enrollment decreases could cut into NIC’s bottom line. The funding decrease will largely affect part-time faculty and staff.
Total 2025-26 request: $8,202,400, up 6.1%.
Enrollment-based dollars: $413,200, for staff additions.
Next steps: the governor and the Legislature
The spending requests were due in late August. They now go to Gov. Brad Little and his budget team.
Little will make his budget recommendations on Jan. 6, the first day of the 2025 legislative session. Legislators must then write up — and pass — a raft of agency budget bills for Little’s consideration.
The college and universities’ budget is usually one of the last budget bills lawmakers consider each session, and often among the most contentious. The budget for the four community colleges is generally less controversial.
