Idaho’s public colleges and universities are unlikely to see their budgets and tuition raised under a measure passed by a joint committee in Boise.
The joint budget committee approved a $643 million fiscal year 2023 budget for the state’s four public colleges and universities this week. The proposed budget does include $338.1 million in state general fund support, which is a $25 million, 8% increase over the current year.
If it passes, it would be the fourth consecutive year that funding and tuition have remained flat.
Higher education budgets in Idaho have failed on the House floor the last two years, largely because of concerns about alleged indoctrination.
Locally, Lewis-Clark State College did garner favor in the proposed budgets. All included $323,200 and two full-time positions for the school’s nontraditional learner program, plus $91,600 for cybersecurity compliance efforts and another $66,600 and one full-time position for Title IX support.
For the University of Idaho, the final budget eliminated a $2 million line item and five full-time positions to expand the university’s digital learning infrastructure, which had been recommended by the governor.
However, the committee did support a request for $279,500 and four full-time positions for UI’s McClure Center for Public Policy Research. The center previously relied on grant funding for all of its work.
The committee also approved a $1.1 million supplemental request for start-up costs for a nuclear engineering program that will be shared by the U of I and Idaho State.
The higher education budget now heads to the House and Senate for further action. (Lewiston Tribune)
