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College of Eastern Idaho tells JFAC 465 students on CTE wait lists, urges $2M from CTE pool
Summary
College of Eastern Idaho President Lori Barber told JFAC the college faces acute capacity constraints across CTE programs, reported about 465 students on CTE wait lists and asked the committee to support at least $2 million ongoing from the governor’s CTE funding pool.
College of Eastern Idaho President Lori Barber asked the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee for targeted funding to expand capacity at CEI, telling lawmakers the campus is stretched after rapid enrollment and workforce‑training growth.
Kevin Campbell of the Legislative Services Office opened CEI’s presentation, noting the FY2024 appropriation to CEI was $7,003,700 and that CEI has grown from roughly 700 students as Eastern Idaho Technical College to about 3,600 degree‑seeking students and more than 14,000 workforce‑training participants.
Barber described significant demand for CTE seats and the resulting wait lists. “In fall 2024, we actually had 465 CTE students who wanted a space in one of our CTE programs,” Barber said, and added that the college tried to redirect some students into general education or prerequisites when programs were full. She told the committee CEI’s campus footprint has not expanded since 2007 and that CEI served “just under 4,000 credit students” on the same physical campus that previously served roughly 1,000.
Barber described three capacity constraints: available instructional staff, modern equipment and wraparound student support services. She gave industry partnerships as examples of mitigation: “INL came to the table and they said, we will provide you with instructors so we were able to almost double our cybersecurity enrollment,” Barber said. She also described a micro‑credential/apprenticeship partnership with Teton Toyota that blends on‑the‑job training and evening classroom instruction.
Barber asked the committee to back the governor’s postsecondary proposal and the CTE funding pool, saying “an increase in our general fund allocation from that $10,000,000 of at least $2,000,000 ongoing would be absolutely transformational.” Committee members pressed for more details about which programs and hires those dollars would support; Barber said CEI would use EWA and general‑fund increases to hire faculty in science and math to support prerequisites for health‑care CTE fields and to purchase updated lab and fabrication equipment for programs such as welding, mechatronics and nursing.
Why this matters: CEI’s constrained CTE capacity limits the ability of Southeast Idaho employers to hire local graduates for growing sectors, including healthcare, energy and advanced manufacturing. The college argued that state investments would expand local workforce pipelines and reduce employer‑driven hiring gaps.
Barber closed by asking JFAC to consider sustained funding that would allow CEI to hire faculty and advisors, buy modern equipment and expand facilities to meet both credit and workforce‑training demand.
