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College of Western Idaho cites rapid enrollment growth, EWA cap and program wait lists in budget briefing to JFAC
Summary
College of Western Idaho officials told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee the college is experiencing double-digit academic enrollment growth and program-specific capacity constraints while the State Board's 3% cap on the enrollment workload adjustment (EWA) limited what CWI received from that formula.
College of Western Idaho President Gordon Jones told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee that the college is seeing sustained enrollment growth and program-specific capacity limits as it presented its FY2026 base budget request.
Jones said the college is seeing broad increases across academic, career‑technical and dual‑credit programs, adding that "we are up this year 13% in our academic enrollment." He told the committee CWI has "almost a hundred people on our nursing waiting list" and "a 1,000 students total on wait lists across all of our programs," with particular pressure in nursing, automotive technology, welding, cybersecurity and agricultural sciences.
Why it matters: committee members pressed on how funding formulas and state policies affect the college's ability to add capacity. Jones and Legislative Services Office analyst…
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