College of Eastern Idaho seeks $2M ongoing from community‑college CTE package; reports 465 students on CTE wait lists

College of Eastern Idaho (CEI) President Lori Barber asked the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee (JFAC) to direct a portion of the state’s proposed community‑college CTE funds to CEI, saying the college is capacity‑constrained after rapid enrollment growth.

Barber told the committee that CEI’s workforce training division provided more than 14,000 trainings to 54 local employers in fiscal 2024 and that credit headcount has risen 273% since 2017. She said CEI has 465 students on wait lists for career‑technical education (CTE) programs this fall and that, on the campus built in 2007, credit enrollment grew from about 1,000 then to nearly 4,000 in fall 2024.

Barber asked JFAC to support the $25 million in the governor’s postsecondary request—particularly the $10 million earmarked for community and technical colleges—and said that for CEI an increase of roughly $2 million ongoing from that CTE allocation would be “absolutely transformational.”

Why it matters: CEI serves a rapidly expanding regional economy (including Idaho National Laboratory…