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 and local hospitals) that requires technicians and mid‑skill workers. Barber said employers such as INL and local auto dealerships have partnered with CEI to expand training (for example, INL provided instructors that helped double cybersecurity enrollment; a local dealership partnered on a micro‑credential and on‑the‑job training pathway for automotive technicians). But Barber said the college lacks sufficient faculty, up‑to‑date equipment and building space to meet demand.

Details from the hearing • Enrollment growth and scale: Kevin Campbell, LSO analyst, told JFAC that CEI grew from about 700 students when it was Eastern Idaho Technical College to roughly 3,600 degree‑seeking students and more than 14,000 workforce training participants. Barber said CEI’s nursing program grew from 35 students in 2017 to capacity for about 220 now.

• CTE wait lists and capacity: Barber said CEI had 465 CTE applicants this fall who wanted spaces the college could not supply and that the campus built in 2007 is serving nearly four times the credit students it did then. She told the committee that CEI needs modern equipment in programs such as welding, mechatronics and cybersecurity, and that faculty recruitment is a challenge because industry wages often exceed college pay.

• Partnerships with employers: Barber said Idaho National Laboratory (INL) supplied instructors that allowed CEI to nearly double cybersecurity enrollment; she also described an arrangement with Teton Toyota that pairs on‑the‑job training with evening classroom instruction and employer commitments to step up pay when students achieve credentials.

• Compensation and staffing: Barber estimated that raising 20 full‑time faculty who currently earn less than the local K‑12 average to the K‑12 average would cost roughly $2.26 million; she also described difficulty retaining staff such as a graphic designer who left for a private sector job paying about $30,000 more.

• Use of potential CTE funds: Barber said CEI would use a portion of any awarded CTE dollars to hire science and math faculty who can staff the prerequisite and foundational courses that support health care and other CTE pathways, plus to update equipment and expand program seats.

Quotes from the hearing • "We actually had the space for them… but hiring cybersecurity instructors is really difficult because they can make so much more money in industry." Lori Barber, president, College of Eastern Idaho. • "For CEI, an increase in our general fund allocation from that $10,000,000 of at least $2,000,000 ongoing would be absolutely transformational." Lori Barber, president, College of Eastern Idaho.

What was not decided No committee vote occurred. The committee asked the Department of Finance and Management and LSO to provide comparative data on EWA calculations across institutions; CEI asked the committee to consider the governor’s proposed CTE funding set‑aside.

Looking ahead Barber requested that JFAC consider CEI’s capacity constraints when distributing the community‑college CTE funds and to prioritize investments in faculty pay, modern CTE equipment and building space to reduce wait lists and serve regional employer demand.