Idaho community college presidents urge funding to expand capacity as enrollments climb

Community college presidents told the Senate Education Committee that rapid enrollment growth and program wait lists are straining capacity and that targeted state funding would expand workforce training and health‑care program slots.

The presidents — Gordon Jones of College of Western Idaho, Dean Fisher of College of Southern Idaho, Lori Barber of College of Eastern Idaho and Nick Swain of North Idaho College — each gave enrollment, program and facilities updates and urged support for capacity-building money in the governor's budget.

Why it matters: presidents said their colleges train many of the technicians, health-care workers and tradespeople that employers across Idaho need. They described nursing, welding, automotive and other career-technical programs with wait lists and recommended the governor's capacity proposal — $10 million ongoing and $15 million one-time — to add instructors, classrooms and equipment.

College of Western Idaho President Gordon Jones spoke first and outlined CWI's size and priorities. "For the record, I'm Gordon Jones, president of College of Western Idaho," he said. Jones told the committee CWI is in its 16th academic year and "we are serving over 31,000 unique individuals" through more than 120 programs, including more than 55 career-technical offerings. He said CWI has 8 consecutive semesters of growth and reported the college is educating those students on a roughly $74 million operating budget. "We've not raised tuition in 8 years," Jones added, and urged support for the governor's capacity proposal.

Dean Fisher, president of the College of Southern Idaho (CSI), described a similar growth story, highlighting that CSI served 10,456 credit-bearing students last fall and that, across fiscal 2023–24, CSI served 16,586 unduplicated credit students plus…