Idaho State University seeks FY2026 operational and enrollment funding; president highlights health sciences, LAUNCH and student‑success changes

Idaho State University officials told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Jan. 29 they are seeking funding for FY2026 to support growing enrollment and health‑sciences training while reporting internal changes aimed at improving student completion.

Kevin Campbell of the Legislative Services Office opened the presentation with an overview of ISU’s budget materials. He said ISU has more than 12,000 students and a base (operating) budget presented in the packet; Campbell noted a technical error in the tuition‑fund slide that the office is tracking, but he confirmed the university has not overdrawn its treasury account.

Campbell’s slides showed that roughly 74.8% of ISU’s expenditures are personnel costs, 21.2% are operating expenses and about 3.9% are capital outlay. The presentation recapped several prior adjustments to ISU’s base budget across recent fiscal years, including general‑fund reductions in FY2021 and cost‑shifts related to consolidations of administrative functions.

President Rob Wagner described ISU’s FY2026 requests and program priorities. He told the committee the university is seeking operational capacity enhancement dollars and enrollment workload adjustments to support strategic growth. In his prepared remarks Wagner listed ISU’s FY2026 requests as including operational capacity enhancement, endowment funds adjustments and enrollment workload adjustment amounts, and he said the university will provide more detail to the committee as needed.

Wagner emphasized student completion as a priority and described changes to student‑support services at ISU. He said the university evaluated diversity‑related centers and transitioned two resource centers (the diversity resource center and the gender resource center) as part of an institution‑wide refocus on academic student success. Wagner said those changes were effective Nov. 15 and that two full‑time positions were reassigned: one to student involvement to support student clubs and student‑led activities and one to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX, which now reports to the president’s office. Wagner also said ISU created the Bengal Success Center to centralize academic‑completion help for students across campuses.

The president highlighted expanded health‑sciences enrollments and workforce pathways as a focus for FY2026. He told lawmakers ISU’s health‑sciences programs are growing and cited plans to create clearer on‑ramps and partnerships (including relationships with other Idaho colleges and with ICOM) that can help keep graduates in Idaho and address shortages of physicians and other health professionals.

Committee members pressed Wagner about accountability and fund tracking after the forensic‑lab matter was disclosed; Wagner told the committee the university would institute clearer ownership and tracking of legislative funds. Members also asked about compensation challenges and the use of Compensation Enhancement (CEC) and other funds to recruit and retain staff; Wagner said ISU faces hiring and retention competition with the private sector and that CEC and operational capacity enhancements factor into those efforts.

Wagner noted that ISU had been working through a budget‑optimization process tied to an earlier deficit and said the institution expects to reach a balanced budget for FY2026, ahead of schedule. He closed by describing ISU’s commitment to access and to serving traditional and non‑traditional students across multiple campuses.

The committee did not take a formal vote on ISU’s FY2026 request during the meeting. Members asked for additional data and follow‑up on technical slides, tuition‑fund balances and the details of requested enhancements.