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College of Eastern Idaho seeks $2 million from CTE pool, says capacity shortfall leaves hundreds on wait lists
Summary
College of Eastern Idaho President Lori Barber told JFAC CEI has outgrown its facilities and faculty capacity, reported hundreds of prospective CTE students on wait lists, and requested at least $2 million of a state CTE funding pool to expand programs and hire faculty.
Kevin Campbell, the Legislative Services Office budget analyst, presented the committee with CEI’s base-budget overview and noted CEI’s status as Idaho’s newest community college: "CEI is Idaho's newest community college formed in 2017 when Bonneville County residents approved the referendum for forming the community college district," he said. Campbell reported CEI has grown from roughly 700 students when it was Eastern Idaho Technical College to about 3,600 degree‑seeking students and more than 14,000 workforce‑training students.
President Lori Barber told JFAC rapid regional growth and industry demand are outstripping CEI’s physical and instructional capacity. "In fall 2024, we actually had...465 more students who wanted a place that we didn't have a chair for," Barber said, describing hundreds of prospective CTE students on waiting lists. She said CEI’s workforce-training division provided more than 14,000 trainings in FY 2024 and serves dozens of local employers, but that facilities, equipment and faculty limits prevent the college from enrolling all interested students.
Barber described local industry partnerships that helped expand capacity where possible: Idaho National Laboratory provided instructors that allowed CEI to nearly double cybersecurity enrollment, she said, and a program with Teton Toyota combines on-the-job training with evening classroom instruction so students can earn industry certifications while employed. She also described losing staff to higher private-sector pay, citing an example of a graphic designer who left for a $30,000 higher salary.
CEI provided specific growth statistics in testimony: an increase in nursing program capacity from 35 enrolled students in 2017 to capacity for 220 students now, and a 273% increase in credit‑seeking headcount since 2017. Barber said CEI has not built a new campus building since the college’s early years and that the current physical campus—designed for about 1,000 credit students—now served nearly 4,000 credit students in a fall term, stretching parking, faculty and facilities.
On funding, Barber urged support for the $25 million in the governor’s postsecondary proposal and specifically for the $10 million CTE pool earmarked for community and technical colleges. "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," Barber said, adding that the funds would be used to hire science and math faculty to support CTE prerequisites, update lab equipment (welding, fabrication, mechatronics), and expand nursing and allied‑health capacity.
Committee members asked for details about EWA application and cross‑institution differences; LSO, DFM and CEI agreed to provide spreadsheets and a program‑level plan for how state CTE dollars would be spent if awarded. Senator Cook and other members noted local employers’ hiring projections — INL projects thousands of hires over several years — and emphasized the payoff of investing in two‑year programs that place graduates into well‑paying local jobs.
Barber closed by repeating CEI’s request for ongoing CTE funding and asking the committee to consider structural changes to support sustained capacity growth in Idaho’s community‑college system.
