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Idaho Dental Education Program seeks one additional funded seat to expand dentists trained for Idaho
Summary
The Idaho Dental Education Program asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee for $54,000 in ongoing general funds to add one student seat in FY2026, citing dentist shortages in rural parts of the state and high applicant demand.
The Idaho Dental Education Program (IDEP) asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee for $54,000 in ongoing general funds to add one additional student seat, part of a long-range plan to expand the number of dentists trained for Idaho.
Kevin Campbell, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, summarized the program's structure: Idaho students complete the first year of dental training at Idaho State University and then finish at Creighton University School of Dentistry under a contractual arrangement with seats reserved for Idaho residents. Campbell noted IDEP has 3.25 full-time positions (FTP) and no vacancies in current staffing.
Jeff Weibargin, director of the Idaho Dental Education Program and an IDEP alumnus, told the committee the program is oversubscribed and will easily fill an additional seat. "We do hands down. We have anywhere between 30 [and] 50 applications each year," Weibargin said, and described applicants as highly qualified. He explained the program's return-on-investment rationale: students who go through IDEP incur less educational debt and are more likely to practice in Idaho after graduation.
IDEP asked the committee to fund a single additional seat as part of a multi-year target of reaching 36 total seats. Weibargin explained the program currently enrolls eight students per year and that historically between about 65 and 70% of graduates returned to Idaho to practice; the director said the more recent multi-year return rate is roughly 80% when measured over a slightly longer window.
Campbell told the committee that personnel costs represent about 20% of the program's expenditures and that IDEP expects spending to increase as tenure-track faculty join the program after a period of adjunct staffing used to bridge faculty shortages. IDEP requested $54,000 ongoing for FY2026 to add one seat; the program said those seats provide a pathway for Idaho residents to train at lower net cost and increase the state's supply of dentists.
Ending: Committee members asked clarifying questions about workforce need and return rates. No formal committee action or vote was taken at the hearing; the request will be considered as part of the FY2026 budget process.
