Lewis‑Clark State College presents budget; leaders cite enrollment gains, salary gap and prison‑education expansion

Lewis‑Clark State College President Cynthia Pemberton and Legislative Services Office analyst Kevin Campbell described the college's FY2025 budget and priorities at the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee meeting on Jan. 27 in Boise. The college reported modest enrollment gains and asked the committee to consider further help to close faculty and staff pay gaps.

Pemberton said Lewis‑Clark (LC State) enrolled 3,881 students and highlighted gains in career technical education and health programs. "We are North Idaho's health care education leader," President Cynthia Pemberton told the committee, citing new graduate‑level nursing and allied health pathways and partnerships to expand physician assistant and therapy programs.

The budget overview presented by Kevin Campbell, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, showed LC State's FY2025 base appropriation at about $41.7 million and explained how the state treats tuition and fee revenue reappropriations. Campbell told members that in FY2024 the college's total appropriation was $40,517,100 and that $23.7 million in tuition and fees was reappropriated into FY2025. He also noted distributions from legacy endowments are governed by Idaho law (Idaho Code…