Community college presidents tell House panel enrollment surges, wait lists and workforce demand are straining capacity

BOISE — Presidents from Idaho’s four community colleges told the House Committee on Education on Monday that enrollment growth, wait lists and workforce demand have outpaced available classroom, lab and instructor capacity across the state.

Gordon Jones, president of the College of Western Idaho, said his college serves roughly 31,000 unique learners per year and faces long wait lists in high-demand technical fields. "We serve over 31,000 individuals per year...Our tuition is just around 30 for a full time student, you would be on average looking at $3,300 a year," Jones said, and described nursing, welding and automotive programs with multi-term wait lists.

Dean Fisher, president of the College of Southern Idaho, said CSI served 10,456 credit students last fall and roughly 27,000 credit and noncredit learners overall; he highlighted specific program bottlenecks, including a radiologic-technology wait list of about 80 and welding cohorts running morning through evening. "We have a wait list of 80," Fisher said of the radiologic-technology program, adding that hospitals statewide report demand for those graduates.

Lori Barber, president of the College of Eastern Idaho, said CEI has expanded rapidly following a local bond and state support and that peak-period parking on campus recently filled all 688 spaces, a visible sign of capacity strain. Barber said CEI’s workforce division delivered more than 14,000 trainings in fiscal 2024 and that the college’s credit enrollment rose about 18% year over year for the spring term.

Nick Swain, president of North Idaho College, described enrollment recovery and growth in dual-credit and workforce programs, plus efforts to create local bachelor completion pathways. Swain said NIC is expanding health-care programs and working with the University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College to allow students to complete four-year degrees locally.

Across presentations presidents described several common themes: program-specific accreditation and clinical-placement limits that cap seat counts (for example, radiologic-technology program caps), difficulty hiring instructors as private-sector wages rise, and the need for more lab/teaching space. College leaders described applied baccalaureate proposals or partnerships to expand local bachelor’s options: the College of Western Idaho described a planned low-cost bachelor program intended to cost about $20,000 total, while other colleges noted applied bachelor’s or 3+1 arrangements with four-year partners.

Presidents also addressed questions from legislators about DEI offices and retention. Several presidents said they do not maintain dedicated DEI offices and instead focus on academic support and tutoring for students who are underperforming academically. On the new “Launch” program (a recent state initiative to reduce out-of-pocket costs), presidents said it is too early to report long-term retention metrics and agreed to follow up with written data.

College leaders asked the committee to consider capacity-building funding. Dean Fisher described a request his college is highlighting to support hiring and facility expansion — he cited a proposed $10 million ongoing appropriation and $15 million one-time funds for capacity building. Presidents asked the Legislature to weigh investments that would allow colleges to add instructors, expand lab space and increase clinical placements.

Committee members thanked the presidents and urged follow-up with requested retention and capacity data. No formal committee action was taken on the presentations; the committee moved on to other agenda items.