Lewis‑Clark State College tells JFAC budget constrained by enrollment formula, pay gap

BOISE — Lewis‑Clark State College officials told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee during a Jan. 27 hearing that the college’s budget is tightly constrained by a decades‑old enrollment workload formula and by a persistent gap between faculty pay and K‑12 salaries.

Kevin Campbell, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, said Lewis‑Clark has an enrollment of 3,881 and a FY2025 base general‑fund appropriation of about $41.7 million, not including tuition and fee revenue. He explained that the college — like other institutions — reappropriates tuition and fee receipts across fiscal years and that the state’s enrollment workload adjustment (EWA) is a three‑year weighted credit‑hour formula that can increase or reduce an institution’s appropriation.

That EWA will reduce Lewis‑Clark’s FY2026 appropriation by $102,500, Campbell said. He also summarized the college’s account mix: roughly 82.6% of its budget is personnel (faculty and support staff), 16.5% operating expenses and less than 1% capital outlay.

Why it matters: the EWA and the college’s student mix — a high share of Pell‑eligible, first‑generation and working students who often enroll part time — mean tuition revenue and credit‑hour weightings drive funding shifts. Lewis‑Clark leaders said those structural features, combined with a salary gap relative to K‑12, constrain recruitment and retention of…