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College of Southern Idaho tells JFAC rapid enrollment is straining teaching capacity, requests $475,700 EWA
Summary
College of Southern Idaho officials told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee the college saw a 20% freshmen enrollment spike in fall 2024, added about 3,800 students since fall 2021, and has a FY2026 request of $475,700 for the Enrollment Workload Adjustment to hire instructors and relieve wait lists.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Thursday heard that the College of Southern Idaho is experiencing rapid enrollment growth that is outstripping its instructional capacity and is seeking a $475,700 enrollment workload adjustment (EWA) for fiscal 2026.
Kevin Campbell, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee that CSI's FY2026 request for the enrollment workload adjustment is $475,700. Campbell noted that Idaho's community colleges receive appropriations "as a single trustee" payment and that the EWA is a formula-driven adjustment overseen by the State Board of Education.
The detail matters: President L. Dean Fisher told the committee CSI enrolled a 20% growth in fall 2024 (outside dual-credit) and has added roughly 3,800 students since fall 2021. Fisher said the rapid increase has produced waiting lists in career-technical programs and pressure across general-education courses that support both transfer and CTE students. "The students are already there, Senator Cook," Fisher said when describing how Idaho Launch has driven student demand.
Fisher gave specific examples of capacity constraints. The college's radiologic technology program accepts a cohort of 15 students each year and currently has 84 students on a waiting list. Nursing and welding programs also have capacity limits, Fisher said, and the college is running welding cohorts from early morning to late evening to stretch existing facilities and part-time instructors.
Lawmakers pressed about faculty pay and retention. Fisher said CSI faculty and staff lag regional peers by about 12 percent and estimated "about a $400,000 amount would allow us to catch up" to regional community-college pay scales. He said campus counselors and advisors also lag pay at universities and region peers.
Campbell and Fisher described how EWA timing can create budget volatility: the adjustment is based on a multi-year weighted average of credit hours, so rapid recent growth can take time to be fully reflected in state funding. Fisher asked for committee support for the governor's proposed one-time capital funds and capacity-building investments to provide learning spaces and to hire the instructors needed to teach larger cohorts.
No formal committee vote occurred during the presentation. The committee heard questions from multiple members and received additional budget detail from CSI staff before moving to the next institution's presentation.
