The College of Western Idaho’s student growth has far outstripped the growth in its state funding, CWI President Bert Glandon told JFAC this morning. “We are, I would say, at the point of desperate for balanced funding to help us move into a parallel basis with the other two community colleges,” Glandon said.

Two years ago, CWI asked for $1.4 million from the state to address its growing student numbers; the governor and Legislature approved $400,000. This year, they’ve requested $2.9 million for “balance funding;” Gov. Butch Otter has recommended $221,300.

Glandon said, “In 2009 when we first started, there was an agreement that the other two community colleges would not get hurt. And I want to re-emphasize that CWI has no intention of hurting the other two community colleges. But there was a three- to five-year plan that we would get a million to $2 million a year to help us come into equity.”

What’s made the situation so dire, he said, is the soaring student growth at the Treasure Valley’s new community college. “I don’t think anybody anticipated the kinds of growth that we were going to have. Nobody in the country could’ve anticipated that we would go from 1,200 students, jumping the second semester to 3600, and in the third semester going to 4,900 students. Nobody could have anticipated that. It’s an anomaly that occurred, and quite frankly I’m thrilled, from the standpoint that it was able to help the western Treasure Valley in that regard. Now as we’re eking up to almost 25,000 students, which makes us the largest institution in the state, we are desperate to find some kind of way to help build a balanced funding base so that we can serve the students of the western Treasure Valley.”

CWI requested a budget of $15.3 million next year; Gov. Butch Otter recommended $12.6 million. Overall for Idaho’s community colleges, the request for next year totaled $43 million, a 16.6 percent increase in state general funds; the governor’s recommendation is $39.9 million, which is a 6.4 percent increase in general funds.