Idaho Legislature slashes higher-ed budgets as senators debate value of college

The Legislature on Thursday approved millions of dollars in cuts to Idaho’s colleges and universities for next fiscal year.

The cuts in House Bill 876 come as lawmakers face a difficult budget year and have been looking for ways to reduce spending. Earlier this week, Gov. Brad Little signed a bill making additional 1% cuts at most state agencies this fiscal year, in addition to the 3% holdbacks Little previously ordered. Those roughly 4% cuts for fiscal year 2026, which runs to the end of June, also included colleges and universities.

Universities will continue to deal with the 3% holdbacks – plus another 2% drop – for next fiscal year, according to the statement of purpose for the appropriations bill that senators passed Thursday. That means the state will allocate less money to higher education in fiscal 2027 than this year.

The bill, which senators called a maintenance budget for the State Board of Education, covers several entities, including Boise State University, Idaho State University, the University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College, along with community colleges and the division of career technical education. However, some programs, such as health education programs, faced lower cuts. It’s now headed to Little’s desk for approval.

During debate on the Senate floor, those in opposition warned the cuts would have significant impacts on Idaho’s higher education institutions and career-technical education programs and would harm students and businesses. Supporters of the cuts argued that the Legislature isn’t required to fund higher education, that not everyone needs college or other training programs to be successful and that lawmakers must make these changes to balance the budget.

Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, said the cuts in the bill will hurt the state.

“It’s going to impact our children and grandchildren for years to come. This ship will not be turned around easily, and will have long-term, constant economic consequences,” she said on the Senate floor. “I do believe that education is the economic engine of the state, and shutting down what we have worked so hard to put in place will devastate some of the students’ opportunities, and I think will put businesses in a difficult situation.”

Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls, argued that lawmakers actually don’t need to fund universities, according to the state’s constitution, and suggested they instead be funded through charities, donations and tuition.

“For decades now, we actually have been going against our oath of office according to our Idaho state Constitution, and we have been funding this for quite a while. And, you know, on the backs of a lot of the forgotten man,” Zuiderveld said.

Sen. Dave Lent, R-Idaho Falls, rebutted, saying the Idaho Constitution was written in the late 19th century, when getting a college education looked very different than it does today.

“This is a period of time in our history when most people never went 50 miles from their own home, when electricity had not even come into our residences,” he said.

Idaho’s Constitution mandates the Legislature establish and maintain a uniform and thorough system of free public schools. It specifically includes mention of the University of Idaho.

Lent said to be successful in today’s world, you need an education.

But not everyone agreed.

“I know very, very, very successful people who have billion-dollar businesses who didn’t complete past a sixth-grade education,” said Sen. Christy Zito, R-Mountain Home. “What you need to succeed in this world is to be honest, to work hard, and to understand that the harder you work, the more lucky you’ll be.”

She added that education is about more than “just having a chair in a classroom.”

Still, others worried that significant cuts to career-technical education programs will hamstring businesses that rely on these programs to hire qualified applicants.

Sen. Codi Galloway, R-Boise, one of the bill sponsors, said she is an educator by trade and has “loved” working with the state’s universities – but this is the reality of Idaho’s financial situation.

“This year, we have to make reductions in our budget,” she said. “That’s the only way that we balance our budget, which is our most important job here.”

Universities have already been feeling the burden of the cuts. ISU let go of 45 staff members and merged two colleges, according to The Bengal student newspaper.

The U of I has worked for years to “rightsize” its budget, and it runs lean, spokesperson Jodi Walker said. She said the cuts will impact students, employees and industry. It will mean caps on programs like engineering, “directly impacting the number of trained engineers prepared to meet the workforce need in Idaho,” she added. The university has also delayed hiring key positions in agriculture, implemented voluntary retirement incentives and plans not to fill open positions when possible, she said.

“This cut will impact student services at a time when we are experiencing the 10th consecutive semester of enrollment growth,” Walker said. “That said, we will continue to work hard to train Idaho’s students, answer Idaho’s questions through outreach and bring our research findings and education to every corner of the state.”

Senators approved the bill 23-12. It already had passed the House.