BOISE — The Idaho State Board of Education voted Tuesday to approve tuition increases for Idaho’s public colleges and universities that will go into effect at the start of the fall 2026 semester.

Resident undergraduate students at Boise State University, the University of Idaho and Idaho State University will face an increase in tuition and fees of $425.

Students attending Lewis-Clark State College will face a $350 increase in tuition and fees, effectively a 4.4% increase.

In each case, the increase in costs are short of the reductions in funding each institution received during this year’s budget-setting process, which brought across-the-board 4% reduction in fiscal year 2026 and 5% ongoing reduction in fiscal year 2027.

Boise State University

Boise State University’s Interim Chief Financial Officer Stacy Pearson said the estimated tuition increases of $8.3 million were necessary for Boise State to mitigate the impacts of eliminating faculty and staff positions and reducing academic and student support programs at a time when enrollment is growing.

Outside of these areas, fee increases are also positioned to contribute to offsetting increased operational costs and contract inflation. Pearson said the arrival at a 4.5% increase for this coming school year was down from a proposed 6.5% increase, which brought concerns from students on campus about the expected financial impact.

As for Boise State’s wider financial picture, the university’s general fund appropriation has only increased by $1.2 million since fiscal year 2022 despite a 10% enrollment increase in that same period.

When looking at fiscal year 2027, the institution’s budget is due to face a combined $11.2 million reduction, or 8% decrease in funding between a 5% base reduction approved by the legislature and an Enrollment Workload Adjustment (EWA), which ties funding for higher education institutions to credit hour growth or decline.

“With that level of state funding loss, that’s going to necessitate some of this, but we also don’t want to put all of that reduction on our student tuition,” Pearson said.

Even with the tuition increase, Pearson said Boise State still faces an estimated shortfall of $5.2 million, which she said is planned to be dealt with through more budget reductions and the use of one-time funding. Pearson added the university’s conservative enrollment estimates could make up some of this difference as spring enrollments were above projection.

Idaho State UniversityIdaho State University’s Vice President for Finance and University Planning Jennifer Steele said the tuition and fee request represents a 4.7% increase for undergraduate resident students and are anticipated to bring an estimated net revenue of $4.07 million.

“As state investment does not keep pace with cost increases, it creates a structural gap that must be addressed responsibly,” Steele said. “There is significant risk to ISU and our peers in diluting our tuition and fee percentage as we contemplate continued state funding challenges in the next legislative cycle.”

Steele added there was “strategic risk” in sending a signal to the legislature and constituents that the institution can absorb both a 5% reduction and a maintenance-only budget without increasing tuition, a difference that led to an $8 million funding gap.

Steele said tuition increases only account for about a third of this difference heading into fiscal year 2027, with the remainder made up with alternate school revenues and spending cuts.

University of IdahoUniversity of Idaho’s Division of Finance and Administration Vice President Brian Foisy said U of I’s fee increase will be used to support faculty promotion and tenure, inflation across personnel, utility and computing costs and the university’s Counseling and Mental Health Center.

For the University of Idaho, tuition revenue is estimated to improve by $4.1 million, below the 4% funding reductions for this fiscal year which amounted to a $4.7 million reduction. Looking ahead, the reduction for fiscal year 2027 netted a loss of $7.6 million in funding that would have otherwise been needed to maintain operations, Foisy said.

The difference represents “real operating pressure” that has to be met, in part, through “carefully measured” tuition adjustments. Foisy noted the continued impact of elevated inflation further impacts the operating costs at the university.

Lewis-Clark State CollegeLewis-Clark State College’s (LCSC’s) tuition increase amounts to a 4.4% difference from the previous year that is estimated to bring in $904,000 in new revenue. Chris Jones, LCSC’s vice president for finance and administration, said the increase functioned as a “maintenance-level request” that will help sustain current service levels.

Jones said the state’s current EWA funding formula has resulted in a net funding loss of $140,800 for LCSC since fiscal year 2022, and reality that arrives with no new funding for fiscal year 2027 in spite of record enrollments.

For the current fiscal year, LCSC had a reduction of $971,000 as a result of 4% cuts, while fiscal year 2027 will bring a net reduction of $2.8 million, including 5% in cuts. Despite the reductions, Jones said the college still expects to conclude the current fiscal year balanced, without significant surplus or deficit.

He highlighted recent actions by the college in recent years as integral to achieving this balance, including eliminating 78 academic programs after an evaluation based on enrollment trends, regional needs and other factors, converting a campus building to student housing to generate revenue and implementing software to recover unpaid student tuition from withdrawing students.

“These are not simple decisions, and they are not made lightly,” Board President Kurt Liebich said in a release from the Idaho State Board of Education. “We are balancing the very real financial pressures facing our institutions with our responsibility to keep higher education accessible for Idaho students. Our goal is to ensure students have access to high-quality opportunities while maintaining the strength and stability of our institutions.”