The Idaho State Board of Education held meetings at the University of Idaho on April 16 and 17. Over the two days, the board heard President Scott Green’s annual report for the university, facilitated a panel with UI students and faculty and voted on four action items pertaining to UI.
During his address, Green highlighted several recent accomplishments, including UI being ranked the No. 1 Best Value Public University in the West for the fifth year in a row and seeing its eighth consecutive semester of enrollment growth.
Total enrollment rose by 4%, surpassing 12,000 students for the first time since 2017. In-state undergraduate enrollment increased by 5%, with the fall 2024 entering class consisting of 2,025 students. Graduate student enrollment grew by 4%, and doctoral enrollment increased by 10% up to 605 students.
During the panel, the board asked students what deciding factors led them to choose UI, with most mentioning affordability combined with educational opportunities. Green said that each UI student receives an average of $7300 in financial aid per year, and that easing the financial burden is a key factor in success for students.
Following UI’s recent status as Idaho’s only R1 Research Institute, Green said the university will continue to grow the connections and opportunities it offers to students.
On April 16, Green discussed research funding cuts occurring as a result of the federal government taking steps to minimize spending. The United States Department of Agriculture, with whom UI has a history of partnership, was among the mentioned providers of grant money at risk.
The same day, it was announced that the USDA would be halting a $59 million grant to UI.
“We’re going to do our best to mitigate it. We’ve worked with the USDA for decades and want to continue to do so,” said Green.
In terms of action items, the board voted on April 17 to approve the establishment of a cooperative Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering program with Hiroshima University. This program seeks to tackle a global engineer shortage and will allow Idaho-based tech companies like Micron to remain in the state. Listed among the reasons for the program’s importance was Micron’s decision to build its $100 billion plant in Syracuse, New York, due to the state’s availability of engineering talent, and lack thereof in Idaho.
HU would provide the necessary facilities for UI to establish a branch on campus and assist in the enrollment and housing of HU-BSEE students for the first two years of their degree program. For the second half of their degree program, HU-BSEE students will relocate to UI’s Moscow campus and take the remainder of their classes with UI-BSEE students.
All students enrolled in the HU-BSEE program will also become UI students and pay in-state tuition for their entire degree. The program targets not only Japanese students, but those from South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. The integration of students from diverse backgrounds is also intended to improve UI-BSEE collaborative and cross-cultural communication skills.
Among the other action items passed by the board was the approval for two undergraduate programs in the College of Art and Architecture, the Certificate in Managing Facilities for Efficiency and Health and the Online Certificate in Historic Preservation. Both will use self-supported program fees that will replace the standard cost of tuition and will not receive money from the state.
Board approval was also given for an online Ed.D. in Learning, Leadership and Innovation. This is a revision of an already existing Ed.D. program at UI aimed to increase accessibility to higher education and develop leadership talent within the state. The course will consist of between 54 and 78 credits expected to be taken over three years and will charge $850 per credit hour.
At the proposed rate, tuition for this program will cost a minimum of $45,900 over the three-year degree period. Currently, in-state tuition rates are $11,140 per year or approximately $33,420 for a three-year program. Out of state tuition is $30,954 per year or $92,862 for a three-year program.
Joshua Reisenfeld can be reached at [email protected].