The University of Idaho will need to lay off 28 “essential” full-time faculty and staff to meet new budget requirements in Fiscal Year 2027, according to budget documents published by the Idaho Division of Financial Management on Oct. 17.
To meet the ongoing reduction of 3% from the state budget in FY2027, UI plans to reach a total $3.4 million reduction. Of that, $3,147,500 will be personnel costs. UI has calculated that number to be equal to 28.17 full-time positions.
However, the Idaho legislature still has to approve the 3% proposed cut, and it’s unclear at this time what the reduction amount will be and how UI will enact these future cuts, according to Brian Foisy, the vice president for the Division of Finance and Administration at UI.
Faculty reductions will “directly [harm] our students by negatively impacting student learning outcomes, retention rates and graduation timelines. Our students will face increased financial pressures and be less prepared to join Idaho’s workforce,” UI wrote in the attached narrative.
Fewer faculty will result in larger class sizes and reduced research activities, according to UI, and fewer staff members will negatively impact student success and decrease educational quality.
“Reductions in information technology staff weaken cybersecurity safeguards, putting the institution at heightened financial and reputational risks. Reductions in financial shared services reduces our ability to identify and implement university-wide training and efficiencies,” UI wrote.
“The example of 28 positions was used to illustrate the scale of potential personnel cost reductions based on average salary and fringe in OIT and financial shared services; however, no specific positions have been identified, and no decisions have been made,” Foisy wrote in an email to The Argonaut.
“The number of positions needed to be eliminated was calculated based on our average salary and related fringe: on average it would take the elimination of 28 positions in order to reach the needed personnel cost reduction,” Foisy said. “OIT and financial shared services were used as examples; however, there are still unknowns related to the reductions.”
In the attached budget sheets, UI listed the current year’s, FY2026, budgeted personnel costs at $163,835,885. In FY2027, those appropriations will decrease to $159,427,300.
Also on the list of reductions is $148,000 of operating expenses and $104,700 of capital outlay, or funds allocated toward long-term physical assets like buildings or land.
Reduced spending in these areas “will impact professional development, hindering our ability to adapt to evolving student needs and technological advancements” and lead to “delayed replacement of equipment, increasing the risk of failure and emergency replacement,” according to the narrative.
The upcoming FY2027 reductions will go into effect on July 1, 2026, at the beginning of the fiscal year. However, although the governor’s office ordered the reduction for FY2026 and said cuts would continue into FY2027, the Idaho legislature will make the final decision.
“As a result, we do not yet know the final reduction amount and may not know it until mid-spring. Decisions will be made and announced as soon as possible once final reduction amounts are known,” Foisy said.
Dakota Steffen can be reached at [email protected].