The University of Idaho will have to cut at least $6.7 million from its current budget, and $8.4 million from the Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
TheIdaho legislature voted March 2 to add another 1% cut for FY26, on top of a 3% cut passed in the fall to UI’s general education budget. The legislature also voted to implement a permanent 5% reduction beginning in FY27.
According to an email to the campus community from President Scott Green, rising employee health care costs and a $2 million holdback of other funds typically received by the university result in the financial impact on UI for FY26 being closer to an 8% budget cut, or approximately $13 million.
“Since the holdback was issued last summer, the university has been aware that additional recissions may be made. For more than six months we have worked to identify areas where additional saving may be found such as deferring spending and salary savings,” said Jody Walker, executive director of communications at UI, in an email interview with The Argonaut.
UI will handle workforce cuts through voluntary retirement incentives, according to Walker, as well as delaying hiring and eliminating open positions.
“This will increase student-to-faculty ratios, reduce student support services and slow research competitiveness and innovation that benefits Idaho industries and communities,” wrote Green.
Student advising, tutoring, career services and other academic support functions will also be limited with fewer personnel staffing these positions.
According to Walker, every college has been asked to cut its budget equally for FY27. Some impacts are already visible with the College of Natural Resources announcing it will discontinue the forest and sustainable products undergraduate degree program due to lower enrollment.
In engineering and other high-cost programs, enrollment will be capped and limits will be placed on course sections for high-volume classes. According to Green, these actions help control costs but will extend the time needed to obtain a degree for some students. In programs such as veterinary and undergraduate medical education, there will be fewer resources for clinical and hands-on learning opportunities.
“Capacity lost through permanent reductions cannot be quickly rebuilt,” Green said.
These budget cuts come as UI continues to expand, with 10 continuous semesters of growth reported for Spring 2026 and the UI investing $162 million into student dormitory and apartment construction projects. Earlier in the year, UI also approved a new AI degree program and has entered into a partnership with Idaho State University for undergraduate medical education. Most recently, UI purchased a piece of property adjacent to campus for $1.6 million with future plans of connecting UI to downtown Moscow.
Joshua Reisenfeld can be reached at [email protected].