IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Governor Brad Little’s 3% budget cuts are affecting several colleges and universities across the Gem State, including College of Eastern Idaho.
CEI says they have to cut over $500,000 from their 2026-27 budget. They pointed out, while this amount of cuts isn’t as high as some universities, it still puts a pause on many of their projects like expanding the college’s classes and buildings to keep up with its large growth over the last few years.
“Which is very difficult because we have students that want to be here,” said CEI’s Chief Financial Officer, Penny Lyon. “We have employers that want to hire them. So where do you cut? It’s tough.”
Lyon says CEI was planning to hire more instructors to support its rapid growth, but that will have to be put on hold. The college will likely need to also cap some of its enrollment due to the budget cuts.
“What that will mean is the pace that we deliver students is going slow, which is unfortunate,” Lyon said. “It’s unfortunate for the students that want to be here and can’t get into those classes. It’s unfortunate for the employers that are ready to hire students that are coming out because they won’t have enough.”
Lyon says these budget cuts are frustrating, but CEI will follow them and do the best they can so they can deliver quality education to its students and quality graduates to employers.
