BOISE Idaho
The Idaho State Board of Education will meet Wednesday and is likely to approve proposed 2008 legislation, including a measure that would allow community colleges to double their tuition limit to $2,500 annually to cover the rising cost of education.
Current Idaho law limits community college tuition to $1,250 annually, about a quarter the cost of fees and tuition at the state’s four-year schools.
The two-year College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls and North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene are approaching the existing tuition limit. The new College of Western Idaho, slated to start in January in Nampa, would also be under the same restriction.
Education board spokesman Mark Browning said it’s unlikely the colleges would double their tuition if the 2008 Legislature approves lifting the cap at least not immediately. Still, as the price of education rises and taxpayers in community college districts balk at their burgeoning portion of the bill, schools want to have more options, Browning said.
“They need some flexibility to be able to raise tuition as the market is going up,” he said.
This measure and others to be considered by the education board would still have to be approved by lawmakers in the 2008 Legislature.
