NIC to cut athletics budget by $1.8 million

COEUR d’ALENE — On top of eliminating the men’s and women’s golf teams, North Idaho College will cut the budgets of all remaining sports programs in an effort to reduce athletics spending by about $1.8 million over the next two years.

College leaders detailed their plan to bring NIC’s athletics budget — which ballooned from $2.2 million to $6.2 million during the last two school years — under control during Wednesday night’s regular board meeting. 

NIC President Nick Swayne said administrators “ran every scenario” for how to scale back the athletics budget to a point of sustainability without cutting any programs, but it proved impossible. 

“Cutting $1 million from next year’s athletics budget involves making some tough decisions, and tough decisions typically involve people,” he said. “It’s not that anybody doesn’t value the golf team. It’s not that we made the decision lightly.” 

The multimillion-dollar increase to NIC’s athletics budget is tied to the college’s return to the National Junior College Athletic Association, as well as the decision by former trustees Todd Banducci, Greg McKenzie and Mike Waggoner to have NIC cover tuition, fees, books, room and board and one round-trip flight for all student athletes playing sports associated with the Scenic West Athletic Conference, regardless of the student’s residency. 

These decisions have “placed a multimillion-dollar burden on NIC’s budget and a substantial hidden tax on NIC’s academic and student support services,” according to a recent report from NIC’s accreditor. 

Swayne said all remaining programs will see significant budget cuts. 

“Every sport is paying a price,” he said. 

In fiscal year 2026, NIC plans to slash the athletics budget by $1.5 million by doing the following: 

• Reduce funding for tuition and fees by 33% for all remaining teams ($478,720)
• Reduce funding for housing by 33% for all remaining teams ($408,000)
• No student travel home for all remaining teams ($81,600)
• Eliminate golf ($601,184) 

NIC will cut another $296,000 from the athletics budget in fiscal year 2027, by reducing funding for tuition and fees by 9% and reducing funding for housing by 17% for all teams. The college will also stop covering the cost of books for all student athletes, which will save $81,600. 

Returning to the Northwest Athletic Conference to cut expenses is not an option, administrators said. 

“It was made clear to us when we left the NWAC that we were not welcome back,” said Alex Harris, dean of students at NIC. “It was not a possibility for us to change back.” 

In the two weeks since NIC announced the decision to cut golf, more than 70 people have emailed the board to voice their support for the program, Trustee Tarie Zimmerman said Wednesday. 

During the public comment period Wednesday, 17 community members urged trustees to intervene and save golf, among them NIC golf coach Russell Grove. 

“It’s been a great program and affected so many different lives,” said Grove, who has coached golf at NIC for 10 years. “It’s really hard to just see it go away. I feel like not enough time and effort went into this decision, and it was kind of off the cuff and left us coaches in a bind.” 

Grove declined to comment on the matter after Wednesday night’s meeting and did not return multiple requests for comment Thursday. 

Bill Goyen said he believes the college handled the decision in a “cold” manner. 

“They weren’t looking to come to NIC from all over the globe for a top-notch education,” he said of NIC’s golf players. “They wanted to learn about the golf business from one of the best teachers in golf in the Northwest, Russell Grove.” 

Coeur d’Alene resident Cole Jaworski played Division I golf as a college student and now works at Avondale Golf Club. He said NIC’s golf program is important to local youth. 

“I remember growing up and seeing all the NIC golfers out there, and it gave me something to strive for,” he said. “It made it seem possible that a kid from Coeur d’Alene could go play golf.” 

Of the 24 student athletes playing golf for NIC, just one is from Kootenai County. Two more are from southern Idaho. The rest are out-of-state or international student athletes. 

At most community colleges, Harris said, coaches allocate most of the scholarship funds available to them to a few top athletes, then fill out the roster with local and regional athletes. But by fully funding all student athletes, NIC eliminated any incentive to recruit locally. 

“It’s not typical to fund fully all tuition and fees and room and board for every single athlete,” Harris said. “That just does not happen.” 

Zimmerman said the decision to eliminate golf at NIC is “heartbreaking,” but the current athletics budget is not sustainable. 

“The taxpayers have had on their back, for probably a year now, an overweight, heavy athletics budget,” she said. “We have to bring it down.” 

She suggested that NIC should prioritize recruiting local and regional student athletes. 

“I don’t think, in many ways, it’s fair for Kootenai County taxpayers to pay for athletes to come here from so far away,” she said.

    NIC President Nick Swayne
  

    Russell Grove
  

    Tarie Zimmerman