NIC eyes $58 million budget, tuition increase

COEUR d’ALENE — North Idaho College trustees voted unanimously Wednesday night to move forward with a budget for fiscal year 2026 that includes, for the first time in seven years, a tuition increase.

The proposed $58.9 million budget includes an increase to student tuition of $5.50 per credit for in-district students and $6 per credit for all other students. NIC’s tuition last increased by $1.50 per credit in 2019.

With the increase, NIC and College of Southern Idaho would remain tied with the lowest tuition rates in Idaho at $2,205 per semester.

Trustee Tarie Zimmerman said it was heartening to hear that finance staff met with student leadership to discuss the budget and the student government supported the proposed tuition increases.

The budget does not include a base property tax increase.

NIC’s expenses will increase by about $6.6 million in the coming fiscal year. These increases include about $1.2 million to provide the equivalent of a 5% pay increase for full-time and part-time employees, as well as $800,000 to cover a 20% increase in medical benefit package premiums.

Sarah Garcia, NIC’s vice president of finance and business, recommended that trustees utilize $1.2 million in fund balance to bridge the gap between NIC’s income and expenses during the coming fiscal year.

“Last year, we were in the hole $5.2 million,” she said. “This year, we’re only in the hole $1.2 million.”

The $55 million budget for fiscal year 2025 included about $6.2 million for athletics, a figure that was 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.

In December, the board agreed to eliminate the men’s and women’s golf teams and cut the budgets of all remaining programs in an effort to reduce athletics spending by about $1.8 million over the next two years.

NIC President Nick Swayne said Wednesday that continuing cuts to the athletics budget and anticipated enrollment increases should eliminate the need to use fund balance in fiscal year 2027.

With about 90 days left until the fall semester begins, Swayne said overall enrollment is up about 1.3% over last year and could continue to grow. He noted that the previous fall semester saw a 15.3% increase in overall enrollment.

“It’s the first time in over a decade that I could find where we had two consecutive fall growth patterns,” Swayne said.

Garcia said NIC’s former insurance provider has agreed to provide a quote for coverage.

"The hope is that their board will approve that quote and then they will be able to deliver that quote to us,” she told trustees.

In 2022, the Idaho Risk Management Program, or ICRMP, declined to renew NIC’s policy when it expired, citing “numerous factors.”