College Tuition In Idaho Is On Par With Western Region

Emilie Ritter Saunders / StateImpact

Boise State University winter commencement, 2011.

Idaho college and university presidents spent the first part of this week making their pitches to the Legislature for funding.

The common theme: as more Idahoans seek a college degree, the state needs to invest more in higher education.

Boise State president Bob Kustra told the Legislature’s budget panel, a decade ago, the university received about one-third of its budget from the state. Now, it’s closer to one-fifth. Kustra said that means the school, like many across the region, have to look for other sources of funding.  He says tuition is a big component.

“We have increased tuition and fees and we will do that again,” Kustra said. “We will do so reasonably. We will always be watching what the rest of the West is doing.”

The average cost for one year at a 4-year Idaho university is $5,723, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

Here’s a list of those state averages:

[spreadsheet key=”0AiLU6Cs5LWZIdDJWSTJhRkU2bWFfdlIweG94NEdsV2c” source=”Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education” sheet=0 filter=0 paginate=0 sortable=0]

We also broke down annual tuition costs at some of the region’s 4-year schools:

[spreadsheet key=”0AiLU6Cs5LWZIdGphdS05ck9hMEh5YnAwQV93LUtRSEE” source=”Montana University System, Boise State University, University of Idaho, The Chronicle of Higher Education” sheet=0 filter=0 paginate=0 sortable=0]