2024 Most Affordable Colleges in Idaho

Governor’s Cup Scholarship

Summary: Twenty-five high school seniors staying in state for college receive $3,000 per year to attend an academic or career technical program.

Eligibility: Idaho residents who graduate with a 2.8 high school GPA and are moving straight from high school to college are eligible. You must enroll full time at one of the 10 approved colleges. Selection is based on your record of public service.

How to Apply: You’ll write a two-page essay about your goals and get two references to write letters for you. You’ll then submit the online application (when it becomes available) by February 15th.

Opportunity Scholarship

Summary: Relatively strong students who need financial help getting to college can apply for the Opportunity Scholarship.

Eligibility: Graduates of Idaho high schools with a 3.0 GPA are eligible. You must enroll full time at any of seven four-year colleges in the state or close to full time at any of four two-year colleges.

How to Apply: File the FAFSA by March 1st. Separately, submit the online Idaho State Board of Education scholarship application by the same date. You must renew each year.

Postsecondary Credit Scholarship

Summary: Some teenagers are high achievers. Anyone who graduated high school with 10 college credits or more can earn a scholarship, provided they find an academic scholarship from a business or industry representative to provide matching funds.

Eligibility: The matching scholarship must be at least partly based on high school academic performance.

How to Apply: Apply online at any time.

Treacy Foundation Scholarship

Summary: This private scholarship is open to Idaho, Montana and North Dakota residents attending college anywhere. It’s worth $2,000, and is renewable for the length of an undergraduate education.

Eligibility: College underclassmen can apply.

How to Apply: Send your school transcript, a personal essay and the application form to the Treacy Foundation by May 1st.

Idaho State Loan Repayment Program

Summary: Healthcare professionals can get $10,000 to $50,000 in student loans paid off by working in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) for two years.

Eligibility: Applicants can be primary care, mental health or dental providers (pretty much any discipline requiring a master’s degree or higher). The employer must be a nonprofit or government organization that accepts Medicaid and has a sliding fee schedule.

How to Apply: Apply online through the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. You’ll need to attach proof of college loans. Your employer must submit a separate application, as they’ll be responsible for providing matching funds.

Rural Physician Incentive Program

Summary: Idaho primary care doctors, family medicine physicians, internists and pediatricians can get up to $100,000 to offset academic loans if they work in an HPSA in the state.

Eligibility: Graduates of University of Washington and University of Utah’s medical schools are given priority, but any physician in an Idaho HPSA is eligible.

How to Apply: Apply between July 1st and August 30th via the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. You’ll need the community organization where you plan to work to sponsor you.

Armed Forces and Public Safety Officer Scholarship

Summary: Children and spouses of veterans and peace officers killed or captured while serving don’t have to pay tuition or fees at public colleges in the state. They’ll even get $500 a year for other education expenses.

Eligibility: Idaho residents who graduated high school in the state are eligible.

How to Apply: First, get admitted on your own merits to a participating public college or university, then contact the state’s Scholarships Program Manager.

Atwell J. Parry Work Study Program

Summary: Eleven colleges participate in the state’s work study program, hiring students with financial need for campus jobs in exchange for money toward their degree.

Eligibility: Idaho residents are eligible, but each school has its own criteria for distributing work study jobs.

How to Apply: Contact your school’s financial aid office for information about additional criteria and how to apply.

Western Regional Graduate Program

Summary: The Western Regional Graduate Program allows students to head out of state for college while still paying reduced tuition.

Eligibility: Graduate and doctoral students enrolled in specific programs at participating colleges qualify for resident tuition.

How to Apply: Apply and get admitted to a participating program as early as possible; the number of reduced-tuition spaces is set by each school.

Western Undergraduate Exchange

Summary: Got your eye on a public college outside the state? If it’s a member of the Western Undergraduate Exchange, you can go there and pay just 150 percent of the in-state tuition rate at that school, resulting in a substantial discount.

Eligibility: Schools have some leeway about who qualifies. For instance, some colleges limit the WUE rate to specific majors, and others limit the number of spots.

How to Apply: All you have to do is apply, preferably early, and get in. Check with the school that you’ll receive the reduced WUE rate.

Living on campus can provide substantial savings. You don’t have to worry about utility bills or internet, your furniture is already there, and your transportation costs are nil. Plug in some numbers on CalcXML to see how much you’d save. Most schools in the state have some kind of campus housing. BYU Idaho is the rare exception; although it doesn’t have the standard on-campus residence hall setup, students under 27 are still required to live in approved housing unless they live with family (or have a family). Lewis-Clark State College does have traditional on-campus accommodations, which are reasonably priced. Students there who need extra help paying for a room can apply for its Residence Hall Scholarship. Even if your school doesn’t offer a scholarship for accommodation, there are still things you can do to manage costs. At Idaho State University, for example, you can establish a payment plan for not only tuition and fees, but also housing and meals.

Living away from campus can be affordable—rental rates are usually below the national average. Most colleges want all students to feel like they are part of the campus community, even if they’re commuting from elsewhere. That’s why they typically help with off-campus housing. BYU Idaho goes the furthest, providing a portal of approved housing options students must choose from. Lewis-Clark State College owns some off-campus housing. You can rent one from the college or submit an off-campus listing to find a place and/or roommate. University of Idaho has less to offer, with just a list of property managers in the area. The College of Idaho is at the extreme end of the spectrum: It has a three-year on-campus living requirement, so there’s not much advice in the way of off-campus accommodation. If you’re going there or simply want to see what’s available in town, CampusRent.com might have what you need, but it’s worth visiting HousingIdaho.com, which has properties vetted by the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, an organization geared toward putting renters and homebuyers into affordable accommodation. You can use the same site to find a shelter.

Living off campus means calling the utility company, paying a deposit to start electricity, gas, trash pickup and water service. Make sure you budget for it, but don’t feel like you have to set aside your life savings. Idaho has a low cost for natural gas; electricity rates are also low due to the state’s hydroelectric plants. If utilities are still more than you can afford, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission has put together a list of financial assistance resources, grouped by county. This includes the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), direct financial assistance, weatherization and heating system repairs.

If you want to be a doctor or dentist, you’ll have to go elsewhere, as Idaho has no medical schools. If you get sick, though, you’ll still be able to access healthcare just by looking on campus. Sometimes the school’s own student health insurance, meant to be used at the campus clinic, is affordable and offers the right level of services. Other schools ask enrollees to go through private insurers, which is the case with Idaho State University, where office visits are free for students but labs, x-rays and other services are billed to the student’s insurance. One thing that is typically free no matter where you go is counseling, though psychiatric services like those at University of Idaho require a small fee. Outside of the college insurance and campus clinic system, you have affordable options in town. Find a free medical clinic under the Program Documents tab at the Department of Health and Welfare’s website. And remember that affordable care isn’t limited to physical health. The state uses Regional Mental Health Centers to provide free psychological screening, treatment and therapy. For oral health, there are a few dental hygiene schools, including Idaho State University, that run clinics with low prices. For instance, you can get a cavity filled for $32. If you’re not near a college with a dental hygiene program, the Idaho State Dental Association maintains a list of community clinics. Each has its own eligibility requirements, but they all cater to people with fewer financial resources.

Child care is a wild card — in some places its quite high while in similar areas its fairly low. Take the rates at the Idaho State University Early Learning Center, Boise State University Children’s Center, Lewis-Clark State College Kinder College, and University of Idaho Children’s Center. You can find yourself paying $495 a month for an infant at LCSC or $872 for that same child at UI. Those are student rates, and to get them you’ll have to take at least 12 credits per semester. Otherwise, you’ll probably have to pay the higher rate charged to parents from the community. While these are all convenient facilities, you might find a higher-ranked or cheaper one off campus. Search for state-ranked child care centers at IdahoSTARS. Since it can cost more to put a child into day care than it does to pay college tuition, you have to find financial assistance where you can. Apply for a subsidy with the Idaho Child Care Program.

All colleges want to make sure you can get to class easily and cheaply. That’s why most have a transportation section on the website that clearly lays out transit options for students and informs them of student passes and discounts. Naturally, bigger schools have more options. Boise State students, for instance, can hop on a university shuttle or cruise around the capital and its surrounding areas for free on a ValleyRide bus. Also, keep an eye out for commuter student transit like the Idaho State University Commuter Express and the free shuttle for Lapwai students to LCSC.

Food pantries are a trend on college campuses throughout the country, and Idaho is no exception. At Benny’s Pantry at ISU, students can go to any of four locations twice a month to get free food when grocery money is in short supply. They’ll just need to swipe their ID cards. Similarly, University of Idaho’s Vandal Food Pantry has cabinets stocked with nonperishables in multiple spots around campus. Students elsewhere may have to travel off campus for food aid. Use the Idaho Foodbank’s Food Assistance Locator to find hot meals and food pantries in your area. Meanwhile, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare runs the state’s WIC program, which pays for grocery items for pregnant and nursing women with limited financial means.

Boise is either fairly expensive or quite cheap, depending upon who you ask and what they’re measuring. So let’s break it down. The capital, home to the eponymously named Boise State University, is a great place to rent. It is, however, an expensive place to buy a home. Child care can be cheaper than national averages, which is true throughout the state, but even with a student discount at Boise State University Children’s Center, you could still pay up to $43 a day. Your transportation costs can effectively be zero if your school has an agreement with ValleyRide, as Boise State does. And utility bills are low, like in the rest of the state.

Where to Go for Help in Boise

As far as states go, Idaho is bigger than average in terms of area but on the small side with regard to population. Many of the state’s residents live in the Boise metro area, making it the perfect hub for government social services and nonprofit offices. Below are a few places to start your search for assistance in Boise.

• Ada County Indigent Services is a government office meant to be used as a last resort. County residents hit with catastrophic health bills can apply for assistance, while those who cannot scrape money together for next month’s rent or utility bills can get a one-time loan from the county.
• El-Ada Community Action Partnership, on one level, gives people with limited finances referrals to services that can help them, but it also has its own programs, including a food pantry, emergency water utility assistance that can be used once a year in a shut-off situation, telephone assistance to reduce rates, and the Housing Education and Leasing Partnership, which educates new renters and helps them communicate with landlords to reduce conflicts.
• Idaho Legal Aid Services has offices throughout the state, including Boise. It can help tenants fight eviction or negotiate utility bill payments. It also works with low-income residents to secure or retain public benefits such as SNAP or LIHEAP.

With several of the above organizations providing referrals, you should be able to find what you need if you’re willing to explain your situation. If you can’t, navigate to the Idaho CareLine to get a free referral to nearby social services.

Just half an hour west of Boise, Nampa has a cost of living similar to — or even cheaper than — its better-known neighbor. This is great news for Northwest Nazarene University and CWI students, not to mention University of Idaho students in Caldwell, just 12 miles up the road. Your rental rates may be lower than Boise and you can still take advantage of the cheap fares on the ValleyRide bus system. College of Western Idaho students can even hop on for free.

Where to Go for Help in Nampa

Most of the organizations in Boise have a service area that includes Nampa, so look to the capital as well. Don’t expect everything to align, however. The two towns are in different counties, so there are some distinct organizations working in Nampa. Here are a few:

• College of Western Idaho hosts free basic skills education classes for people looking to pass their GED, get a better command of math, improve their reading comprehension, or become fluent in English.
• Nampa Housing Authority rents 142 apartments and homes throughout the city to low-income residents. Full-time students receive priority, but there’s still a waiting list, so don’t wait to start the application process.
• Western Idaho Community Action Partnership is like a filter for people seeking help. Come in, explain what you need, and it might be able to enroll your child in one of its Head Start centers, check you in at a motel during a personal emergency, send you a three-day supply of food when you’re out of grocery money, or sign you up for utility bill subsidies with LIHEAP.

If you’ve come up empty after exploring social services in Nampa and Boise, visit the Idaho CareLine, which maintains a directory of local social service organizations. You can also head to Treasure Valley Community Resource Center, which is like an information desk for social services. They’ll ask about your situation, and then connect you with a specific person at an organization that can help you. TVCRC works closely with the Region III Housing Coalition, so putting people in emergency shelters or renters in affordable homes is a particular specialty.

Idaho Falls sits just over 30 minutes southwest of BYU-Idaho. Satellite campuses for both University of Idaho and Idaho State University are also there, serving students from the eastern part of the state. If you’re a student at any of these schools or another institution in the area, you likely already know it’s an inexpensive place to live. For one thing, you can rent an apartment for two-thirds what it would cost you elsewhere in the country. Utilities, healthcare and gas are all affordable. The one thing that will set you back is getting out of Idaho Falls. The nearest international airport is in Salt Lake City, three hours away. So unless you’re from the vicinity, budget a bit extra for bus fare during the holidays.

Where to Go for Help in Idaho Falls

Some Boise area organizations have field offices in Idaho Falls, the largest Idaho town outside the southwestern corner of the state. It’s big enough to warrant its own social services, though, as shown below:

• Bonneville County Social Services can loan you money for large medical bills and financial emergencies that threaten to leave you without essentials, such as housing.
• Eastern Idaho Community Action Partnership can probably help, no matter the problem. Its Haven Shelter puts single women and families into transitional homes, and it rents out affordable apartments to people who need subsidized housing. It provides free GED tutoring for adults and runs a Head Start program for preschoolers. And like all community action agencies, it can connect income-qualifying residents to energy assistance, offset their medical costs, or lower their mobile phone bills.
• Idaho Falls Public Library has a College Prep Center with practice tests for the SAT and application essay tutorials. Well, it’s not literally in the library — it’s online, and you can get there just by getting a library card and logging on.

If you don’t see what you’re looking for on this list, try the Idaho CareLine, which provides free referrals to social services.