Boise State University’s Alicia Estey Talks Balancing Budgets and Breaking Barriers

Higher education administrators face unprecedented challenges in 2025. Financial instability, campus safety threats, mental health concerns, and the integration of artificial intelligence demand immediate attention and resources.

Rising operating costs for salaries, campus safety, technology, insurance, and facilities maintenance compound existing budget pressures. Nationwide enrollment declined 10% between 2012 and 2022, further straining institutional finances.

When Alicia Estey, Boise State University’s chief financial and operating officer, first stepped into the role and learned of the institution’s $15 million structural deficit, she didn’t retreat to crunching numbers alone. Instead, she gathered all of the deans and other senior leaders of the institution to explain to them the financial challenge threatening the institution’s financial stability.

“Here’s the problem we have; here’s how we got into it,” she told the assembled leaders, her background in accounting, law, and public health informing her methodical approach. “I want to hear from you.”

The university leadership ultimately implemented a 2.5% reduction across all departments, redirecting those funds to the central financial reserves. Though difficult, this systematic approach provided the framework needed to address the structural deficit head-on.

The institution’s collaborative process led to sustainable solutions and new safeguards. “We also put systems in place to ensure that this wouldn’t happen again. We prioritize annual compensation adjustments ahead of new investments. This means that if we want to invest in new things, but we don’t have new money, we’re going to have to give some things up,” Estey notes.

That’s just one example of how she is navigating the turbulent waters of higher education administration in 2025. While universities nationwide grapple with a perfect storm of challenges, Estey’s collaborative leadership offers a window into sustainable institutional management.

Building Trust Through Transparency

“Relationships are the key to success for any leader,” Alicia Estey says, discussing her oversight of 37 campus units and the university’s $743 million budget. “My preferred approach is to be very direct with people, very straightforward. Put all the cards on the table and say, ‘We need to come up with a solution together.’ And that way, everyone is invested in the outcome.”

The university employs this collaborative approach for its annual strategic investment decisions. Estey explains, “We bring all the VPs together; each VP brings forward their top five to 10 priorities for their division, and then we decide as a group where to invest. We can’t fund all of the requests, so we have to ask ourselves ‘what are the most important things that will help us move forward and accomplish our mission?”

This philosophy proved crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic when Estey was responsible for keeping the university operational. “We had to make big decisions on the fly,” she recalls. “I felt a lot of weight on my shoulders because I was responsible for everyone’s health and wellbeing.”

Facing challenges in the fall of 2020, Boise State administrators confronted their most consequential pandemic-era decision: whether to resume in-person classes after the emergency shift to remote learning that spring. The university’s leadership team, headed by Alicia Estey, prioritized developing comprehensive safety protocols before bringing students back to campus.

Boise State University established its public health department, recognizing that local hospitals lacked adequate testing capacity. This initiative enabled approximately 50% of students to return for face-to-face instruction, prioritizing freshmen and seniors who were deemed most in need of in-person learning experiences.

“We had a very complex contact tracing system,” Estey says. “We set up an infirmary in one of our residence halls so that we could isolate and quarantine our residential students when we needed to.”

Alicia Estey Is Building for the Future

Alicia Estey’s path to university leadership began in corporate tax at J.R. Simplot Company before joining Boise State in 2006. “I decided that I needed something more than accounting,” she admits. She soon learned there were no dull days at the university.

“I started in finance in a policy role. I was the liaison to the state Board of Education and then just continued to take on more and more. At some point, I switched from the finance side of the house to legal and operations and then worked there for several years in a compliance role, and now I oversee a number of the areas that I once worked in.” she says.

Despite budget constraints, Boise State University continues major capital investments under Estey’s financial oversight. “Infrastructure, for one, a lot of institutions can’t do that right now,” she points out. 

The university’s plans include expanding Albertsons Stadium’s north end zone. Unlike many university operations, Boise State University’s athletics department receives minimal state funding and relies primarily on football ticket sales for revenue. The expanded north end zone will feature additional skyboxes, creating new revenue streams to support the school’s athletic programs during continued football success.

Meanwhile, the university has embarked on its most ambitious academic construction project to date. This new science research facility will become the largest and most expensive building in institutional history. The investment aligns with Boise State University’s anticipated transition from R2 to R1 status, a prestigious designation indicating its evolution into a research-intensive public doctoral university.

Managing such ambitious growth while maintaining institutional focus requires clear principles. For Estey, this means returning consistently to a foundational commitment to service. She says, “For my division specifically, we are here to serve others. We are here to support students and faculty. And so even though we may think a thing could be done a better way, if that’s not what is going to best serve students and faculty, then we need to be focused on that and not what might be easiest or most efficient for us.”

The scale of operations Alicia Estey oversees requires constant attention. “Given the size of our university and the number of employees we have, we are basically running a medium-size city for Idaho. There’s always a lot happening,” she says. “It’s a really exciting job. No day is like any other day.”

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