So, you're thinking about attending a college or university in Idaho?

As a Rocky Mountain state, Idaho has abundant natural resources and scenic areas. Its landscape, complete with snow-capped mountains, rapids, placid lakes, and steep canyons, has some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the U.S. Idaho is bordered by Canada to the north, Montana and Wyoming to the east, Utah and Nevada to the south, and Oregon and Washington to the west.

Because of its relative proximity to the Pacific Ocean, Idaho has fairly moderate weather. Temperatures, in general, are not as low as one would expect in a state with a mostly elevated altitude. Summers are still hot and winters are still cold, but prolonged periods of extreme heat or cold are rare.

Over most of the state, humidity, cloud cover, and precipitation are highest during the winter months. However, this is not true in the southeastern section of Idaho where the precipitation patterns are reversed. Here, there are generally wetter summers and drier winters. Seasonal temperature differences are also more extreme.

The estimated population of Idaho in 2005 was 1,429,096. Since 1990, the population of Idaho has increased by 38%, or 386,0000 people. From 2004 to 2005, Idaho proved to be the third-fastest growing state in the U.S., only trailing the states of Nevada and Arizona.

Since becoming a state in 1890, the Republican Party has pretty much dominated the politics of Idaho. The voters of Idaho haven't supported a Democrat for president since the 1964 presidential election. Even then, it was only by less then two percentage points. As of 2006, Republicans hold both the governorship and all the state's constitutional offices. They have also retained both the state's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, though the Democrats did pick up a few seats in the Idaho Legislature.

The religious affiliations of the residents of Idaho in 2001 broke down in the following way: 79% identified themselves as Christian with 50% being Protestant, less than 1% were aligned with other religions, and a significant number, 20%, said they were non-religious.

In Idaho, the personal income tax imposed by the state is broken into eight income brackets, with rates ranging from 1.6-7.8%. Residents can apply for state tax credits, however, for such things as taxes paid to other states and donations made to Idaho state educational institutions as well as some nonprofit rehabilitation and youth facilities.

State sales tax in Idaho is set at 6% currently. While prescription drugs are not subject to taxation, food is. Also, campground, motel, and hotel accommodations have a higher tax rate applied to them, ranging from 7-11%. Local jurisdictions also add to the tax rate in some areas.

The state of Idaho offers several options when looking for a college or university located there. These include:

• Lewis-Clark State College

• The University of Idaho

• Idaho State University

To find more information about universities and colleges in this area, visit the Online College Degrees page on this website.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Idaho".

Free College Planning Resources