Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on August 25, 2025

MERIDIAN, ID – Idaho State University has hired a national consulting firm to study, and price out, the possible purchase of a for-profit medical school based in Meridian.

As political leaders wrestle with the state’s chronic physicians’ shortage, Idaho State has been looking at acquiring the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine for months. But the $100,000 consulting project doesn’t mean Idaho State is on the verge of making a bid, university President Robert Wagner said.

But consultants are on a fast track — and they say they are looking at “the need for a state-owned medical school in Idaho.”

Consultants are getting an independent third-party analysis of ICOM’s fair-market value, and studying “the economic, educational, and social benefits of the proposed acquisition,” according to a PowerPoint presentation from Tripp Umbach, a Kansas City, Mo.-based consulting firm, obtained by Idaho Education News.

In this June 25 PowerPoint, Tripp Umbach lays out an aggressive timeline for the Idaho State project. The fair-market assessment and an economic impact report are both due in August. Its final report is expected in October.

Wagner is waiting to see what consultants come up with.

“We’ve not seen any work product from Tripp Umbach,” Wagner said Thursday. “They’re just doing their work.”

Tripp Umbach founding partner and President Paul Umbach declined comment, since his firm is still gathering data for its report.

On its website, Tripp Umbach says it has worked with two dozen new or proposed osteopathic medical schools, including ICOM. The company says it has worked with more than 500 universities and 1,000 health care organizations since it was founded in 1990.

Idaho State is not using state tax dollars or student tuition or fees to pay for the $100,000 Tripp Umbach study, Wagner said. The money will come from the university’s auxiliary funds, which can include charitable giving or revenues from facility rentals.

Idaho State and ICOM are already closely aligned.

The medical school sits adjacent to Idaho State’s Meridian campus. And since its opening in 2018, ICOM has operated in partnership with Idaho State — offering several joint degrees and, most recently, signing a joint research agreement in January. Wagner is one of two Idaho State administrators who sit on ICOM’s board of trustees.

TPG, a private equity firm, and Rice University co-own the college. ICOM President Tracy Farnsworth has said a sale is likely at some point.

Given the close existing relationship between Idaho State and ICOM, would there be any added benefits to acquiring the school outright? Wagner says it’s an important question.

“That’s what we are exploring,” he said.

Rep. Dustin Manwaring says he wants to know more about the sticker price, given the high cost of public medical schools in other states.

“They’re not cheap propositions,” said Manwaring, R-Pocatello, “but they can be serious and strategic investments for the state of Idaho.”

Manwaring co-chairs a task force studying the state’s physician shortage. The group holds its second meeting Tuesday.

While the Tripp Umbach study is focused solely on ICOM, the task force is taking a more holistic look at Idaho’s physician shortage.

The 2025 Legislature passed a law creating the task force — and calling for the state to create an additional 30 taxpayer-funded medical school seats over three years. These seats could include subsidized slots at ICOM.

The law doesn’t expressly call for cutting seats at WWAMI, the University of Washington-led medical school program named for the member states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. However, some lawmakers have pushed for cutting back the state’s 50-year partnership with WWAMI, which now takes in 40 Idaho students per year.

As the task force weighs all of these issues, Manwaring said he is considering the state’s options with ICOM. Simply having the for-profit medical school in Idaho is “a huge step forward,” he said. But Manwaring would want state ownership to build partnerships between ICOM and health care providers — securing the in-state clinical placements that encourage medical school graduates to practice in Idaho.

“If we’re going to grow something, what is it?” Manwaring said.