COEUR d'ALENE - Declining enrollment at North Idaho College means the budget has to be cut.

No exceptions.

"I have made it very clear to everybody on campus that we are all going to share in that pain," NIC President Joe Dunlap said Friday. "Nobody is going to be exempt from that."

Not even athletics.

Dunlap and Athletic Director Al Williams are asking the NIC Board of Trustees to allow the school to transition from the National Junior College Athletic Association to the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges starting next year. While that switch might seem insignificant, it isn't; Between travel and scholarships, Williams and Dunlap say the move should shave an estimated $600,000 a year from the budget.

Other cuts will be considered when NIC trustees meet in April, Dunlap said, but for now, all eyes are on athletics.

"There has been a lot of animosity toward athletics on campus because there's a perception that they haven't taken their share of reductions in the past," Dunlap said. "So what Al and I are looking at is how do we preserve opportunities for students. If we cut programs ... we eliminate opportunities for students. That's not what we're about."

Dunlap said consistency in the new athletics budget might allow the school to bring back baseball at some point.

"There is no way in hell we can do that under the current cost structure," he said.

The move needs approval from NWAACC officials, who will vote Tuesday, and NIC trustees, who will consider the matter Wednesday in their regularly scheduled meeting.

Dunlap explained that NIC enrollment has fallen 11 percent this year and a 10 percent decline is anticipated next year.

"Our enrollment is inversely proportional to what happens in the economy, and the economy has begun to pick up," he said.

After already lopping $840,000 from the current budget, Dunlap said the school must cut $2.3 million in the next fiscal year.

While athletics offers a host of positives to the athletes, college and community, Dunlap and Williams said, it's also a guaranteed budget buster.

According to NIC records going back to the 2003-04 fiscal year, athletics have operated at a loss of more than $1 million annually. In 2003-04, expenses exceeded revenues by $1,039,312. By fiscal year 2012-13, that deficit had grown to $1,697,821. The number of teams and sports remained static during that entire period.

Williams said he and Dunlap met last week with NWAACC officials and both felt the meeting went well. A decade ago, when enrollment was increasing and NIC was just beginning to become a national power, Williams argued to remain in the Scenic West. He said Friday that just isn't the responsible fiscal game plan anymore.

"Going to the NWAACC, it more or less becomes a revenue source because you don't provide a full roster's tuition and fees," Williams said.

Travel costs will also drop an estimated $120,000 to $140,000 because NIC teams won't travel nearly as far in the NWAACC as they have in the Scenic West.