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Read. Follow. Verify.Idaho Senate Bill 1289 Places Citizenship Limits on Athletic Scholarships at Public Colleges
Last action · February 16, 2026: Reported Printed; referred to Education
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What This Bill Proposed
Senate Bill 1289 restricts non-U.S. citizens to receiving no more than ten percent of athletic scholarships across all sports rosters excluding football, and five percent for football rosters, at Idaho public colleges and universities starting July 1, 2026. The legislation also caps any single men's or women's athletic team at fifty percent non-U.S. citizen scholarship recipients while requiring public institutions to give overall scholarship preference to Idaho residents.
The measure directly alters how public universities distribute financial aid and athletic roster funding, establishing strict citizenship quotas for student-athlete aid while protecting existing scholarship recipients enrolled before the effective date for up to four consecutive academic years.
- State legislatures frequently introduce legislation regulating university admissions, financial aid distribution, and residency requirements for public institutions. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Idaho public institutions of higher education
Colleges and universities must alter athletic scholarship allocation policies to comply with residency preferences and citizenship percentage caps.
Student athletes
Athletes face new citizenship limits and quotas governing eligibility for financial assistance, tuition waivers, and grants.
Idaho residents
In-state residents receive mandatory preference in scholarship awards granted by public higher education institutions.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who does Senate Bill 1289 apply to?
Are football rosters subject to the same percentage cap as other sports?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 16, 2026CommitteeReported Printed; referred to Education
- Feb 13, 2026IntroducedIntroduced; read first time; referred to JR for Printing
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.idaho.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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