Minnesota's educational system is ending the blood quantum eligibility for Indigenous students.
HELENA, Mont.—In Montana, state higher education officials have changed the eligibility requirements for Montana's American Indian Tuition Waiver.
The undergraduate tuition waiver has been available to Montana resident students who have at least one-fourth degree Native American blood or are enrolled in a tribe based in Montana. However, starting July 1, 2026, blood quantum will no longer count toward eligibility. Montana residency, tribal enrollment, or certification and demonstrated financial need will still be required, and undergraduates already awarded the waiver will keep it.
According to Montana Public Radio, the Board of Regents, the Montana University System enacted the rule citing President Donald Trump's executive order prohibiting race-based admissions policies at universities as well as legislation proposed by Native lawmakers that would have enacted a similar eligibility change.
Blood quantum refers to the fractional amount of tribal affiliation in an individual's ancestry. Most tribes use blood quantum to determine eligibility for citizenship, which can make someone eligible for certain health care services and determine whether they can vote in tribal elections, access educational scholarships or inherit certain land. Tribal colleges must serve a certain number of enrolled tribal members to maintain their status. Tribal citizenship also influences a person's sense of belonging.
Tribes across the U.S. are having to contend with more issues regarding blood quantum. Experts say tribes nationwide will have to contend with blood quantum in the near future. According to one California Law Review article the the blood quantum limitations, "threaten to jeopardize the existence of Native nations, as you cannot have a nation without citizens."
As tribal members marry non-Natives or people from other tribes, it becomes harder for any tribe using blood quantum, to maintain its membership. For instance, in 2020, the Crow Tribe had about 14,600 members; five years later the number had declined by at least 311 people, leading the chairman, Frank Whiteclay, to refer to the issue of blood quantum as "death by numbers."
In the 18th century the concept of blood quantum in the fledgling United States restricted the rights of anyone who was more than 50 percent Native American. From 1887 to 1934, the government used the concept of blood quantum to distribute allotments of reservation land to tribal members. In 1934, with the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act, tribes began using blood quantum as a requirement for their own citizenship.
