The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established 137 years ago in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963.
The university comprises ten undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. It enrolls approximately 12,000 students across its campuses, with 11,000 on the Moscow campus. The university is classified among "R1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production".
Located on the rural Palouse, the university is represented in intercollegiate athletics by the Idaho Vandals, who compete in NCAA Division I, primarily in the Big Sky Conference. In addition to the main campus in Moscow, the U of I has branch campuses in Coeur d'Alene, Boise, and Idaho Falls; it also operates a research park in Post Falls, and dozens of extension offices statewide.
History
On January 30, 1889, Governor Edward Stevenson of the Idaho Territory signed the territorial legislature's Council Bill No. 20, which officially established the UI as the upcoming state's land-grant institution. Nearly four years later, the university opened for classes on October 3, 1892. The first four degrees were conferred in 1896, on Stella Maude Allen, Florence May Corbett, Charles Luther Kirtley, and Arthur Prentis Adair.
The choice of location for the University of Idaho was an "Olive Branch of Peace" by Gov. Stevenson for his actions in stymying the nearly successful effort to detach the north Idaho Panhandle and join the state of Washington.
The campus grew slowly over its first two decades. On March 30, 1906, fire destroyed the original Administration Building; its cause was never determined, and the building's library, scientific collections, and equipment were almost entirely lost. Its replacement, in Collegiate Gothic style, opened its main wing in 1909. Professional programs were added in the same period: the College of Law was established in 1909, the College of Engineering was formally created by the Board of Regents in 1911 after being organized with the College of Mines in 1907, and forestry, first taught as a department in 1909, became a separate school in 1917.
World War II reshaped the university. A campus building completed in 1942 served as a training center for naval radio operators, and varsity football was suspended for the 1943 and 1944 seasons. In the early morning of October 19, 1956, an arson fire set in a Gault Hall lounge spread up a stairwell and killed three students.
Enrollment expanded sharply in the postwar decades, reaching 8,698 by the fall of 1979. The $51 million, 4,000-seat Idaho Central Credit Union Arena opened in 2021 as the home of Vandals basketball, and the university reported $151.5 million in annual research expenditures for fiscal year 2025.
On November 13, 2022, four students were stabbed to death in a house near campus in the 2022 University of Idaho killings; Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. In May 2023 the university disclosed a $550 million bid to acquire the for-profit University of Phoenix through a nonprofit it had created, Four Three Education, prompting Attorney General Raúl Labrador to sue the State Board of Education over closed-door discussions of the proposal. The university and Phoenix broke off talks in June 2025, and the State Board terminated the purchase agreement at the university's request. Fall 2026 enrollment was 12,275, down 0.9 percent from the year before.
Campus
According to the U of I Facts Books, the Moscow campus, abutting the Washington state line, is 1,585 acres (2.5 mi2; 6.4 km2), including 253 buildings with a replacement value of $812 million. It has 49 acres (20 ha) of parking lots, 1.2 miles (2 km) of bike paths, 22 computer labs, an 18-hole golf course on 150 acres (61 ha), 80 acres (32 ha) of arboreta, and 860 acres (1.3 mi2; 3.5 km2) of farms.
Administration Building
The Administration Building, with its eighty-foot (24 m) clock tower and Collegiate Gothic-style structure, was built from 1907 to 1909 and has become an icon of the university. The building holds classrooms, an auditorium, and administrative offices, including the offices of the President and Provost. Multiple expansions were made, with the north wing added in 1912, the eastern portion of the south wing in 1916 (extended west in 1936 for the library), and the functional annex in 1950, incorporated into the Albertson addition of 2002. The U of I library was housed in the Administration Building until 1957, when the Library building opened, constructed on the former site of tennis courts. The College of Law occupied the south wing until its building (Menard) opened in 1973.
The original Administration Building, with a single tall spire reaching to 163 feet (50 m), was constructed through the decade of the 1890s and ultimately finished in 1899. It burned in 1906. In the meantime, classes were held at various sites in Moscow. The new Administration Building was designed by John E. Tourtellotte, who modeled the new structure after Hampton Court Palace in England.
The 1909 Administration Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Hello Walk
The "Hello Walk" is one of the best-known and traveled pathways on the Idaho campus. It includes monuments such as Presidential Grove, where historical figures, such as Teddy Roosevelt, planted trees; the Spanish–American War memorial statue who had his hands cut off but was reconstructed by the handless sculptor Bud Washburn; and Administration Lawn that was designed by the Olmsted Brothers.
Idaho Student Union Building
The Idaho Student Union Building (ISUB), completed in 2000 as the Commons, is the heart of campus and contains a food court, copy center, bagel and coffee shop (Einstein's Bagels), credit union, and convenience store. Additionally, there is study space, wireless internet, laptop checkout, and many student services such as the offices of the Associated Students of the University of Idaho (ASUI), Academics Assistance, the University of Idaho Writing Center, and Student Support.
With the completion of the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) at the beginning of the fall semester of 2005, the second phase, the Idaho Student Union Building gained classrooms and completed the vision of a common area where students could learn, study, relax, and get university services all in one place.
Bruce M. Pitman Center
The Bruce M. Pitman Center is located on the east end of campus on Deakin Street. The building houses the university's financial aid, admissions, new student services, registrar and Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA) offices. For students, the Pitman Center also features meeting rooms, a computer lab, wireless access, borrowable laptops and a movie theater. The building began as a motel, the Blue Bucket Inn, which UI purchased in 1936 and later expanded. The VandalStore, built in 1989 on a former parking lot, is located directly across the street to the east; it was previously adjacent to the south.
UI student-run media offices are also present on the third floor of the Pitman Center: The Argonaut, a newspaper; KUOI-FM, a radio station; student media advertising; and Blot, a magazine.
In October 2014, the University of Idaho announced the renaming of the Student Union Building as Bruce M. Pitman Center in honor of the retiring dean of students and vice provost for student affairs, who had served the campus community for more than 41 years. The name change took effect on January 1, 2015.
P1FCU Kibbie Dome
UI's multi-purpose "Kibbie Dome" is the primary home to Vandal athletics; it is the venue for football, soccer, tennis, and indoor track & field. Its Trus-Dek roof system, constructed in 1975, uses natural wood arches to span 400 feet (122 m) at a height of 150 feet (46 m) over the field's hashmarks. Previously on this site was Neale Stadium, which opened in 1937 as an earthen horseshoe with wooden sideline grandstands. It was named the Kibbie ASUI Activity Center, later changed to ASUI Kibbie Dome.
Tartan Turf, similar to AstroTurf, was installed in 1972 with the roll-up mechanism; the arched roof and vertical end walls were completed in time for the 1975 home opener on September 27, enclosing the stadium to become the Kibbie Dome. The seating capacity is 16,000 for football games, 7,000 for basketball games (in a configuration known as the "Cowan Spectrum" since 2001), and 7,500 for concerts.
In 2023 it was renamed "P1FCU Kibbie Dome" after Potlach First Financial Credit Union bought the naming rights for $10 million.
Idaho Central Credit Union Arena
Idaho Central Credit Union Arena (ICCU Arena), located immediately to the north of the Kibbie Dome, became the new home of Vandals men's and women's basketball for the 2021–22 season. The university had attempted to build a new arena to replace Memorial Gym for over 50 years, but nothing came of the plans until 2018, when a $10 million naming gift from Idaho Central Credit Union encouraged the administration to go forward with construction. Ground was broken the following year. The 4,200-seat facility, costing about $51 million, is primarily made from engineered wood, with the superstructure consisting mainly of over 850 Douglas fir beams prepared from trees logged at the university's experimental forest. Several major forest products companies assisted in the construction process. The arena opened for a media tour on September 29, 2021, with the basketball teams using the main arena and an included practice court during preseason practice. The first event in the new arena was a men's basketball exhibition against NAIA member Evergreen State on October 29. The first regular-season game was a men's game against Long Beach State on November 10. This game served as a homecoming for Beach head coach Dan Monson, son of former longtime Vandals head coach Don Monson and himself a former Vandals football player.
Golf course
The UI Golf Course was established in 1933 on the southwest edge of campus and opened as nine holes in 1937. It was expanded to 18 holes in 1970 and its current clubhouse was built in 1969. Due to its demanding rolling terrain and southwesterly summer winds, the par-72 course's moderate length of 6,637 yards (6,069 m) from the back tees yields a challenging slope of 135 with a scratch rating of 72.4.
Arboretum and botanical garden
Referred to as "Tree City" or "The Arb" by U of I students, the University of Idaho Arboretum and Botanical Garden is a 65-acre (26 ha) site adjacent to the golf course which features display gardens, ponds, and a variety of trees and plants from Asia, Europe, and North America.
The original Shattuck Arboretum was conceived in 1910 by Charles H. Shattuck, the head of the forestry department. His efforts gradually turned a treeless slope southwest of the Administration Building into a dense forest grove. The arboretum was named for Shattuck in 1933, two years after his death. Until the late 1960s, this area provided the background for left & center field of the MacLean field, whose infield was displaced by the construction of the new College of Education buildings, which were completed in 1968.
The newer portion of the arboretum complex is south of the Shattuck area, in the valley below the president's residence (1967), along the eastern edge of the University of Idaho Golf Course.
Library
The U of I Library is the state's largest library, with more than 1.4 million books, periodicals, government documents, maps, video recordings, and special collections. The Library's Special Collections and Archives houses a collection of first edition works by Sir Walter Scott, as well as more than 1200 texts by and about the author. The Library also has materials by many famous Idahoans, including Ezra Pound, Vardis Fisher, Frank Bruce Robinson, and Carol Ryrie Brink of Moscow. Digitized historic photographs from the University of Idaho campus and the state of Idaho, yearbooks, and the student newspaper the Argonaut, can be found on the Library's Digital Initiatives website.
Directly north of the Memorial Gymnasium and built on the former site of tennis courts, the library opened in 1957, relocating from the south wing of the Administration Building. The U of I post office station was formerly housed in its lower northwest corner; it was moved to the new U of I bookstore in 1990. The U of I Library was expanded by 50% in 1993 and rededicated in 1994. The first floor underwent major renovation during the 2016 academic year to up-date collaborative spaces and technology.