Winds of Change - College 2016 - 55

Tribal COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Left to right: Ilisagvik College, Fort Peck Community College, Little Priest Tribal College Affordable, accommodating, and academically competitive, TCUs have many pluses LEFT: CREATIVECOMMONS-PHOTO BY DAVE COHOE; CENTER: HTTP://WWW.FPCC.EDU I f you're looking for a budget-friendly school that offers a solid education while celebrating traditional culture, a tribal college can be a great choice. The nearly three dozen fully accredited schools in this category were established specifically to educate Native students and preserve Native culture while offering a path to a career at a reasonable cost. And because they are located on or near reservations, they make a quality education accessible to students in remote areas. For many students, a tribal college is a great first step to further education. Inspired in part by the self-determination movement of the 1960s, the first tribal college was founded in 1968 as Navajo Community College. While some TCUs have remained degree-granting two-year institutions, that first school, now known as Diné College, has grown from its community college roots into an institution that offers baccalaureate degrees as well as associate degrees and certificates. What's more, five TCUs - Navajo Technical University, Oglala Lakota College, Sinte Gleska University, Sitting Bull College, and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) - have expanded their programs to include master's degrees. It's important to keep in mind that the course work at accredited TCUs meets the same standards as the credits at mainstream colleges and universities - the big difference is the emphasis on indigenous culture and language throughout the curriculum. Some other points to consider are that TCUs: ■ are educating nearly 30,000 students ■ attract non-Natives as students and faculty ■ are located on or near reservations and operated by tribes ■ keep costs low: average cost of attending in 2013-2014 was $14,168 TCUs are competitive, as evidenced by the 10 that have made the Winds of Change Top 200 Colleges for Native Americans list: Diné College, Haskell Indian Nations University, IAIA, Nueta Hidatsa Shanish College, Oglala Lakota College, Salish Kootenai College, Sitting Bull College, Turtle Mountain Community College, Sinte Gleska University, and Northwest Indian College. Here are some facts about the other accredited TCUs: aises.org SCHOOL LOCATION CHARTERED TRIBE DEGREES # STUDENTS # FACULTY (approx.) (approx.) Aaniiih Nakoda College (Fort Belknap) Harlem, MT 1984 Gros Ventre and Assiniboine AA/AS/AAS 200 20 Bay Mills Community College Brimley, MI 1984 Anishinaabek AA/AS/AAS 500+ 19 (ft) Blackfeet Community College Browning, MT 1974 Blackfeet Nation AA/AS/AAS 475 40 Cankdeska Cikana Community College Fort Totten, ND 1974 Spirit Lake Dakota Nation AA/AS/AAS 400 35 Chief Dull Knife College Lame Deer, MT 1975 Northern Cheyenne AA/AAS 360 13 College of Menominee Nation Keshena, WI 1993 Menominee Nation AA/AS/AAS/BS 600 50 Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Cloquet, MN 1987 Anishinaabeg AA/AFA/AS/AAS 2,300 95 Fort Peck Community College Poplar, MT 1978 Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux AA/AS/AAS 450 50 Ilisagvik College Barrow, AK 2006 Inupiat AA 300 53 Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College Baraga, MI 1975 Ojibwa AA/AS/AAS 100 22 Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College Hayward, WI 1982 Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa AA/AS/AAS 500 63 Leech Lake Tribal College Cass Lake, MN 1990 Anishinaabe AA/AS/AAS 350 27 Little Big Horn College Crow Agency, MT 1980 Crow AA/AS 400 35 Little Priest Tribal College Winnebago, NE 1996 Winnebago AA/AS 150 6 (ft) Navajo Technical University Crownpoint, NM 1979 Navajo Nation AAS/BS/MA 1,000 32 (ft) Nebraska Indian Community College Macy, NE 1979 Omaha, Santee Sioux, and Winnebago AA/AS/AAS 180 12 Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College Mount Pleasant, MI 1998 Anishinaabe AA 150 17 Sisseton Wahpeton College Sisseton, SD 1979 Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate AA/AS/AAS 260 20 Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute Albuquerque, NM 1971 All Indian Pueblo AA/AS/AAS 560 16 (ft) Stone Child College Box Elder, MT 1984 Chippewa Cree AA/AS 400 25 Tohono O'odham Community College Sells, AZ 1998 Tohono O'odham AA/AAS 200 27 United Tribes Technical College Bismarck, ND 1968 United Tribes of North Dakota AAS/BS 1,800 63 White Earth Tribal and Community College Mahnomen, MN 1997 Anishinaabe AA 125 12 SOURCE: COLLEGEFUND.ORG 2016-2017 SPECIAL COLLEGE ISSUE * WINDS OF CHANGE 55 HTTP://WWW.FPCC.EDU http://www.COLLEGEFUND.ORG http://www.aises.org

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