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Tribal Colleges

Navajo Community College (now Dine College) began offering classes in Arizona as the first tribally controlled native college in 1969. Three years later, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) was founded, and the group soon lobbied for more stable and better funding. When the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act was passed in 1978, seventeen tribal colleges existed. Today, thirty-five tribal colleges serving about 13 percent of the 170,000 American Indian students in college are listed as governing members of AIHEC from fourteen states and one Canadian province. This entry looks at their history and current practice.

Education of Native Americans

The federal government, responsible for the education of American Indians under various treaties, deferred to private religious institutions at first in this area. Later, when the federal government took over direct control, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) stood in the way of development of tribally controlled institutions. For many years, the goal of Native American education was to assimilate the Indians into White society. Most Indian schools trained in industrial arts and farming, but a few students were selected for study at White colleges. When financial assistance for American Indian students expanded in the 1960s, few took advantage given the high dropout rate from high school and the unwelcoming environment at mainstream colleges and universities.

These dropout rates and the success of the Rough Rock Demonstration School, funded by the non-BIA Office of Economic Opportunity, convinced the Navajo (Diné) to seek funds for a junior college. The college was chartered by the tribe in 1968 and offered classes in 1969. This college served as a model for further development as American Indians pushed for self-determination.

The idea of an American Indian university was not a new one, and several institutions had served a small portion of the native students. But the development of local tribally controlled colleges that focused on tribal culture was new. President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty helped tribes gain some financial and administrative support through the Office of Economic Opportunity, which was not part of the BIA. By the time Congress passed the 1971 Navajo Community College Act, a couple of other colleges had been created.

Current Practice

The tribal colleges in the United States were made land-grant institutions in 1994. Two of the colleges are operated by the Office of Indian Education programs of the BIA. Despite various laws and the development of funding sources, funding remains a major issue. Other issues have included accreditation, faculty development, development of culturally relevant curriculum and preparation for interaction within the larger dominant society, articulation or ease of transfer to other institutions, support of students from very difficult circumstances, and appropriate working relations with larger land-grant and university partners.

Despite challenges, tribal colleges continue to develop as unique institutions of learning linked to people, land, air, water, and animals. American Indian students traditionally have been the least represented in higher education. These developing institutions are helping to change this and are developing communities while serving as models for the rest of higher education.

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