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Education
Tribal colleges educate non-Native students


As many as 20 percent of tribal college students are not Native American, according to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

Tribal colleges can't use federal funds to educate non-Natives. That means they must absorb the costs of these 5,400 "non-beneficiary" students.

But states continue to receive tax and other revenue for these students. It's "an awfully good deal for states,� says Dr. Joseph F. McDonald, the president of Salish Kootenai College on the Flathead Reservation in Montana, where the student president is non-Native.

Tribal colleges in South Dakota have tried to tap into their state's fund but haven't had much success. "South Dakota state colleges are currently receiving around $3,900 per full-time student from the state," says Thomas H. Shortbull, the president of Oglala Lakota College and a former state senator.

Get the Story:
Mary Annette Pember: Deal or No Deal? (Diverse Issues in Higher Education 11/29)

Relevant Links:
American Indian Higher Education Consortium - http://www.aihec.org
Tribal Colleges and Universities - http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whtc/edlite-index.html
American Indian College Fund - http://collegefund.org

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College in Barrow is Alaska's first tribal college (07/28)
New director for White House Tribal College Initiative (01/20)
Tribal budget advisory council backs tribal colleges (03/01)
Bush budget seeks cuts to Indian education programs (02/10)
Bush administration budget slashes BIA programs (02/08)
Nation's tribal colleges struggle to make ends meet (02/07)
Johnson expects tough times for Indian initiatives (01/18)
Congress restores Bush's cuts to Indian programs (11/22)
Tribal colleges awarded millions in federal grants (08/06)
Tribal college board seeking boosts in funding (9/25)