Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are a category of higher education, minority-serving institutions in the United States defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Each qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) or the Navajo Community College Act (25 U.S.C. 640a note); or is cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note).
These educational institutions are distinguished by being controlled and operated by federally recognized American Indian tribes; they have become part of Native Americans' institution-building in order to pass on their own cultures. The first was founded by the Navajo Nation in 1968 in Arizona, and several others were established in the 1970s. As of 1994, they have been authorized by Congress as land-grant colleges.Ginger Stull, Demetrios Spyridakis, Marybeth Gasman, Andrés Castro Samayoa, & Yvette Booker, Redefining Success: How Tribal Colleges and Universities Build Nations, Strengthen Sovereignty, and Persevere through Challenges. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, 2015.Warner, L. S. & Gipp, G. (2009). Tradition and culture in the millennium: Tribal colleges and universities. Information Age Publishers.
As of 2018, there are 32 fully accredited Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) in the United States, with one formal candidate for accreditation.Marybeth Gasman, Andrés Castro Samayoa, William Casey Boland, & Paola Esmieu (Eds.), Educational Challenges and Opportunities at Minority Serving Institutions (New York, NY: Routledge Press, 2018).
Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTIs) are institutions other than TCUs that serve an undergraduate population that is both low income (at least 50% receiving Title IV needs-based assistance) and in which Native American students constitute at least 10% (e.g., Southeastern Oklahoma State University).
History The Tribal College movement developed as part of the Native American "self-determination" movement of the 1960s. Federally recognized tribes wanted to have more control over the education of their children and ways to pass on their culture, and develop contemporary skills to build economic capacity. They have developed tribal colleges on or near Indian reservations. These provide access to post-secondary education, accredited degrees, and vocational training for both Indian and non-Indian students in many rural areas.
The first tribal college was Navajo Community College, now called Diné College, founded on the reservation in Tsaile, Arizona, in 1968. It was accredited in 1979. Tensions immediately arose between advocates of two philosophies: one that the tribal colleges should have the same criteria, curriculum, and procedures for educational quality as mainstream colleges, and the other that the faculty and curriculum should be closely adapted to the particular historical culture of a tribe. Faculty and staff had a high rate of turnover, exacerbated by very tight budgets.T. Gregory and Lourene Thaxton, "Robert A. Roessel Jr. and Navajo Community College: Cross-Cultural Roles of Key Individuals in Its Creation, 1951-1989," American Indian Culture & Research Journal (2007) 31#4 pp 25-50. Several other tribal colleges were established in the 1970s, and enrollment at such institutions has steadily increased. Marjane Ambler, "While globalizing their movement, tribal colleges import ideas" , Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education, Vol. 16 No.4, Summer 2005, accessed 7 July 2011
Since the 1970s, when many of these colleges were founded, most tribes have developed curricula that incorporate their Native culture and tradition. These institutions are generally located on reservations and face problems similar to those of other rural educational institutions: recruitment and retention of students and faculty because of relative isolation (in some cases quite strong) and competition from other institutions, and curriculum issues.Shreve, B. & Littlebear, R. (2019) (Eds.). Language revitalization at Tribal colleges and universities: Overviews, perspectives, and profiles. Tribal College Press. Lack of funding, along with the minimal resources of some tribes, have been obstacles. For some Native American nations, revenues from casino gambling have aided in their building educational institutions.
In general, enrollment has increased significantly, particularly in areas where reservations have significant populations. In 1982, the total enrollment at tribal colleges in the United States was approximately 2,100; by 2003, it had increased to 30,000. This also reflects a return to reservations by numerous American Indians, for instance, on the Great Plains. Since the 1990s, the movement to place greater emphasis on culturally appropriate education specific to Native Americans has also helped boost enrollment.
By contrast, California's only tribal college, D-Q University located west of Davis, California, closed in 2005. It re-opened briefly with six students in 2006. Unlike most of the institutions, it is not affiliated with a single tribe or reservation.William Casey Boland, Andrés Castro Samayoa, Thai-Huy Nguyen, Marybeth Gasman, Chris Jimenez, Elisa Chen, & Vera Wang, Striking Gold in the Golden State: Harnessing the Power of Minority Serving Institutions in California. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, 2015.
In 1994 under the Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act, the tribal colleges were authorized by the US Congress as land-grant colleges. Most offer two-year degrees, although six are four-year institutions, and three have master's degree programs. Several colleges, such as the College of the Menominee Nation, have developed transfer agreements with affiliated state universities to allow students who graduate from the two-year tribal college to receive junior status at the state university system. Sinte Gleska University in South Dakota has a master's program affiliated with Red Crow Community College and Canadian universities in Alberta.
On December 2, 2011, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13592—Improving American Indian and Alaska Native Educational Opportunities and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities, which ordered the Department of Education to work closely with tribal governments to help improve educational opportunities provided to all AI/AN students, including students attending post-secondary institutions such as Tribal Colleges and Universities. This executive order was signed to address the high drop out rate, to help close the achievement gap between AI/AN students and their non-native peers, while also preserving and revitalizing Native languages. This executive order was run by the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education. This initiative has been implemented by the Department of Education, and it supports activities that will expand educational opportunities and improve education outcomes for all AI/AN students.
As of 2013, Montana is the only state in which each Indian reservation has established a fully accredited tribal college. The University of Montana "was the first to establish dual admission agreements with all of the tribal colleges and as such it was the first institution in the nation to actively facilitate student transfer from the tribal colleges." In addition, the Montana legislature passed the Indian Education for All Act, creating the only state mandate for public schools to "teach American Indian history, culture, and heritage to preschool through higher education students."
Research
Faculty development In 2017 Ahmed Al-Asfour and Suzanne Young conducted a survey study of the professional development needs of faculty at TCUs. The areas of greatest concern were workload and low salary.Al-Asfour, A., & Young, S. (2017). Faculty professional development needs and career advancement at tribal colleges and universities. Journal of Faculty Development, 31(1), 41-48. Low teacher salaries may be attributed to the unique situation TCUs have related to funding. Most tribal colleges are located on reservations and therefore are not supported by local taxes, nor do they pay them. They receive financial support only from the federal government, chiefly through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and remain chronically underfunded. Al-Asfour and Young say that this underfunding and subsequent low faculty salaries may be a cause of low retention of faculty. As a result, mostly inexperienced faculty accept positions at TCUs.
Additionally, Al-Asfour and Young found that non-Native American faculty reported significantly greater challenges in learning Native American culture compared to Native American faculty. They say that faculty development should focus on training the non-native staff in regard to Native American culture, to better serve their population of students. TCUs are unique institutions and therefore require special attention to understand the needs of their faculty and to allocate resources as needed.
Role of mentorship
Research done by Carol Ward, Kacey Widdison Jones, Ryan Coles, Loren Rich, Stan Knapp and Robert Madsen at Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC) found that AI/AN students had a special need for direct culturally sensitive mentoring and social support.Ward, C. c., Jones, K. W., Coles, R., Rich, L., Knapp, S., & Madsen, R. (2014). "Mentored research in a tribal college setting: The northern Cheyenne case". Journal of Research In Rural Education, 29(3), 1-17. The case study of CDKC explored the outcome which students attributed to their experiences working on a research project under a mentor, and the effects this participation had on student attitudes.
They studied students who were involved in a variety of research collaborations with the University of Montana and Montana State University under mentorship from the research director. From this one-on-one instruction and mentorship, the students' perceptions of themselves, their abilities, and their futures increased significantly. After being mentored, they believed they could incorporate science into their educational and career future. They completed upper-level science research methods courses despite having previously struggled in math and science instruction. Most importantly, the students were able to recognize their academic strengths rather than viewing themselves negatively, and they changed how they envisioned their futures. Ward et al. found that "student involvement in instructor-led mentored research projects as well as independent and student-led research activities improved student performance and confidence in math and science, improved course retention and completion, and resulted in more students planning to pursue four-year degrees."
Role in preserving native languages
As the use of native languages decreases, PaskusPaskus, L. (2013). More than words, a way of life: Language restoration programs reach beyond tribal colleges and universities. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education, 24(4) explored the role TCUs have in language preservation among college-age students and youth. Many TCUs have Native language courses and are also beginning to bring those programs to elementary students and younger. Implementers of these programs have already begun to see small achievements, such as more often hearing greetings and other exchanges on campus taking place in native languages. Some of these programs focus on a model that connects the children with elders, and help the parents to learn the language too. TCUs may be lighting the spark in this movement.Shreve, B. & Littlebear, R. (2019) (Eds.). Language revitalization at Tribal colleges and universities: Overviews, perspectives, and profiles. Tribal College Press.
Study of TCU drug and alcohol problem and solutions