27th Annual Special College Issue • 2020-2021Tribal Colleges and Universities

TRIBAL-COLLEGESTribal Colleges and UniversitiesAffordable, accommodating, and academically competitive, TCUs have many plusesInspired in part by the self-determination impetus of the 1960s, tribal colleges and universities have grown and thrived in the intervening five decades. All are fully accredited and on a mission of educating Native students while preserving Native culture and offering a path to a career at a reasonable cost.Like the first tribal college founded 52 years ago — Diné College — many were originally two-year schools that have since expanded to offer bachelor’s degrees, while others remain degree- and certificate-granting two-year institutions that are often a springboard to further education. So far five TCUs — Navajo Technical University, Oglala Lakota College, Sinte Gleska University, Sitting Bull College, and the Institute of American Indian Arts — offer master’s degrees. Each one is a budget-friendly school that offers a solid education grounded in traditional culture. And because they are located on or near reservations, they make a quality education accessible to students in remote areas.There are now nearly three dozen tribal colleges and universities, and nearly 30,000 students have chosen this route to a degree. The course work at TCUs meets the same standards as the credits at mainstream schools — the big difference is the emphasis on Indigenous culture and language throughout the curriculum. TCUs are also competitive, as evidenced by the 13 that have made it onto the Winds of Change Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students (see box below).
Aaniiih Nakoda College (Fort Belknap)
Harlem, MT

ancollege.edu
Chartered: 1984
Tribe: Gros Ventre and Assiniboine
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 200
# of faculty: 20Bay Mills Community College
Brimley, MI

bmcc.edu
Chartered: 1984
Tribe: Anishinaabek
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 500+
# of faculty: 19 (full time)Blackfeet Community College
Browning, MT

bfcc.edu
Chartered: 1974
Tribe: Blackfeet Nation
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 475
# of faculty: 40Cankdeska Cikana Community College
Fort Totten, ND

littlehoop.edu
Chartered: 1974
Tribe: Spirit Lake Dakota Nation
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 400
# of faculty: 35Chief Dull Knife College
Lame Deer, MT

cdkc.edu
Chartered: 1975
Tribe: Northern Cheyenne
Degrees: AA/AAS
# of students: 360
# of faculty: 13Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College
Cloquet, MN

fdltcc.edu
Chartered: 1987
Tribe: Anishinaabe
Degrees: AA/AFA/AS/AAS
# of students: 2,300
# of faculty: 95Fort Peck Community College
Poplar, MT

fpcc.edu
Chartered: 1978
Tribe: Fort Peck Assiniboine
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 450
# of faculty: 50Ilisagvik College
Barrow, AK

ilisagvik.edu
Chartered: 2006
Tribe: Inupiat
Degrees: AA
# of students: 300
# of faculty: 53Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College
Baraga, MI

kbocc.edu
Chartered: 1975
Tribe: Ojibwa
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 100
# of faculty: 22Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College
Hayward, WI

lco.edu
Chartered: 1982
Tribe: Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 500
# of faculty: 63Leech Lake Tribal College
Cass Lake, MN

lltc.edu
Chartered: 1990
Tribe: Anishinaabe
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 350
# of faculty: 27Little Big Horn College
Crow Agency, MT

lbhc.edu
Chartered: 1980
Tribe: Crow
Degrees: AA/AS
# of students: 400
# of faculty: 35Little Priest Tribal College
Winnebago, NE

littlepriest.edu
Chartered: 1996
Tribe: Winnebago
Degrees: AA/AS
# of students: 150
# of faculty: 6 (full time)Nebraska Indian Community College
Macy, NE

thenicc.edu
Chartered: 1979
Tribe: Omaha, Santee Sioux, and Winnebago
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 180
# of faculty: 12Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College
Mount Pleasant, MI

sagchip.edu
Chartered: 1998
Tribe: Anishinaabe
Degrees: AA
# of students: 150
# of faculty: 17Sisseton Wahpeton College
Sisseton, SD

swcollege.edu
Chartered: 1979
Tribe: Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
Degrees: AA/AS/AAS
# of students: 260
# of faculty: 20Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Albuquerque, NM

sipi.edu
Chartered: 1971
Tribe: All Indian Pueblo Council
Degrees: AS, AA, AAS
# of students: 360
# of faculty: 20Stone Child College
Box Elder, MT

stonechild.edu
Chartered: 1984
Tribe: Chippewa Cree
Degrees: AA/AS
# of students: 400
# of faculty: 25Tohono O’odham Community College
Sells, AZ

tocc.edu
Chartered: 1998
Tribe: Tohono O’odham
Degrees: AA/AAS
# of students: 200
# of faculty: 27White Earth Tribal and Community College
Mahnomen, MN

wetcc.edu
Chartered: 1997
Tribe: Anishinaabe
Degrees: AA
# of students: 125
# of faculty: 12TCUs on the Top 200College of Menominee Nation, Diné College, Haskell Indian Nations University, Institute of American Indian Arts, Navajo Technical University, Northwest Indian College, Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, Oglala Lakota College, Salish Kootenai College, Sinte Gleska University, Sitting Bull College, Turtle Mountain Community College, United Tribes Technical CollegeCoverIntelWelcome from AISESMastheadMayo ClinicThe Student BodyThe Student BodyPandemic 101Charting a Path in HealthcareThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous StudentsOSU NASAHow to Read the DataThe PhD ProjectThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous StudentsThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students continuedThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students continuedThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students continuedThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students continuedThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students continuedThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students continuedThe Top 200 Colleges for Indigenous Students continuedCanadian Schools to KnowTribal Colleges and UniversitiesCollege ProfilesCollege Profiles continuedAdvertiser IndexLast WordOpportunities in Academia and BeyondUnited States Postal ServiceArchives