A new blog post by Kimberly Barber, Salish Kootenai College Student Success Coach, 2025-2026 Indigenous Visionaries: Women’s Leadership Program.
On Sunday, the College Fund honored this year’s Tribal College and University Students of the Year and Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars. These students represent the values of their TCUs and the determination of all the Native students working to build better futures for themselves and their communities.
Congratulations to Dr. Leander “Russ” McDonald on being named the College Fund’s 2025-26 Tribal College and University President Honoree of the Year. Dr. McDonald shares how healing, humility, learning, and evolving have not only shaped his mindset as president of United Tribes Technical College but a life dedicated to others.
The Ichigo Foundation has gifted the American Indian College Fund a $100,000 award to support the Wounspe E’cetkiya O’takuye Piya A’yazunta Pi (Reconnecting Relatives to Education) Program over the next two years. With its first four graduates celebrated in 2025, this program, that provides resources to help American Indians who’ve had encounters with the justice system complete their high school equivalency, hopes to strengthen its partnership and explore other learning opportunities.
During the first week of February, representatives from 36 tribal colleges travelled from across the country to Washington, D.C. to remind Congress that supporting TCUs is not optional — it’s part of the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations. TCUs are not only here; they are creating a ripple of generational change with every student who walks through their doors.
Winter is a special season, full of holidays, good food, good company. And no matter the culture, storytelling and the spirit of reflection, growth, giving, and gratitude take center stage this time of year. It is no different for Native peoples, many of whom wait to tell certain stories on long, cold winter nights.
American Indian College Fund Host Free Online Tribal College and University Fair Four-Day Event Will Connect TCUs with Native Students Interested in Pursuing Higher Education Denver, Colo., November 6, 2025—The American Indian College Fund will host its sixth annual...
Three members of the National Native Scholarship Providers (NNSP) group, which includes the American Indian College Fund, AISES, and Cobell Scholarship, Inc., collaborated on the research and release of “Power in Culture: A Study on Campus Climate and Sense of Belonging for Indigenous Students.