Institutions
The College Fund supports Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) in their efforts to strengthen students, emergent leadership, education, language and culture, health and wellness, the environment, and so much more, all moving our mission of transforming Native lives and communities.
Our work in partnership with TCUs focuses on supporting our relatives from cradle to career and beyond. This institutional capacity-building work consists of supporting TCU grantee partners in co-visioning programming, technical support, professional development, research and networking opportunities, and program elements that directly support students’ and communities’ needs.
Cultivating Native Student Success
Cultivating Native Student Success provides tribal colleges and universities the opportunity to examine their current enrollment management approaches and design long-term strategies that include holistic, place-based, and collaborative student supports to promote transformative and systemic change that impacts Native student success.
2025 Cultivating Native Student Success Convening
The American Indian College Fund and AIHEC are excited to host an opportunity to learn, network, and advance TCU Native Student Success.
Native higher education experts, organization partners, and TCU staff will come together to engage in discussions, workshops and breakout sessions about the Native student journey, strategic enrollment management, data storytelling, and the constantly evolving landscape of higher education.
TCU Programs
Our Programs, in partnership with TCUs, strengthen degree programs, support faculty and staff, prioritize students, and engage tribal nation communities across several program areas of targeted impact: Native Arts, Environmental Stewardship, Computer Science, Indigenous Early Childhood Education, Native Teacher Education, Adult Education, Women’s Leadership, Native Student Veterans, and more.
Programs TCU Capacity Support and Impact
2023-2024 Data
$12.9+
MILLION
4960+
34
Tribal Colleges and Universities
Tribal colleges and universities provide dynamic higher education opportunities, most on or near reservation lands. Known for their remarkable programs, culturally-relevant curricula, and familial student care – tribal colleges allow students to further their careers, attain an advanced degree, or better support their communities.
Institutions News
Read blog updates from our institutions teams
Once the Student, Now the Tutor: My GED Story
Just a few years ago, Conrad was a GED student at Oglala Lakota College. Now he is back in the same classroom as the tutor, using his lived experience and TCU education to support students continuing their own education.
Lionel R. Bordeaux, Wakinyan Wanbli, President of Sinte Gleska University for 50 Years, Departs for Spirit World
Lionel R. Bordeaux, Wakinyan Wanbli, (Thundering Eagle), age 82, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Nation in South Dakota and the President of Sinte Gleska University, departed for the Spirit World on November 16. This is a tremendous loss for his family, Sinte Gleska University, the Rosebud Lakota Nation, and Indian Country. For all who knew him, he was a grounding force in stormy times; a paragon of goodwill, solidarity, and wisdom; and the heart and soul of the Tribal College Movement, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, and the American Indian College Fund, to which he was fiercely devoted.
CAP, American Indian College Fund Kick Off Series Demonstrating How Investment in Tribal Colleges and Universities Builds Stronger Native Communities.
In the first column in a series on Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), the Center for American Progress partnered with the American Indian College Fund to examine how expanded funding for Tribal colleges and universities would help protect highly endangered languages, address systemic poverty, ensure Native students have access to a wide range of careers, and upgrade school infrastructure to assure safe classrooms and housing for students.
American Indian College Fund Announces First Post-Baccalaureate Fellow, Taylor Lucero
In keeping with its mission to positively impact the lives of American Indians by supporting their higher education and career goals and to support Native-led research, the American Indian College Fund launched a post-baccalaureate fellowship program within its Research and Evaluation Department to explore the impact of its programming, research, and work enhancing the capacities of tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). Taylor Lucero (Laguna Pueblo) was selected to serve as the College Fund’s first Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in the program.