Native Students Stepping Forward:
Dollar General Adult Education Program
2014 – Ongoing
About The Program
The American Indian College Fund’s Native Students Stepping Forward: Dollar General Adult Education Program, previously known as the Dollar General American Indian and Alaska Native Literacy and Adult Education Program, addresses a critical gap in the education pathway, empowering underserved Native people to gain the foundational literacy skills needed to prepare for and obtain high school equivalency (HSE) credentials and pursue post-secondary education and meaningful career pathways.
Like the Dollar General Literacy Foundation (DGLF), the program’s primary funder, supporting it at up to $300,000 annually, Native Students Stepping Forward is committed to helping individuals of all ages receive the educational foundation they need to succeed in post-secondary education opportunities or the workforce. Through tribal college and university (TCU)-implemented programming, this work seeks to strategically expand services and resources to achieve measurable outcomes in ABE progression and HSE program enrollment, retention, and completion. In a continuous effort to value the whole student, the program aims to assess and address students’ needs to succeed, encourages culturally relevant programming elements, promotes visibility of HSE students at TCUs, and supports college and career readiness programming components. TCU grantee partners also regularly engage across the cohort in a Community of Practice (CoP) to share best practices and challenges, strengthen programming, and examine holistic impact on students and communities.
High School Equivalency Visibility Project
The American Indian College Fund engaged three TCU high school equivalency (HSE) partners for the HSE Visibility Project, featuring the stories of HSE students and graduates in a social media campaign throughout winter and spring of 2024.
2022 High School Equivalency Program Convening
Grantees
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
Northwest Indian College
Oglala Lakota College
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College
Salish Kootenai College
Sinte Gleska University
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Tohono O'odham Community College
Related Blogs
Oglala Lakota College’s GED Program Goes Electronic with Adult Basic Education (TABE) Tests
The Oglala Lakota College (OLC) Community Continuing Education/GED department will implement electronic Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) in all 11 classroom sites in the fall of 2019.
Dollar General Grantees Delve into Community for Holistic GED/HSE Certification
Tribal College and University (TCU) grantees of the Dollar General American Indian and Alaska Native Literacy and Adult Education Program have the common objectives of serving more GED/Highschool Equivalency (HSE) students than previous years and, ultimately, helping more American Indians obtain their GED/HSE certificates.
Sinte Gleska University and Oglala Lakota College GED Programs Complete Site Visits
The GED programs at Sinte Gleska University (SGU) and Oglala Lakota College (OLC) have much in common. Both programs date back to the early 1970s, operate multiple classroom locations, and serve vast Indian reservations in South Dakota. And both GED programs are also recipients of the American Indian College Fund’s Dollar General GED grant.
GED Program: Successful. Empowering. Needed.
These are the words that Kateri Montileaux uses to describe the Community Continuing Education/GED (General Educational Development) program she coordinates at Oglala Lakota College (OLC).
