The Cigna Foundation has granted $29,000 to the American Indian College Fund (the Fund) to support Native scholarships through the Cigna Foundation Tribal Scholars Healthcare Program. The grant will provide 10 scholarships to Native students studying at select tribal colleges and universities and mainstream institutions.
If you are a student attending the AIHEC conference in South Dakota, be sure to stop by the American Indian College Fund’s booth to learn about how to apply for scholarships.
American Indian College Fund staffer Jaime Aguilar will also be on hand to gather stories about your experiences during your studies and your photos.
Did you know that 16 of our 33 accredited tribal college presidents are women? These warriors are on the front lines in Indian Country, helping to provide hope, guidance, and inspiration to our young people in their fight against poverty and they honor us every day with their sacred work.
Since 1995, Pendleton Woolen Mills has supported the American Indian College Fund to help Native college students pursue their dreams of obtaining a college degree. Pendleton has continued its longstanding support by granting two gifts to the Fund.
Outstanding American Indian students who are majoring in a science, technology, engineering, or math field with at least a 3.0 GPA are eligible for NASA MUST (Motivating Students in Science and Technology) scholarships that cover half of their tuition up to $10,000. As part of the program, students also participate in a 10-week summer internship at one of NASA’s centers. The internships pay $6,000.
Congratulations to Team SkyWalkers, Northwest Indian College’s (NWIC) team that will be part of this year’s NASA Student Launch Initiative April 21 near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NWIC’s team was one of 42 nationwide selected to participate in the program this year. Team SkyWalkers is comprised of more than 12 students from five tribes ranging from age 19 to 58 and advised by NWIC faculty member Gary Brandt, who has taught the sciences, electronics, and robotics at NWIC since 1989.
A Menominee high school student in Wisconsin was punished for speaking her Native language there. She was teaching other students how to say specific words, such as “hello,”, “thank you,” and “good bye” in her Native tongue. Her teacher said it was inappropriate because she could not understand what she was saying and therefore could not monitor her speech.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) of Minnesota donated $585,000 to the American Indian College Fund (the Fund), helping it to meet a three-year challenge grant from the Johnson Scholarship Foundation (JSF) in a record six months.
The American Indian College Fund received $150,000 from The UPS Foundation to continue the UPS Foundation Tribal College Scholarship Program. For 14 years, the program has been providing scholarship support to students attending the nation’s tribal colleges and universities (TCUs).
Not all holiday dinners are created equal. The Denver-based Native Elders Holiday Dinner sponsored by the American Indian College Fund has a distinctly Native flavor, from the meal itself (buffalo) to a Santa Claus that wears a war bonnet.
