Student Development
Explore Development Opportunities
Study Skills
No matter what your grades are, everyone needs some guidance to find success in the classroom. Here are some resources to help you develop the best study habits and skills you’ll need to get your degree:
What are Office Hours? – by Andrew Ishak
Time Management: TCU Video Project Series
Focus 2 Self-Assessment
Many people struggle with choosing an academic major during school, or job industry after graduation, but choosing a path is important when choosing your classes, internships and other career opportunities.
Focus 2 combines self-assessment, career and major exploration, decision-making and planning in one place. By matching your assessment results to career options and majors/programs for your consideration, FOCUS 2 guides you through a career and education decision-making model to help you make informed career decisions and take action in planning your future.
To use this free service, register to create an account with the access code collegefund. From there, you can take each test- personality, interests, values, and skills- to build your academic and career planning profile. Print your profile to share with an academic or career counselor or mentor to discuss your career plan or transition to a new profession.
Money Management
It is also important to understand budgeting, credit, and debt management – to help you to make responsible decisions in school, and prepare for your financial life after school. Learn about the following topics in related posts — your financial future depends on it.
- Money Management — Developing Common Cents (College Fund)
- Per Cap (First Nations Development Institute)
- Financial Skills for Families (First Nations Development Institute)
- Developing Your Vision: Managing Your Money
- Your First Bank Account
- Childcare Costs (and Ways to Reduce Them)
- When Your Child Has Special Needs
- Caring For Aging Parents
- Children and Family Considerations
Student Ambassador Program
The American Indian College Fund Ambassador Program was established in 2015 to strengthen students’ and alumni personal and professional skills and to represent the College Fund.
Our Blogs
Back to School
It seems like just yesterday when last year’s school year started, in the face of great uncertainty. And now it’s time to return to school again. The pandemic situation is uncertain again, however, we have come through a year knowing what we are dealing with and how to do so, and we also know that education offers many opportunities for Native people, making this the BEST time to start on the path to earning a professional certificate or college degree.
‘Think Indian’ Book Club – August 2021 Book Review: Firekeeper’s Daughter
The ‘Think Indian’ Book Club focuses its book selections on Indigenous authors, voices, and storytelling. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley is a coming-of-age story centered around eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine, who feels like she does not fit or belong in both her hometown and her nearby Ojibwe reservation.
Student Parents: Uncovering Their Experiences and Identifying Best Practices for Persistence and Success in Higher Education
Join us for a 60-minute session that will highlight the experiences of student parents in higher education. We’ll hear from Nicole Lynn Lewis, CEO and founder of Generation Hope, former teen mother, social entrepreneur, and author, about her own lived experience as a young student parent and why she founded Generation Hope in 2010.
A Time for Change and Innovation – Native Arts and Distance Learning
Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) transitioned from holding in-person classes and community events to closing their campuses, instead offering academic courses online or through distance learning. Community programming and events were canceled or postponed, greatly impacting TCUs, students, and the communities they serve.
To help TCUs during the transition, seven TCUs were awarded Distance Learning Grants. Each had a different approach on how they would continue to provide Native Arts programming while keeping their students and community members safe. Each explored how they were going to bring people together while keeping them safely apart.
Varying Viewpoints Podcast: “Resisting Colonial Racist Behaviors at Tribal Colleges”
In this episode of the Varying Viewpoints podcast series by Proctor Institute, Leah Hollis, Visiting Scholar there, interviewed Joseph Angel de Soto, a STEM Professor at Diné College, a tribal college in Tsaile, Arizona.
American Indian College Fund Sponsors Five Tribal College Environmental Science Programs
American Indian College Fund Sponsors Five Tribal College Environmental Science Programs Program to Develop Culturally Relevant Science Programming to Benefit Tribal Communities and Lands in Northern Great Plains States Denver, Colo.—August 5, 2021–The American Indian...







