Short Answer Questions

Tips for The Full Circle and TCU Scholarship applications

The Full Circle and TCU Scholarship applications have an essay style format with three short-answer questions.

These sections are your chance to share your story and give readers an opportunity to see how a scholarship would help you achieve your stated educational and professional goals and require you to discuss three elements: an obstacle that you have overcome in order to get to where you are now; your educational goals and how this scholarship will help you achieve those; and how your education will help your Native community.

We recommend that you type out your responses to the short-answer question in a Word document (like this template) to ensure safe keeping if you need to abandon the application before submission.

To enhance this section, start by creating an outline of your thoughts and initial answers to each question. The outline does not need to look perfect, but it will allow you to start thinking about and organizing these questions and how they relate to each other.

Here are two sample outlines to help get you started:

  • A Visual Outline for those who prefer to see the outline as part of the big picture.
  • A Textual Outline for those who prefer a more linear approach.
  • Whichever outline you choose, remember that they are not meant to be exhaustive. They are designed to help you organize your thoughts and begin planning for writing your final responses.
  • There is no right or wrong answer for these questions, but it is very important that you provide a thorough response to each short-answer question.

As always, don’t forget to check your grammar and spelling!

NOTE: The short-answer section is ONLY available in the application, not in the profile. This means you must have all of your application ready (INCLUDING YOUR TRANSCRIPT READY TO UPLOAD) when you answer these questions; otherwise your answers will not be saved.

Related Pages

Application Tips

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News & Events

Tell Your Senator to Vote NO on the SAVE Act, a Barrier to Voting Rights

Tell Your Senator to Vote NO on the SAVE Act, a Barrier to Voting Rights 

The SAVE Act (H.R. 22) is a proposed law that would require all Americans to provide physical proof of citizenship—such as a passport or birth certificate—to register to vote. It sounds simple but is creating a voting rights crisis for Native Americans. 

Why? 

The SAVE Act requires Tribal IDs to list a “place of birth” to be valid. Most Tribal IDs don’t include this, rendering them useless for registration without a secondary document, like a birth certificate or passport. But for Native voters who are often born at home or who have to travel great distances to get them, often as far as 100 miles during working hours, the extra requirement of a birth certificate is a major hurdle. Similarly, passports are expensive and require birth certificates to obtain. This requirement creates an unfair barrier to voting—a fundamental right. 

Legislation that ignores the geographic, sovereign, and administrative realities of Indian Country is about exclusion, not security. Democracy only works when everyone is allowed to participate. 

📞 Contact your Senators today. Tell them to vote NO on the SAVE Act. Senators are voting on whether to open a debate on the bill on March 17. If passed, they will continue with a floor debate with amendment votes for an unpredictable amount of time. All further amendment and procedural votes will require 60 votes to pass.

PLEASE ACT TODAY 

  1. Call your elected senators at their Congressional Offices and ask for their Legislative Director. To find your representative and senators, use the USA Gov tool. 
  1. Use this script for each call: 

Hello, my name is (blank). My zip code is (tell them your zip code). I am calling to urge my senator to oppose the House-passed SAVE America Act, which would enact unnecessary barriers to voter registration and would disenfranchise countless voters, Including American Indian and Alaska Natives, women, senior citizens, and low-income citizens. This bill is designed to block voters from access to a fundamental right in our democracy WITHOUT evidence of widespread voter fraud. 

Thank you for your time! 

IF LEAVING VOICEMAIL: Please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied. 

American Indian College Fund Honors 2025-26 Tribal College Students of the Year and Coca-Cola Scholars

American Indian College Fund Honors 2025-26 Tribal College Students of the Year and Coca-Cola Scholars

Denver, Colo., March 17, 2026 — The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) held a ceremony on Sunday, March 15, in Bismarck, N.D. to honor the 2025-26 Tribal College and University Students of the Year and Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars. Held as part of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium’s 2026 Student Conference, this event also honored Tribal College and University President Honoree of the Year, Dr. Leander “Russ” McDonald of United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck.

The Adolph Coors Foundation sponsors both the Tribal College and University Students of the Year and the Tribal College and University President Honoree of the Year. Every year, each of the 34 tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) selects one student to represent their university, with students receiving a $1,200 scholarship. The TCU President Honoree, selected by the College Fund, receives a $1,200 honorarium.

Tribal College and University Students of the Year at the ceremony in Bismarck posed with their awards.

Tribal College and University Students of the Year at the ceremony in Bismarck posed with their awards.

The Coca-Cola Foundation awards 36 Native scholars, with at least one scholar from each of the 34 partner TCUs, who are the first in their family to attend college. Awardees receive $5,000 per academic year and may reapply for the scholarship each year if they maintain a 3.0 grade point average and are active in campus and community life. The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded more than $4 million in scholarship support to the College Fund since 1990.

Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, said, “We always look forward to taking this time to honor the students representing our tribal colleges and universities and their classmates. They are living out the values and visions of our TCUs, determined to obtain a higher education and dedicated to using their knowledge and skills to build better futures for their communities.”

Dr. Leander “Russ” McDonald (Spirit Lake Dakota), President of United Tribes Technical College, named the Tribal College and University President Honoree of the Year.

Dr. Leander “Russ” McDonald (Spirit Lake Dakota), President of United Tribes Technical College, named the Tribal College and University President Honoree of the Year.

2025-26 Tribal College Students of the Year Are:

  • Aaniiih Nakoda College – Kylee Zander (Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana), Business Administration
  • Bay Mills Community College – Nicole Maleport (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), Anishinaabe Language
  • Blackfeet Community College – Allen Walker (Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana), Sales Marketing
  • Cankdeska Cikana Community College – Bethany Brown (Spirit Lake Tribe), Early Childhood Education – Preschool
  • Chief Dull Knife College – Britney Gonzalez (Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation), Business Management
  • College of Menominee Nation – Gracie Waukechon (Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation), Liberal Studies
  • College of the Muscogee Nation – Jess Waterdown (The Muscogee (Creek) Nation), General Education
  • Dine College – Tanya Begay (Navajo Nation), Education
  • Fort Peck Community College – Kody Stump (Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation), Business Administration
  • Haskell Indian Nations University – Therann Moore (Cherokee Nation), Elementary Education
  • Ilisagvik College – Audrey Saganna (Arctic Slope Regional Corporation), Wildlife Biology
  • Institute of American Indian Arts – Myles Miller (Navajo Nation), Creative Writing
  • Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College – Tony Magnant (Keweenaw Bay Indian Community), Business Administration
  • Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University – Kevin Stevens (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin), Human Services
  • Leech Lake Tribal College – Jeremy Clark (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (Six component reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grand Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band)), American Indian Languages
  • Little Big Horn College – Ote Plentyhoops (Crow Tribe of Montana), Liberal Arts
  • Little Priest Tribal College – Laila Petite (Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation), Indigenous Science and Health
  • Navajo Technical University – Della Wilson (Navajo Nation), Biology
  • Nebraska Indian Community College – Esther Del Angel Loera (Omaha Tribe of Nebraska), Education
  • Northwest Indian College – Lee Lopez (Navajo Nation), Environmental Science
  • Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College – Zaysha Grinnell (Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation), Native American Studies
  • Oglala Lakota College – Julie White Dog (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation), Arts in Leadership
  • Red Lake Nation College – Andrea Cobenais (Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians), Criminal Justice – Corrections
  • Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College – Tiana Escobar (Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan), Liberal Arts
  • Salish Kootenai College – Marie Aripa (Coeur D’Alene Tribe), Business Administration
  • Sinte Gleska University – Michael Spears (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation), Native American and Indigenous Studies
  • Sisseton Wahpeton College – Karley Heminger (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation), General Studies
  • Sitting Bull College – Brendan Traversie (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota), Business Administration
  • Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute – Danielyn Loretto (Pueblo of Jemez), Vision Care Technology
  • Stone Child College – Ridge Parisian (Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation), Cyber Security and Data Privacy
  • Tohono O’odham Community College – Marcello Manuel (Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona), Fine Arts
  • Turtle Mountain College – Gracie Herman (Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation), Business
  • United Tribes Technical College – Joetta Windy Boy (Spirit Lake Tribe), Criminal Justice
  • White Earth Tribal and Community College – Delayna Heisler (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (Six component reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grand Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band)), Ojibwe Language Instruction

2025-26 Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars Are:

  • Aaniiih Nakoda College – Kristie Runsabove (Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana), American Indian Studies
  • Bay Mills Community College – Oona Burton (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), Medical Office Management
  • Blackfeet Community College – Brandi Harwood (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation), Anthropology
  • Cankdeska Cikana Community College – Julieann Santos (Spirit Lake Tribe), Liberal Arts
  • Chief Dull Knife College – Natavia Brady (Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation), General Education
  • College of Menominee Nation – Donna Waupoose (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin), Early Childhood Education
  • College of Menominee Nation – Rose Tourtillott (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin), Elementary Education
  • College of the Muscogee Nation – Brooke Branson (The Muscogee (Creek) Nation), Tribal Services
  • Dine College – Vanesha Cleveland (Navajo Nation), Business Administration
  • Fort Peck Community College – Kody Stump (Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation), Business Administration
  • Haskell Indian Nations University – Liliana Kester (Comanche Nation), Indigenous and American Indian Studies
  • Ilisagvik College – Sally Ehmke (Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes), Business Administration – Management
  • Institute of American Indian Arts – Brianna Waukau (Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin), Indigenous Liberal Studies
  • Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College – Amber Loonsfoot (Keweenaw Bay Indian Community), Business Administration
  • Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University – Natasha Miller (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin), Business Administration – Small Business Management
  • Leech Lake Tribal College – Candace Jones (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (Six component reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grand Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band)), Liberal Education
  • Little Big Horn College – DeAndrey Old Bull (Crow Tribe of Montana), Business Administration
  • Little Priest Tribal College – Angelica Parker (Omaha Tribe of Nebraska), Computer Information Technology
  • Navajo Technical University – Allyn Allen (Navajo Nation), Electrical Engineering
  • Nebraska Indian Community College – Bridgette Hoshont’omba (The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Business Administration – Tribal Management
  • Northwest Indian College – Michelle Martin (Tulalip Tribes of Washington), Human Services Leadership
  • Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College – Amiah Fimbres (Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation), General Studies
  • Oglala Lakota College – Rushell Fast Wolf (Oglala Sioux Tribe), Social Work
  • Oglala Lakota College – Mira Paris (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation), Tribal Law
  • Red Lake Nation College – Taylee Kingbird (Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians), Liberal Education
  • Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College – Jessica Ice (Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan), Native American Studies
  • Salish Kootenai College – Nyssa Young Running Crane (Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana), Applied Science – General Science Option
  • Sinte Gleska University – Lacey Dillard (Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation), Human Services and Mental Health
  • Sisseton Wahpeton College – Kaci Neilan (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation), Behavioral Science
  • Sitting Bull College – Chyanne Ducheneaux (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation), Business Administration
  • Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute – Keisha Edmonds (Navajo Nation), Pre-Engineering
  • Stone Child College – Shoshana Saddler (Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation), Addiction Counselor
  • Tohono O’odham Community College – Shyana Stanley (San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation), Administrative Business Specialist
  • Turtle Mountain College – Taveshia Peltier (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota), Nursing
  • United Tribes Technical College – Kaytlin Nation (Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation), Criminal Justice – Law Enforcement
  • White Earth Tribal and Community College – David Boswell (Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians), Child, Youth and Family Studies

About the American Indian College Fund — The American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native higher education for 37 years. The College Fund believes “Education is the answer” and provided more than $23 million in scholarships and other student support for higher education in 2024-25. Since its founding in 1989 the College Fund has provided more than $391 million in scholarships, programs, community, and tribal college support. The College Fund also supports a variety of programs at the nation’s 35 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators. It earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid (Guidestar), and the “Best in America Seal of Excellence” from the Independent Charities of America. The College Fund was also named as one of the nation’s top 100 charities to the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit collegefund.org.

Journalists—The American Indian College Fund does not use the acronym AICF. On second reference, please use the College Fund.

 

What Does Democracy Mean To You?

This year, the United States commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and subsequent formation of its representative democracy.

As the founding fathers began crafting what they hoped would be a more perfect union, they borrowed from European thinkers, historical political experiments, and Native nations. Most notably is the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a powerful confederacy of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations and recognized as the oldest participatory democracy formed around 1142. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy governed its nation members on the principles of unity, liberty, and equality while emphasizing consensus and collective decision-making.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy successfully prevented tyranny by creating elaborate governance structures requiring consensus within intentionally balanced power structures. This careful distribution of power ensured that no individual could make unilateral decisions impacting the community or member nations. Leaders were selected for specific skills, governed by facilitating decision-making in council meetings and public gatherings. They also often gave gifts to encourage community participation and to share wealth, leading to earned support in part by being good providers.

The democratic principles of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy provided the framers of the U.S. Constitution with a practical example of federalism—a system in which powers are divided between a central authority (the federal government) and constituent political units (the now 50 states). The U.S. Senate officially acknowledged Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s influence on the U.S. Constitution in 1988, highlighting how Native governance shaped our country’s democratic ideals.

And while many of the founding fathers like Benjamin Franklin deeply admired the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and incorporated elements of its government into the U.S. Constitution such as unity, representation, and a separation of powers, other significant aspects were rejected, such as hereditary leadership roles and excluding women from the electoral process.

As the United States was being founded, Native people systemically faced exclusion from the political process. Indeed, the U.S. significantly expanded its power and size through war, broken treaties with Native nations, exclusionary laws, legislative acts, and voting disenfranchisement.

Yet despite all these efforts, Native voices continue to persevere. Native nations continue to strive towards the principle that authority is derived from the people’s consent. The Great Binding Law, Gayanashagowa, which is the Constitution of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, required the people to “look and listen for the welfare of the whole people and have always in view not only the present but also the coming generations, even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground—the unborn of the future Nation”— the Seven Generations philosophy.

Today we bear witness to a strained democracy within the U.S.—one that is focused on restricting our voices and our full participation in democracy. On the one hand, the U.S. has become more inclusionary since its founding by extending the right to vote to Black men, women, and finally to Natives through the Indian Citizenship Act (Snyder Act) in 1924. Yet even today we continue to see the systemic attempt to suppress voting rights across the country.

In 1964 the Civil Rights Act ushered in a host of legal protections against discrimination and voter disenfranchisement while also enacting distinct methods of enforcing these rights. Yet even today states and the federal government are deliberately attempting to hollow and dismantle these same protections and means of enforcement.

The American Indian College Fund recognizes that the historical and lived experiences of Native people are deeply impacted in many negative ways by the founding of the United States. We also recognize that the protection of inherent and acquired rights as American Indians and Alaska Natives is vital and essential to our self-determination and identities.

While all land in the United States is not in the possession of Native people, it is our land: the source of our cultures, kinship, and languages. This land knew democracy first. For that reason, the American Indian College Fund is exploring the meaning of democracy during the United States’ 250th anniversary year. We invite our tribal college students to join us in this exploration.

We are inviting currently enrolled tribal college students to share your spoken and written words through videos and blogs to answer these questions:

  • What does democracy mean to you as a Native person? You may include how democracy exists within your tribal community both historically and today.
  • How do you want Native history and peoples to be included in the conversations around America’s 250th anniversary?
  • What are ways you think we can reclaim democracy as Native people and as Americans?
Submit Your Blog or Video Here

Democracy Initiative Blog/Video Submission Rules/Details

  • All currently enrolled tribal college students who submit either a blog or video will receive a $25 gift card and automatically be entered into a raffle for a $500 cash prize.
  • Only one gift card per tribal college student.
  • Please submit your blogs and videos through the College Fund’s portal. All submissions are subject to review prior to posting to ensure appropriate language and subject matter focus.
  • Submitters are encouraged to share their honest perspectives while respecting the audience and intention of the project.
  • All written (blog) and video entries must be submitted between March 15 and June 15, 2026 to be eligible to receive a gift card and to be entered into the raffle.
  • The Democracy Initiative Raffle will take place on July 1, 2026. Four eligible tribal college students will be selected in the raffle to receive $500 each. All four winners will be notified by email and included in our social media posts.
Submit Your Blog or Video Here