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Wi’áaşal (Great Oak) Future Leaders Scholarship Fund

for Most Enrolled California Tribal Members

Established in 2019, The Wi’áaşal (Great Oak) Future Leaders Scholarship Fund was born out of the longstanding traditions, values, and vision of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians – who have demonstrated their commitment to education and economic development, time and time again. Today, their impact is expanded through the Wi’áaşal (Great Oak) Future Leaders Scholarship, which provides greatly needed support to Native students across the state of California.

The Wi’áaşal (Great Oak) Future Leaders Scholarship Fund is open to most enrolled California tribal members.
Up to $20,000 is available each year to students seeking vocational, associates or bachelors degrees at any accredited, nonprofit college, university or vocational program.

Eligibility:

  • Enrolled in a certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree program at an accredited, non-profit college or university
  • Full-time enrollment
  • Registered as an enrolled member of an eligible California tribe (listed below)
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Eligible California Tribes:

  • Alturas Indian Rancheria
  • Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria
  • Big Lagoon Rancheria
  • Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley (previously listed as the Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute
  • Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation)
  • Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians of
  • California (previously listed as the Big Sandy Rancheria of
  • Mono Indians of California)
  • Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley
  • Rancheria
  • Bishop Paiute Tribe (previously listed as the Paiute-
  • Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony)
  • Bridgeport Indian Colony (previously listed as the
  • Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony of California)
  • Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
  • Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria
  • Cahuilla Band of Indians (previously listed as the Cahuilla
  • Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation)
  • California Valley Miwok Tribe
  • Cedarville Rancheria
  • Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation
  • Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria
  • Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
  • Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
  • Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of California
  • Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California
  • Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California
  • Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria
  • Elk Valley Rancheria
  • Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California
  • Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians
  • Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California
  • Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation
  • Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada
  • Greenville Rancheria (previously listed as the Greenville
  • Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California)
  • Grindstone Indian Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians of California
    Guidiville Rancheria of California
  • Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake
  • Hoopa Valley Tribe
  • Hopland Band of Pomo Indians (formerly Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the Hopland Rancheria)
  • Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel (previously listed as the Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Santa Ysabel Reservation)
  • Inaja Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Inaja and Cosmit Reservation
  • Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California Karuk Tribe (previously listed as the Karuk Tribe of California)
  • Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria
  • Kletsel Dehe Band of Wintun Indians (previously listed as the Cortina Indian Rancheria and the Cortina Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of California)
  • Koi Nation of Northern California (previously listed as the Lower Lake Rancheria)
  • La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians (previously listed as the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of theLa Jolla Reservation)
  • La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the La Posta Indian Reservation
  • Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe (previously listed as the Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine Reservation)
  • Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians (previously listed as the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla & Cupeno Indians of the Los Coyotes Reservation)
  • Lytton Rancheria of California
  • Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria (previously listed as the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria)
  • Manzanita Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Manzanita Reservation
  • Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria
  • Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation
  • Northfork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California
  • Pinoleville Pomo Nation (previously listed as the Pinoleville Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California)
  • Pit River Tribe (includes XL Ranch, Big Bend, Likely, Lookout, Montgomery Creek and Roaring Creek Rancherias)
  • Potter Valley Tribe
  • Quartz Valley Indian Community of the Quartz Valley Reservation of California
  • Ramona Band of Cahuilla (previously listed as the Ramona Band or Village of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California)
  • Redwood Valley or Little River Band of Pomo Indians of the Redwood Valley Rancheria California (previously listed as the Redwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California)
  • Resighini Rancheria
  • Robinson Rancheria (previously listed as the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, California and theRobinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California)
  • Round Valley Indian Tribes, Round Valley Reservation (previously listed as the Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation)
  • Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians (previously listed as the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Santa Rosa Reservation)
  • Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California
  • Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California
  • Susanville Indian Rancheria
  • Tejon Indian Tribe
  • Timbisha Shoshone Tribe (previously listed as the Death Valley Timbi-sha Shoshone Tribe and the Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of California)
  • Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation (previously listed as the Smith River Rancheria)
  • Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians (previously listed as the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California)
  • Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation
  • Washoe Tribe of Nevada & California (Carson Colony, Dresslerville Colony, Woodfords Community, Stewart Community, & Washoe Ranches)
  • Wilton Rancheria
  • Wiyot Tribe (previously listed as the Table Bluff Reservation—Wiyot Tribe)
  • Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation

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Protect the Department of Education

On March 20 President Trump signed an Executive Order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. The directive will require an Act of Congress to officially eliminate the Cabinet-level agency, and it is not clear whether the President has the votes in Congress to do so. This comes on the heels of the Trump Administration’s cuts to the agency’s work force by nearly 50 percent (1300 people were fired after 600 decided to resign). Both the cuts and the Executive Order raise questions about whether the government can still accomplish the department’s core functions required by law without disrupting its important services to students and communities. The Department of Education’s role includes distributing money to college students through grants and loans. It also funds and ensures services for low-income and disabled student programs at K-12 schools and enforces anti-discrimination laws. The Trump Administration announced it will move student loan administration to the Small Business Administration and special education services along with nutrition programs to the Department of Health and Human Services. Both moves will require significant changes at the SBA and DHHS.

The department also conducted critical research to help institutions and policymakers understand college affordability for students (including Native students who often demonstrate the greatest financial need), post-secondary-level student enrollment, Native student persistence and graduation trends, and workforce readiness of graduates. Nearly all staff in this area were laid off during the reduction in force, and the contract cancellations raised serious concerns about the integrity, privacy, and security of sensitive student data collected. Last week the American Indian College Fund joined 90 organizations and researchers to call on Congress to protect postsecondary data and demand transparency around the cancellations that shift our country away from evidence-based policymaking that supports students to uninformed guesswork jeopardizing the higher education system.

Yesterday’s Executive Order calls on Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps” to “facilitate” closing the department without eliminating most of its core functions, while working “to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Those programs include distributing more than $100 billion in student financial aid through Pell Grants and loans, as well as seeking to ensure that students’ civil rights are protected while they pursue their college education.”

Yet the Trump Administration also announced it will focus civil rights enforcement on allegations of antisemitism. People with pending investigations are concerned their cases, including those with allegations of sex discrimination, will remain in limbo.

The American Indian College Fund is concerned that Native students, whose equitable access to higher education hinges on federal programs (which are tied to Native tribes’ trust and treaty relationship with the federal government) will be disproportionately and negatively impacted by the dismantling of the department and the haphazard way the Trump Administration is going about it. The Administration has said it wants to return education to the states, however, Native nations do not have treaty relationships with the states—our relationships are with the federal government, which has committed through legally binding treaties and trusts to provide Native people with education and other services in exchange for the land Native people gave. And while Native people are also citizens of states, we know from experience that state and tribal relations in education and other areas can be strained, thus creating a climate of uncertainty regarding state support of Native education.”

In addition, we are concerned that dismantling the Department of Education will harm Native students by disrupting the application process for federal student financial aid, and the processing of federal student loans, Pell Grants, student work-study programs that a majority of Native students rely upon for financial access to a higher education. And we are not just concerned about the harm to Native students. All students, their families and communities, and the taxpayers who rely upon the goods and services that educated graduates provide will also be harmed if they cannot access a higher education. In addition, the quality and reputation of our nation’s education system, which has until now been the envy of the world, will also be harmed.

“These actions against the higher education community, students, and families will make it more difficult for Native communities—indeed all communities—to have their basic needs met,” said Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund.

“Without the Department of Education, we are concerned about the ability of the federal government to fulfill its promise of delivering on all statutory programs, including student loans and Pell Grants, funding for higher education institutions, enforcement of civil rights protections in higher education.

To act, please contact your House Representative today and ask them to protect the Department of Education. You can find your Representative using the USA.gov tool.

American Indian College Fund Announces the 2024-25 Tribal College Students of the Year and Coca Cola Scholars

Denver, Colo., March 20, 2025—The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) honored 34 Tribal College and University Students of the Year and 35 Coca Cola First Generation Scholars at a ceremony held on March 9 in Rapid City, South Dakota. Dr. Carla Sineway, President of Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College in Michigan, was also named the College Fund’s 2024-25 Tribal College and University President Honoree of the Year. These individuals represent the passion, determination, and community spirit of Native scholars of the tribal colleges.

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 tribal college and university (TCU) selects one student to represent their institutions, and the College Fund selects the TCU President Honoree. Students receive a $1,200 scholarship and the president receives a $1,200 honorarium.

The Coca-Cola Foundation provides scholarships for first-generation Native American students who attend a TCU. The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded over $4 million in scholarship support to the College Fund since 1990 to assist more than 790 students with their college education. Students can reapply for the scholarship each year if they maintain a 3.0 grade point average and are active in campus and community life.

Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, said, “We experience great joy when we gather to celebrate students and to congratulate them and their families. The College Fund thanks the students for joining us and shares its appreciation with the funders and supporters who made our celebration possible.

2024-2025 Tribal College and University Students of the Year celebrate at the spring banquet held in Rapid City, South Dakota. Photo Credit: Eunice Straight Head, Straight Head Creatives

2024-2025 Tribal College and University Students of the Year celebrate at the spring banquet held in Rapid City, South Dakota. Photo Credit: Eunice Straight Head, Straight Head Creatives.

2024-25 Tribal College Students of the Year

    • Aaniiih Nakoda College – Etcibetat Madera
    • Bay Mills Community College – Oscar Reo
    • Blackfeet Community College – Melisa Trombley
    • Cankdeska Cikana Community College – Shanell Paul
    • Chief Dull Knife College – Madison Doney
    • College of Menominee Nation – Dawn Tiger
    • College of the Muscogee Nation – Nora Tiger
    • Diné College – Rowena White-Claw
    • Fort Peck Community College – Tiffany Weinberger
    • Haskell Indian Nations University – Star Her Many Horses
    • Iḷisaġvik College – Sasha Derenoff (Carlile)
    • Institute of American Indian Arts – Tru West
    • Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College – Jenna Maki
    • Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University – Kay Jensen
    • Leech Lake Tribal College – Mya Morgan
    • Little Big Horn College – Shelby Big Lake-Hill
    • Little Priest Tribal College – Raven Turner
    • Navajo Technical University – Ronald Benally Jr.
    • Nebraska Indian Community College – Rosalind Grant
    • Northwest Indian College – Catherine Goble
    • Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College – Reilee Lee
    • Oglala Lakota College – Mato Hinton
    • Red Lake Nation College – Alyssa Fisher-Vizenor
    • Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College – Sam Hassan
    • Salish Kootenai College – James Douthwaite
    • Sinte Gleska University – Devin Whirlwind Soldier
    • Sisseton Wahpeton College – Kenyon Budack, Jr.
    • Sitting Bull College – Derek Gates
    • Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute – Luke Gibson
    • Stone Child College – King Ragged Robe
    • Tohono O’odham Community College – Isaiah Pashano
    • Turtle Mountain Community College – Amari Larocque
    • United Tribes Technical College – Rebecca Keepseagle
    • White Earth Tribal and Community College – Raeanna Connor

2024-25 Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars

    • Aaniiih Nakoda College – Lyle Stiffarm
    • Bay Mills Community College – Oona Burton
    • Bay Mills Community College – Audie Petrosky
    • Blackfeet Community College – Brandi Harwood
    • Cankdeska Cikana Community College – Aisha Ironhawk
    • Chief Dull Knife College – Linda Bahr
    • College of Menominee Nation – Rose Tourtillott
    • College of the Muscogee Nation – Brooke Branson
    • Diné College – Vanesha Cleveland
    • Fort Peck Community College – Waynette Boyd
    • Haskell Indian Nations University – Taylor Butterfield
    • Iḷisaġvik College – Kristina Cisneros
    • Institute of American Indian Arts – Brianna Waukau
    • Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College – Gabrielle Picciano
    • Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University – Clarice Roberts
    • Leech Lake Tribal College – David LeDoux
    • Little Big Horn College – Shelby Big Lake-Hill
    • Little Priest Tribal College – Angelica Parker
    • Navajo Technical University – Allyn Allen
    • Nebraska Indian Community College – Bridgette Hoshont’Omba
    • Northwest Indian College – Julie Bosch
    • Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College – Michelle Graham
    • Oglala Lakota College – Laweka White Hawk
    • Red Lake Nation College – Amanda Defoe
    • Salish Kootenai College – Arlene Rogers
    • Sinte Gleska University – Lacey Dillard
    • Sisseton Wahpeton College – Kaci Neilan
    • Sitting Bull College – Chyanne Ducheneaux
    • Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute – Keisha Edwards
    • Stone Child College – ShoShana Saddler
    • Tohono O’odham Community College – Christy McGaughey
    • Turtle Mountain Community College – Quentin Brien
    • United Tribes Technical College – Kaytlin Nation
    • United Tribes Technical College – Dasean Marquese
    • White Earth Tribal and Community College – Precious Hoagland

 

About the American Indian College Fund — The American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native higher education for 35 years. The College Fund believes “Education is the answer” and provided $20.5 million in scholarships and other direct student support for access to a higher education steeped in Native culture and values to American Indian students in 2023-24. Since its founding in 1989 the College Fund has provided more than $349 million in scholarships, programs, community, and tribal college support. The College Fund also supports a variety of programs at the nation’s 34 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 Gold Seal of Transparency from 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 www.collegefund.org.

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

Photo Credit: Eunice Straight Head, Straight Head Creatives

Department of Education Says RIF Won’t Impact TCUs or Student Loans and Pell Grants

The Office of the Undersecretary of the Department of Education sent a letter to stakeholders in higher education this weekend stating that although the recent reduction in force (RIF) aligned with President Trump’s commitment to return education control to states, core functions related to Federal Student Aid (FSA) and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) will not be impacted.

The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) and the Office of Higher Education Programs (HEP) and other specific programs were also not impacted by the RIF, according to the letter. OPE and HEP divisions oversee funding for tribal colleges and universities, and the letter states funds will flow normally to grantees.

The letter also asserts management roles across the Department of Education were streamlined to reduce duplicative functions with the goal of eliminating bureaucratic excesses and to provide more opportunities for state and local entities.

Read the letter here.

The National College Attainment Network’s (NCAN) noted in its news digest that it is concerned about the ability of the U.S. Department of Education to fulfill its promise of delivering on all statutory programs, including student loans and Pell Grants, due to the magnitude of staffing cuts at the Department of Education. NCAN’s mission is to support members and influence leaders, organizations, policies, and systems across the country to increase equity and excellence in postsecondary degree access and attainment, while working to achieve its vision of ensuring that all students—especially first-generation students, students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds, and those from low-income backgrounds—have an equitable opportunity to achieve social and economic mobility through higher education.

At the American Indian College Fund we are monitoring the evolving situation at the Department of Education and the potential impacts staffing cuts and other mandates may have on Native scholars, in particular, the purported coming of a Presidential Executive Order on Thursday to eliminate the Department of Education.