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The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Native American universities and colleges brace for crippling Trump cuts
While colleges and universities slow down during summer break, Ahniwake Rose is busy wondering what the fall semester will hold for the nation's 37 tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) – and if they will be able to stay open much longer. As the president and CEO of the Indigenous non-profit American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), Rose (Cherokee and Muscogee Creek) braces as the schools she represents face a potential nearly 90% reduction in funding starting in October. President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget includes a proposal to slash operations funding from $183.3m to $22.1m for Bureau of Indian Education post-secondary programs – career and technical schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and universities. On 15 July, a House appropriations subcommittee approved legislation that allotted $1.5bn to the Bureau of Indian Education, though it did not specify how much would go toward post-secondary programs. Congress still needs to finish approving the budget for the Bureau of Indian Education, a subdivision of the Department of Interior. If approved, such cuts will further endanger a system that's already undernourished. Congress currently underfunds the nation's 37 tribal colleges and universities by $250m a year, according to a 2024 ProPublica report. TCUs are heavily reliant on federal funding, which accounts for about 75% of their revenue. Those monies cannot be replaced with endowments or alumni donations as other higher education institutions do due to low wealth in Indigenous communities, said Rose. 'There is really no other option, if not to close,' she said, 'than to severely reduce the way that our institutions are able to provide services to our students.' Rose added that 'there is not one TCU that would be able to walk away unscathed'. While they are on summer recess, faculty and students have expressed concerns about their academic future as they fear that their schools will close next year. 'The impact that this is having on the morale of our community and our students has been deeply troubling,' Rose said. Some students are reconsidering whether they will begin school or continue their coursework next year. 'Would the staff want to sign a contract for an institution that might not be able to pay them next year or in a few months?' In anticipation of potential budget cuts, some schools have adjusted by canceling internships, fellowships and workforce study, said Rose. AIHEC is working with institutions to guarantee that the cancellations don't affect students' abilities to meet degree requirements and graduate. For students who relied on fellowships to support their education, the non-profit is partnering with the American Indian College Fund so that they can complete their education on time. When Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) student Breana Brave Heart (Oglala Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne) learned that the Trump administration was seeking to eliminate her school's funding, she saw it as a betrayal. 'It felt like a direct attack on us as Native students – on our dreams, our cultures and our treaty rights,' Brave Heart said in a statement to the Guardian. 'IAIA isn't just a college; it's a promise our ancestors secured for us through sacrifice and agreements with the US government.' Rose said that Brave Heart's school was most vulnerable to a potential closure, since Trump's 2026 discretionary budget request includes a plan to specifically eliminate funding for the school – without explanation. The four-year fine arts school that focuses on Alaska Native and Native American arts receives $13.5m in annual appropriations. That amount would be reduced to zero if the budget is approved by Congress. 'If they were to defund us,' the IAIA president, Robert Martin, (Cherokee) said, 'then what would happen to those 850 students? Where would they go at this point?' Native Americans make up 80% of the student population, with 92 federally recognized tribes represented at the school. Founded in 1962, IAIA has had an indelible influence on Indigenous arts, Martin said. Some of the most well-known alumni include the former US poet laureate Joy Harjo (Muscogee/Creek) and author Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho of Oklahoma), a finalist for the Pulitzer prize for fiction. 'With the pandemic and historical trauma to begin with, there's always been mental health issues [for students], and this adds a little bit more stress to being a college student,' Martin said. 'In terms of faculty and staff, they are stressed about their employment outlook in the future, and what that's going to bring.' In the meantime, Martin is telling staff and students to expect to return to campus in the fall. School leadership has held town hall meetings for faculty and staff to allay their concerns, and they are preparing to increase their fundraising efforts. Martin and Christopher Caldwell (Menominee), president at College of Menominee Nation in Wisconsin, hope that whenever a new budget passes, it will uphold the federal government's promise to fund Indigenous education. The 1978 Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act and about 150 treaties guaranteed federal funding to higher education, at a base amount of $8,000 per student adjusted for inflation. Since June, school leaders and their allies have lobbied congressional members to continue supporting TCUs so they remain open in the upcoming academic year. Continued funding of the schools, which provides economic vitality to the entire community also allows tribes to govern themselves, said Rose. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'Our tribal colleges are a deep expression of self-determination and sovereignty. These education systems were created to support and build tribal leadership, to create education systems in which Native students can thrive and can build our economies,' Rose said. 'Not only are the proposed cuts a direct attack against the trust and treaty responsibility that the federal government has to postsecondary institutions, it inhibits tribes' ability to direct self-determination in our own education systems.' She added that her organization and the institutions were connecting with the current administration to underscore just how critical Department of Interior funding is to tribal colleges. The Institute of American Indian Arts has been in contact with New Mexico's congressional delegation and members of the appropriations committee to ensure that they understand the significance of funding for TCUs. 'We've had bipartisan support for our programs, and it's all part of the trust responsibility of the federal government,' Martin said. 'Our ancestors ceded millions of acres of land to the federal government in return for certain promises, and one of those was education.' Martin continued: 'What we're hearing from our donors and supporters is: 'How can we help? And what can we do?' We're telling them to reach out to the congressional delegation immediately. But we also have to emphasize that we may have to experience some reduction in our funding, so we're going to have to make that up in some way to continue to offer the quality of programs and really focus on student success.' Students are also part of the campaign to preserve tribal education. Brave Heart, the IAIA student, is working with her peers to reach out to Congress. 'We deserve more than to see our futures reduced to a line item crossed out in a budget. We need our elected leaders to honor their commitments to Indigenous students and uphold these sacred obligations.' The potential closures of schools will greatly affect tribal economies, particularly since TCUs are sometimes the largest employers in their locales, said Rose. The non-profit plans to release an analysis that looks at the overall economic impact of TCUs on the surrounding communities around the nation. Along with writing letters to congressional members, AIHEC is also helping the schools review their budgets and identify ways that they can cut costs. But for some institutions, the decreases are so steep it's hard to plan. Caldwell, the College of Menominee Nation president, said that the school's federal funding would be reduced from $1.5m to $181,000 if Congress passes the proposed budget. 'How do you budget for the coming years when you see that kind of uncertainty?' Caldwell said. 'We're constantly weighing how much of these costs we are able to cover if the government suddenly stops paying their side of what they agreed to.' The school is refiguring their strategic plan for the upcoming academic year and examining whether their academic offerings align with workforce trends. In light of the financial hits that TCUs have faced since Trump entered office in January, including staff reductions at the Bureau of Indian Education, Caldwell said that the College of Menominee Nation had seen an increase in anonymous donations. 'It demonstrated that there are people who support the work that we do in tribal nations and surrounding communities.'
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Native American universities and colleges brace for crippling Trump cuts
While colleges and universities slow down during summer break, Ahniwake Rose is busy wondering what the fall semester will hold for the nation's 37 tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) – and if they will be able to stay open much longer. As the president and CEO of the Indigenous non-profit American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), Rose (Cherokee and Muscogee Creek) braces as the schools she represents face a potential nearly 90% reduction in funding starting in October. President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget includes a proposal to slash operations funding from $183.3m to $22.1m for Bureau of Indian Education post-secondary programs – career and technical schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and universities. On 15 July, a House appropriations subcommittee approved legislation that allotted $1.5bn to the Bureau of Indian Education, though it did not specify how much would go toward post-secondary programs. Congress still needs to finish approving the budget for the Bureau of Indian Education, a subdivision of the Department of Interior. If approved, such cuts will further endanger a system that's already undernourished. Congress currently underfunds the nation's 37 tribal colleges and universities by $250m a year, according to a 2024 ProPublica report. TCUs are heavily reliant on federal funding, which accounts for about 75% of their revenue. Those monies cannot be replaced with endowments or alumni donations as other higher education institutions do due to low wealth in Indigenous communities, said Rose. 'There is really no other option, if not to close,' she said, 'than to severely reduce the way that our institutions are able to provide services to our students.' Rose added that 'there is not one TCU that would be able to walk away unscathed'. While they are on summer recess, faculty and students have expressed concerns about their academic future as they fear that their schools will close next year. 'The impact that this is having on the morale of our community and our students has been deeply troubling,' Rose said. Some students are reconsidering whether they will begin school or continue their coursework next year. 'Would the staff want to sign a contract for an institution that might not be able to pay them next year or in a few months?' In anticipation of potential budget cuts, some schools have adjusted by canceling internships, fellowships and workforce study, said Rose. AIHEC is working with institutions to guarantee that the cancellations don't affect students' abilities to meet degree requirements and graduate. For students who relied on fellowships to support their education, the non-profit is partnering with the American Indian College Fund so that they can complete their education on time. When Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) student Breana Brave Heart (Oglala Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne) learned that the Trump administration was seeking to eliminate her school's funding, she saw it as a betrayal. 'It felt like a direct attack on us as Native students – on our dreams, our cultures and our treaty rights,' Brave Heart said in a statement to the Guardian. 'IAIA isn't just a college; it's a promise our ancestors secured for us through sacrifice and agreements with the US government.' Rose said that Brave Heart's school was most vulnerable to a potential closure, since Trump's 2026 discretionary budget request includes a plan to specifically eliminate funding for the school – without explanation. The four-year fine arts school that focuses on Alaska Native and Native American arts receives $13.5m in annual appropriations. That amount would be reduced to zero if the budget is approved by Congress. 'If they were to defund us,' the IAIA president, Robert Martin, (Cherokee) said, 'then what would happen to those 850 students? Where would they go at this point?' Native Americans make up 80% of the student population, with 92 federally recognized tribes represented at the school. Founded in 1962, IAIA has had an indelible influence on Indigenous arts, Martin said. Some of the most well-known alumni include the former US poet laureate Joy Harjo (Muscogee/Creek) and author Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho of Oklahoma), a finalist for the Pulitzer prize for fiction. 'With the pandemic and historical trauma to begin with, there's always been mental health issues [for students], and this adds a little bit more stress to being a college student,' Martin said. 'In terms of faculty and staff, they are stressed about their employment outlook in the future, and what that's going to bring.' In the meantime, Martin is telling staff and students to expect to return to campus in the fall. School leadership has held town hall meetings for faculty and staff to allay their concerns, and they are preparing to increase their fundraising efforts. Martin and Christopher Caldwell (Menominee), president at College of Menominee Nation in Wisconsin, hope that whenever a new budget passes, it will uphold the federal government's promise to fund Indigenous education. The 1978 Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act and about 150 treaties guaranteed federal funding to higher education, at a base amount of $8,000 per student adjusted for inflation. Since June, school leaders and their allies have lobbied congressional members to continue supporting TCUs so they remain open in the upcoming academic year. Continued funding of the schools, which provides economic vitality to the entire community also allows tribes to govern themselves, said Rose. Sign up to First Thing Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'Our tribal colleges are a deep expression of self-determination and sovereignty. These education systems were created to support and build tribal leadership, to create education systems in which Native students can thrive and can build our economies,' Rose said. 'Not only are the proposed cuts a direct attack against the trust and treaty responsibility that the federal government has to postsecondary institutions, it inhibits tribes' ability to direct self-determination in our own education systems.' She added that her organization and the institutions were connecting with the current administration to underscore just how critical Department of Interior funding is to tribal colleges. The Institute of American Indian Arts has been in contact with New Mexico's congressional delegation and members of the appropriations committee to ensure that they understand the significance of funding for TCUs. 'We've had bipartisan support for our programs, and it's all part of the trust responsibility of the federal government,' Martin said. 'Our ancestors ceded millions of acres of land to the federal government in return for certain promises, and one of those was education.' Martin continued: 'What we're hearing from our donors and supporters is: 'How can we help? And what can we do?' We're telling them to reach out to the congressional delegation immediately. But we also have to emphasize that we may have to experience some reduction in our funding, so we're going to have to make that up in some way to continue to offer the quality of programs and really focus on student success.' Students are also part of the campaign to preserve tribal education. Brave Heart, the IAIA student, is working with her peers to reach out to Congress. 'We deserve more than to see our futures reduced to a line item crossed out in a budget. We need our elected leaders to honor their commitments to Indigenous students and uphold these sacred obligations.' The potential closures of schools will greatly affect tribal economies, particularly since TCUs are sometimes the largest employers in their locales, said Rose. The non-profit plans to release an analysis that looks at the overall economic impact of TCUs on the surrounding communities around the nation. Along with writing letters to congressional members, AIHEC is also helping the schools review their budgets and identify ways that they can cut costs. But for some institutions, the decreases are so steep it's hard to plan. Caldwell, the College of Menominee Nation president, said that the school's federal funding would be reduced from $1.5m to $181,000 if Congress passes the proposed budget. 'How do you budget for the coming years when you see that kind of uncertainty?' Caldwell said. 'We're constantly weighing how much of these costs we are able to cover if the government suddenly stops paying their side of what they agreed to.' The school is refiguring their strategic plan for the upcoming academic year and examining whether their academic offerings align with workforce trends. In light of the financial hits that TCUs have faced since Trump entered office in January, including staff reductions at the Bureau of Indian Education, Caldwell said that the College of Menominee Nation had seen an increase in anonymous donations. 'It demonstrated that there are people who support the work that we do in tribal nations and surrounding communities.'
Associated Press
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Montana budget includes new investments in tribal colleges, repatriation
Gov. Greg Gianforte last week finalized Montana's two-year budget, which contains several new investments for Indian Country, including a historic increase in funding for tribal colleges and money devoted to repatriation efforts. Though Gianforte made several vetoes in the last few weeks that trimmed hundreds of millions in spending approved by lawmakers, the money that will help fund priorities set by the Legislature's American Indian Caucus made it through the session that adjourned in April and survived the governor's scrutiny. Tribal Colleges Montana is the only state in the nation where every reservation is home to a tribal college. Tribal colleges, which together serve thousands of Native and non-Native students in Montana, provide affordable education, boost workforce development in rural areas and revitalize tribal languages and culture. Despite their outsized role in communities, however, the schools survive on meager budgets and are reimbursed at rates substantially lower than community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities. Tribal colleges receive, on average, between 71% and 74% of their total funding from the federal government, according to an American Council on Education report. The federal Bureau of Indian Education allocates money to tribal colleges based on the number of 'full-time enrolled Indian students.' And Montana is one of a few states that appropriates money to tribal colleges to support non-Native students, also called non-beneficiary students. The Legislature for years has allocated a maximum of $3,280 to tribal colleges per non-Native student. By comparison, lawmakers in 2019 funded full-time resident students at Montana's three community colleges at about twice the rate of non-beneficiary tribal college students. While past legislative attempts to raise that $3,280 non-beneficiary ceiling have failed, this year was different. Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, worked to add a line in House Bill 2, the state's budget bill, that increases state funding to tribal colleges. The addition raises the state's allocation for non-beneficiary students by about 27% to $4,183. The boost in state money comes as President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget proposal slashes federal funding for tribal colleges nationwide. Though the budget must ultimately be approved by Congress, Trump's proposal asks lawmakers to reduce federal funding for tribal colleges by nearly 90%. 'The federal funding (for tribal colleges) does not cover the non-Native students who attend, so it's up to the state to cover that cost,' Windy Boy told Montana Free Press in a recent interview. 'And there's a good number of non-Natives who attend.' About 20% of students at Fort Peck Community College in northeastern Montana are non-Native. FPCC President Craig Smith wrote in an April email to MTFP that it was 'refreshing' to see the Legislature increase those funds. In past years, he said non-beneficiary funds have supported faculty positions, classroom materials and equipment, among other things. 'While not quite at the equitable level of the Montana University System higher education institutions' funding levels, I think (the funding increase) shows solid validation of the role that tribal colleges play in the higher education scenario in Montana,' he wrote. Repatriation Efforts HB 2 also appropriates $367,665 to the University of Montana Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act team to support repatriation efforts. Congress in 1990 enacted the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, which establishes a process for tribes to request the return of Native American remains and cultural items from institutions that have them. More than 30 years later, however, not all institutions comply with the law. A ProPublica investigation revealed that the remains of more than 90,000 Native Americans had not been returned as of January 2025. While UM has made efforts to return remains and other items, the school reported still having the remains of at least 25 Native Americans, according to ProPublica's database. Windy Boy called NAGPRA 'an unfunded mandate.' The new, one-time-only funding, he said, is meant to assist UM's work, which is otherwise supported through grants. 'There was so much grave robbing … we've been pillaged and robbed for so many years,' Windy Boy said. 'Please just let our ancestors rest and let their funerary objects rest with them, that's why it's important.' Courtney Little Axe, repatriation coordinator at UM, said the funding will support a new team of NAGPRA tribal liaisons. Doctoral student Mikalen Running Fisher has been working in that capacity for more than one year, facilitating the return of meaningful items. 'What keeps me going in (this work) is thinking of the future generations,' she told MTFP last spring. With funding from HB 2, Little Axe said UM could hire eight NAGPRA student liaisons — one for each tribal government in the state. The investment, she said, will help students learn more about repatriation while strengthening UM's relationships with tribes. Kelly Dixon, a member of UM's NAGPRA team, said the group had been 'limping along' financially and is grateful for state support. 'It is not going to be easy to rectify all that has happened over the past century plus,' Dixon said. 'But we have a team and we have an institution and now a state that supports that.' ___ This story was originally published by Montana Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Washington Post
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
White House budget request slashes funding for tribal colleges and universities
In President Donald Trump's budget request , he's proposing slashing funding for tribal colleges and universities, including eliminating support for the country's only federally funded college for contemporary Native American arts. If the budget is approved by Congress, beginning in October, the more than $13 million in annual appropriations for the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, would be reduced to zero. It would be the first time in nearly 40 years that the congressionally chartered school would not receive federal support, said Robert Martin, the school's president.
The Independent
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
White House budget request slashes funding for tribal colleges and universities
In President Donald Trump 's budget request, he's proposing slashing funding for tribal colleges and universities, including eliminating support for the country's only federally funded college for contemporary Native American arts. If the budget is approved by Congress, beginning in October, the more than $13 million in annual appropriations for the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, would be reduced to zero. It would be the first time in nearly 40 years that the congressionally chartered school would not receive federal support, said Robert Martin, the school's president. 'You can't wipe out 63 years of our history and what we've accomplished with one budget,' Martin said on Friday. 'I just can't understand or comprehend why they would do something like this.' The college, founded in 1962, has provided affordable education to thousands of Native artists and culture bearers, including U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo, painter T.C. Cannon and bestselling novelist Tommy Orange. It's the only four-year degree fine arts institution in the world devoted to contemporary Native American and Alaskan Native arts, according to its website. Martin said he has spoken with members of Congress from both major political parties who have assured him they'll work to keep the institute's budget level for the next fiscal year, but he worries the morale of students and staff will be affected. Martin said he also spoke with staff in the office of U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Cole, a Republican and former member of IAIA's board of trustees and a longtime advocate in Congress for funding that supports tribal citizens, was unavailable for comment. Breana Brave Heart, a junior studying arts and business, said the proposal shocked her and made her wonder: 'Will I be able to continue my education at IAIA with these budget cuts?' Brave Heart said she started organizing with other students to contact members of Congress. 'IAIA is under attack," she said, "and I need other students to know this.' Martin said that amid the Republican Trump administration's crackdown on federal policies and funding that support diversity, equity and inclusion, trust responsibilities and treaty rights owed to tribal nations have also come under attack. 'It's a problem for us and many other organizations when you've got that DEI initiative which really is not applicable to us, because we're not a racial category, we're a political status as a result of the treaties," he said. 'We're easily identified as what this administration might refer to as a 'woke'.' Democratic Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico said the cuts are another example of the Trump administration 'turning its back on Native communities and breaking our trust responsibilities.' "As a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, I remain committed to keeping IAIA fully funded and will continue working with appropriators and the New Mexico Congressional Delegation to ensure its future,' Luján said in a statement to The Associated Press. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The congressional budget bill includes roughly $3.75 trillion in tax cuts, extending the expiring 2017 individual income tax breaks and temporarily adding new ones that Trump campaigned on. The revenue loss would be partially offset by nearly $1.3 trillion in reduced federal spending elsewhere, namely through Medicaid and food assistance. A Jan. 30 order from the Interior Department titled 'Ending DEI Programs and Gender Ideology Extremism' stated that any efforts to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion in the department's policy should exclude trust obligations to tribal nations. However, earlier this year, several staff members at the other two congressionally chartered schools in the country — the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas — were laid off as part of Trump's push to downsize the federal workforce. In a lawsuit filed in March, both institutions reported that some staff and faculty were rehired, but the Bureau of Indian Education notified those people that might be temporary and they may be laid off again. 'It shows what a president's values and priorities are, and that's been hard,' said Ahniwake Rose, president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, an organization that represents more than 30 Tribal Colleges and Universities. "That's been hard for our staff, our students, our faculty to see that the priority of the administration through the Department of Interior might not be on tribal colleges." In its budget request this year, the Interior Department is proposing reducing funding to the BIE's post secondary programs by more than 80%, and that would have a devastating affect on tribal colleges and universities, or TCUs, which rely on the federal government for most of their funding, said Rose. Most TCUs offer tribal citizens a tuition-free higher education, she said, and funding them is a moral and fiduciary responsibility the federal government owes tribal nations. In the many treaties the U.S. signed with tribal nations, it outlined several rights owed to them — like land rights, health care and education through departments established later, like the BIE. Trust responsibilities are the legal and moral obligations the U.S. has to protect and uphold those rights.
