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Working to Build Strong, Culturally Responsive Pathways for Rural Native Learners

Grant Partner Profile: American Indian College Fund

September 10, 2024 4-minute read
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What are Tribal Colleges and Universities?

Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are public institutions of higher education, intended to provide Native learners an affordable opportunity to earn a certificate or degree close to their home, family, and community. To qualify as an accredited TCU, institutions must be tribally chartered, their boards must be comprised of a majority of Native Americans, and their student body must be comprised of a majority (51%) of Native Americans.

All 35 TCUs in the U.S. offer certificate programs and associates degrees, while 19 offer bachelor’s degrees and seven offer master’s degree programs. Additionally, the curriculum at TCUs is grounded in the culture, traditions, spirituality, and language of the chartering tribe, making tribal identity core to the mission of every TCU.

Visit the College Fund’s Tribal Colleges and Universities page to find a TCU near you and learn more.

About the American Indian College Fund

The American Indian College Fund (the College Fund) supports thousands of American Indian and Alaska Native learners with unique programming designed specifically for Native learner success. Many of the learners they serve live in rural and tribal communities and rely on tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) for access to postsecondary learning opportunities. With their clear focus on the importance of cultural identity, the College Fund encourages rural Native learners to achieve their goals, launch their careers, and serve their communities, all while remaining deeply rooted in their respective Native cultures and traditions.

In addition to direct student programming, the College Fund also works with TCUs on developing and implementing culturally reflective strategic plans that address enrollment, retention, and completion rates at their campuses. They support 35 accredited TCUs, most of which are located in or near tribal communities.

About ‘Building Pathways to Rural and Tribal Employment’

In December 2023, the College Fund received a four-year grant from Ascendium to support TCUs in addressing post-completion outcomes such as employment in rural communities. With the grant, the College Fund is building upon their learning from direct student support and TCU capacity-building efforts to enhance career and employment planning and programming at TCUs. The College Fund will support five TCUs as they design strategies for improving career advising and preparation that are reflective of Native values and based on relevant labor market information. This grant will include planning and implementation of new career support strategies, directly serving students at participating TCUs.

Both the College Fund and Ascendium believe that TCUs are vital hubs for social and economic development in rural and tribal areas. The College Fund will coordinate experts, including faculty and staff from TCUs and employers, who will work to develop intentional road maps to employment that connect to the rural and tribal communities they serve. Insights from this grant will help TCUs implement stronger career development plans at their institution and demonstrate how using learner outcome and labor market data can strengthen the road maps to employment that they create at their institution.

According to the American Indian College Fund, more than 90% of their scholarship recipients attending TCUs indicated they have a degree plan.

However, only 50% of respondents indicated they have met with someone at the institution to discuss their career plans.

Source: American Indian College Fund

Additionally, the College Fund will work to address the relative lack of employment data on Native learners in rural and tribal communities. They will do this by working with TCUs to develop key processes to supply that information to each other and to a national forum. TCUs will collaborate with local employers to consistently collect relevant data on their students’ employment outcomes. With this data in hand, TCUs can design more meaningful career support services and connect learners to good jobs in their communities.

Our Commitment

Ascendium is committed to learning about promising innovations, reforms, and solutions that connect rural Native American and Alaska Native learners from low-income backgrounds to postsecondary education and workforce training pathways that lead to good jobs. As part of this commitment, we support partnerships that center the cultural perspectives of rural Native learners and address the systemic barriers they face. Our investment in the American Indian College Fund will help us and others better understand how TCUs provide rural Native learners with services that reflect their cultural values and identities.

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