The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) was established in 1972 to represent the interests of the newly developed tribal colleges, which are controlled and operated by American Indian nations. The four founders were Gerald One Feather of the Oglala Sioux Community College, David Reisling of D-Q University, Pat Locke of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), and Helen Schierbeck of the United States Office of Education (USOE). They organized the initial meeting and brought together all who wanted to form such a national organization.. One of the most significant achievements of AIHEC was to work with the United States Congress to authorize in 1994 land-grant status to 29 tribal colleges, achieved in October 1994 under the Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act.
Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC) is a private tribal land-grant community college in Belcourt, North Dakota. It is located ten miles from the Canada–US border in Turtle Mountain, the north central portion of North Dakota. In 2012, TMCC's enrollment was 630 full- and part-time certificate and degree-seeking students.
United Tribes Technical College (UTCC) is a private tribal land-grant community college in Bismarck, North Dakota. In 2012, UTTC had an enrollment 885 students, 635 full-time undergraduates, and 250 part-time undergraduates.
Salish Kootenai College (SKC) is a private tribal land-grant community college in Pablo, Montana. It serves the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes. SKC's main campus is on the Flathead Reservation. There are three satellite locations in eastern Washington state, in Colville, Spokane, and Wellpinit. Approximately 1,207 students attend SKC. Although enrollment is not limited to Native American students, SKC's primary function is to serve the needs of Native American people.
Bay Mills Community College (BMCC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Brimley, Michigan. It is chartered by the federally recognized Bay Mills Indian Community of Michigan with a total enrollment of approximately 500 on-campus and online students. The students come primarily from Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula and are 60% Native American. BMCC is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), a community of tribally and federally chartered institutions working to strengthen tribal nations, and a land-grant college.
Sisseton Wahpeton College (SWC) is a Public tribal land-grant community college of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate on the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota. It was established in 1979 and serves the Dakota people. SWC has an average enrollment of about 250 students, of whom more than 80% are tribal members. It has both vocational and academic programs, and arrangements with four-year colleges so that students can transfer for continued studies.
Little Priest Tribal College is a public tribal land-grant community college in Winnebago, Nebraska. It is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and primarily supported by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. It has an enrollment of 135 students, of which 90 percent are American Indian.
Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC) is a public tribal land-grant community college with three locations in Nebraska: Macy on the Omaha Tribe reservation, Santee on the Santee Sioux reservation, and the urban South Sioux City.
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) is a public tribal land-grant community college in unincorporated Bernalillo County, New Mexico, with an Albuquerque postal address. It is federally operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and funded through the Bureau of Indian Education, both agencies within the United States Department of the Interior. More than 120 different Indian Tribes are represented in SIPI's student body.
In the United States, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) are a category of higher education, minority-serving institutions defined in the Higher Education Act of 1965. Each qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978 or the Navajo Community College Act ; or is cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994.
Sinte Gleska University (SGU) is a public tribal land-grant university in Mission, South Dakota, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. It is a Brulé Lakota Indian Reservation home to the Sicangu. SGU has an enrollment of 828 full and part-time students. It is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Cloquet, Minnesota. FDLTCC is located within the Twin Ports area of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin in northeastern Minnesota. The college is a member of Minnesota State, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, and the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium. FDLTCC was Minnesota's first tribal college. FDLTCC is the only college in the nation both established as a tribal college under federal law and operating as part of a state-funded higher education system.
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College (LCOOC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Hayward, Wisconsin. It is one of two tribal colleges in the state of Wisconsin. The enrollment averages 550 students. The LCOOC has a main campus in Hayward. More than one-third of students are enrolled at the four outreach sites at Odanah, Bayfield, Hertel, and Lac du Flambeau.
Blackfeet Community College is a private tribal land-grant community college on the Blackfeet reservation in Browning, Montana. The Blackfeet reservation occupies an area of 1,525,712 acres adjacent to Glacier National Park, Lewis and Clark National Forest, and the province of Alberta, Canada. In 1994, the college was designated a land-grant college alongside 31 other tribal colleges.
Stone Child College (SCC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Box Elder, Montana. SCC is affiliated with the Chippewa-Cree Tribe and located on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in north central Montana; it is one of seven Tribal Colleges in Montana. In 2008–09, SCC had an enrollment of 511, of whom 98 percent were American Indian descent; 20 percent were bilingual or of limited English proficiency. SCC students range in age from 17 to 72, with the average age at 30. The college retention rate is 47 percent and the graduation rate is 20 percent.
Tohono Oʼodham Community College (TOCC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Sells, Arizona. TOCC's student body is 88 percent American Indian/Alaskan Native. Tohono Oʼodham Community College serves approximately 216 students. The college's faculty and staff is 57 percent American Indian, half of whom are Oʼodham.
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) is a public tribal community college in Baraga, Michigan.
Red Lake Nation College is a public tribal land-grant community college on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota. It is fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and enrolls about 150 students. The college is supported by elders and community members who speak the Anishinaabe language and who understand the history of the Red Lake Nation.
Oglala Lakota College (OLC) is a public tribal land-grant community college in Kyle, South Dakota. It enrolls 1,456 students enrolled part- and full-time. OLC serves the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which has a population of about 26,000 and covers 3,468 square miles in southwestern South Dakota.
Wind River Tribal College, or WRTC, is a tribally chartered college located in Fort Washakie, Wyoming. The campus is on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming. WRTC serves residents of the Wind River Indian Reservation and surrounding communities. WRTC's enrollment consists of mostly Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone students.
