They speak Ojibwe, the language of the Native-American people who live in the Great Lakes region. Ignoring the unique features of Native-American culture can be costly for students once they join mainstream life. Despite their well-documented success rate, tribal colleges struggle to make ends meet. Because of their sovereign status, tribal colleges don't get any money from state or local taxes like mainstream public colleges, according to Martha McLeod, president of Bay Mills Community College, the only tribal college in Michigan. What's more, most tribal colleges receive little or no federal or state funding for students who aren't Native Americans.
Most tribal colleges have open admissions policies.
Bay Mills Community College began unofficially in 1982, when 11 members of the Bay Mills reservation in the bucolic Upper Peninsula town of Brimley gathered in the basement of the Tribal Center for a class. By 1984, the size of the group had more than doubled. Classes in the renovated fish plant are small and sometimes challenging. One of the classrooms is in what used to be the fish freezer. The heavy insulation makes climate control a constant challenge.