N.D. Housed in an old Army fort built in 1903. Dull Knife Memorial College, Montana Primary heating provided by an old, unstable coal-burning furnace. In spite of these conditions, tribal colleges have received growing, national acclaim for successfully providing education that combines accredited academics with Native culture. Serving 26,000 Indian students in 12 states, the colleges have enjoyed educational success despite operating in unsafe, substandard facilities, according to educators. We are doing everything possible to offer education to students who wouldn t be in college if it weren t for us.
Scarce resources force maintenance and construction needs to the bottom of the list.
Its record of achievement over a fairly short period of time convinced us that the College Fund would use Endowment funds wisely and well. The Endowment has long held the belief that education is the absolute key to the future for all Americans, and we are delighted that the resources are available to help the College Fund in their most important work. The Lilly Endowment gift follows two other recent capital donations to the College Fund. Tribal colleges were created to fight Native Americans educational failure, cultural loss and high rates of poverty. About 85 percent of tribal college students live at or below the poverty level.