An Analysis of Funding Allocations to Student Services at Tribal Colleges and Universities, 1991 to 1995: Years of Leverage?

Abstract

The development and expansion of tribal colleges and universities (TCU), which serve predominately American Indians and Alaska Natives, is a recent occurrence within the U.S. system of higher education. According to Brown (2003), historically TCUs were created "in response to the lack of access to higher education for American Indian people, and the low rate of success American Indians were experiencing in mainstream institutions" (p. 36). In terms of contemporary significance, Pavel, Inglebret, and Banks (2001) found that TCUs were important to higher education in the areas of their cultural characteristics and retention issues affiliated with American Indian and Alaska Native students. They also found that " the higher education community is largely unaware of TCUs, their unique attributes, and their similarities to other institutions of higher education (IHE)," and noted "the dismal track record of many IHEs at recruiting and retaining AI [American Indian] and AN [Alaska Native] students" (p. 51).Finally, Benham (2002) found that TCUs have adhered to their original mission of self-determination in the sense that "self-determination has increasingly defined TCUs as truly engaged community institutions—involved in every aspect of community life" (p. 2).