Dear Ndnred,
Thank you for the very interesting question. I’ve wondered about this
myself. No, I don’t have any Native American blood, but a good friend
of mine in high school was a member of the Chippewa (Ojibwa) tribe of
Wisconsin, and I’ve had several other Indian friends over the years
who had all heard the same things. You’re right – it seems everyone
knows someone who got these incredible educational benefits, but no
one can ever name names or direct one to exactly where they can be
found. So I was glad to research this matter to try to find out once
and for all what the score was.
I found both bad and good news. The bad news is that it appears the
mere possession of Indian blood is not always necessarily enough after
all to entitle one to a free college education in the U.S., at least
not with Federal monies, despite all the rumors and talk. A quote
from the website of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which oversees
programs for Native Americans, states, “Contrary to popular belief,
Indians do not receive payments from the federal government simply
because they have Indian blood.” Here is a link to that page:
http://www.oiep.bia.edu/faqs_grantinfo.html and the main BIA webpage
is here: http://www.doiu.nbc.gov/orientation/bia2.cfm Mainly, it
states that BIA funds are available for educational grants for Native
Americans who also meet certain other criteria, chief among them being
financial need. In your case, because of your GI Bill, you might not
qualify on a “need” basis.
However, even though aid from the BIA isn’t automatically forthcoming,
that’s not to say there aren’t other avenues to explore. Here’s a
link to another site that listing options for Native Americans in
applying for financial aid:
http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/natamind.phtml As with the BIA grants,
though, applicants must meet a variety of criteria, including
financial need.
But then, as you mentioned, some individual schools and universities
do offer tuition and fee waivers for persons of Native American
ancestry. Here’s a site that lists institutions of higher education
offering such waivers, though again with certain qualifying criteria:
http://www.menominee.edu/newcmn1/FinancialAid/TuitionWaiversForNativeAmericanStudents.htm
Do bear in mind that with most of these plans, however, you’ll likely
still e liable, as you surmised, for your room and board, as well as
for other miscellaneous fees, books, etc.
The University of Montana, perhaps in an effort to attract qualified
students, has one of the more generous listings of possible financial
aid available. See here:
http://www.msugf.edu/financialaid/statefeewaivers.htm where they say
they offer a complete waiver of tuition and fees for Native Americans,
contingent on an acceptable academic standing. However, they offer
the same benefit to veterans, so you’re covered there as well.
Michigan also has a number of schools offering tuition waivers to
Native Americans. Here are some to check out:
http://www.itcmi.org/ituition.html
http://www.lssu.edu/finaid/loans.html
http://www.edopp.mtu.edu/outreach/na/default.htm
Here are some other state schools offering full and partial waivers:
Colorado (Ft. Lewis College – Durango):
http://nac.fortlewis.edu/waiver.html
Maine:
http://www.uma.maine.edu/financialaidwaivers.html#Native%20American
http://www.kvtc.net/Website/Frames/WebsiteData/StudentResources/StudentDocuments/TuitionInformation/TuitionInformation.htm#Senior
Massachusetts:
http://www.state.ma.us/dhcd/components/Ind_Affairs/page5.htm
Minnesota:
http://www.mrs.umn.edu/services/msp/exempt.htm
http://www.mrs.umn.edu/admissions/financialaid/waiver.html
New Mexico (Highlands University):
http://www.nmhu.edu/admissions/AMINWaivr.htm
North Dakota:
http://www.und.edu/dept/finaid/cultural_diversity_tuition_waiver.htm
In order to find others, I’d suggest using the following search term,
then following up on as many results as you have time for:
university “tuition waiver” “native american” OR “american indian” OR
indian
As I’m sure you know, there are many, many institutions of higher
education, with equally as many different applications for financial
aid. Each school has its own. The only “one size fits all” would be
the Federal BIA application, and even there each school has its own
application in addition to that.
One other thing you might also be interested in looking into is The
American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). Their website is
located here: http://www.aihec.org/ They currently represent 34
colleges in the US and one in Canada, and have a unique, tribal based
approach to higher education, with a number of benefits.
Also, just for your information, here are links to both the Cheyenne
River Sioux (Lakota) Tribe: http://www.sioux.org/ and the Navajo
Nation: http://www.navajo.org/ should you wish to contact them
directly for further assistance. In any case, if you don’t already,
you will of course need to have certified papers establishing your
membership in one or both tribes in order to take advantage of any of
these waivers or other opportunities. In addition, here’s a link to
the National Congress of American Indians website, which has links and
contact information for all the Indian groups in the US:
http://www.ncai.org/ South Dakota contacts would be under the
“Aberdeen” area, while Navajo has its own area.
Bottom line? Sure, go ahead and see if you can get a waiver. They’re
certainly out there. Most of these programs are in place as a result
of old laws and treaties, and are designed precisely to benefit people
of your ancestry for reasons we all know. Why not take advantage of
them if you can? Some of the schools listed are excellent. However,
if you don’t care to attend any of those, and/or if you’d just rather
go to USD regardless of the availability of any waivers, you do have
your GI Bill, which certainly will pay up wherever and whatever you
decide. Either way you’re covered.
I hope this has been of help to you. If there is anything not clear,
please do ask for clarification before rating and closing the question
so I might have the opportunity to ensure your satisfaction with the
information provided.
Best wishes,
--Byrd
Additional search terms used:
“Cheyenne River Sioux”
“educational benefits” “native american” OR indian
“Bureau of Indian Affairs” education OR educational |
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