While today there are 37 Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) across the country, they are a relatively recent development in the higher education landscape, emerging as an outgrowth of the American Indian self-determination movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The first tribal college was founded in 1968, just 55 years ago, to serve the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Community College, as it was then known, is now called Diné College. 

The self-determination movement sparked a shift where Tribal Nations expressed the need to control the format and content of the education delivered to citizens and to enable Native culture and language to be passed on to younger generations. Tribal Nations also wanted to offer community-appropriate, targeted education to produce skilled workers, trained to contribute to the economic development of their own communities. Rather than students leaving the reservation and often traveling long distances to attend college, they could achieve their dreams right in their own communities by attending a TCU.

NCAI has been a strong advocate for the establishment and funding of Tribal Colleges and Universities for most of its history. While NCAI did not begin advocating for TCU’s in earnest until the 1970s, attention to higher education was present at the organization’s founding. In 1944, at the inaugural convention held in Denver, Colorado, NCAI leaders discussed the establishment of specialized graduate scholarships in universities for Native students. 

The following year at the 2nd Annual NCAI Convention in Browning, Montana, NCAI devoted part of the agenda to discuss ways to create and support a system of higher education to serve Indian students. At the time, many Native veterans returning from World War II encountered bias when attempting to access GI Bill benefits that were otherwise freely available to white veterans.  As a result of this discrimination, the need for reservation-based higher education became more urgent. Although it took some years for the first TCU to be formed, the groundwork was set in place decades prior. 

In the 1970s, NCAI began focusing its policy statements and resolutions to specifically address TCUs. Shortly after the Indian Self-Determination and Educational Assistance Act (PL 93-638) was signed into law in 1975, NCAI began campaigning in earnest for tribally controlled community colleges. In 1977, the organization adopted Resolution Number 8, at the 34th Annual NCAI Convention held in Dallas, Texas. Acknowledging the demonstrated need for higher education services on Indian Reservations, leaders advocated for tribal colleges as an alternative to students who were forced to leave reservations to continue with education beyond high school. 

In addition, NCAI pointed out the arbitrary and often conflicting federal requirements that created confusion and left Tribal Nations that did administer their own colleges unable to effectively manage them. The resolution called on Congress to pass pending legislation that would provide grants for tribally controlled community colleges and to support the creation of new ones. As a result of this advocacy, President Jimmy Carter signed the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act into law in 1978. The legislation provided $4,000 in funding for each full-time enrolled Native student at a tribal college and offered a financial lifeline to struggling institutions. 

Throughout the years, we see additional policy statements to support the development and expansion of TCUs. Some call for the establishment of institutions in specific states or regions of the country, while others rally in support of endangered schools. The issue of funding underpinned every NCAI policy statement on this subject. 

In 1994, NCAI took its advocacy a step further by supporting legislation that would secure land grant status for tribally controlled colleges. This enhanced status made  the institutions eligible for technical assistance, program development and, most importantly, funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Since NCAI first began its advocacy nearly 50 years ago, Tribal Colleges and Universities have become a vital part of the higher education landscape in America, critical to the delivery of culturally-relevant curricula and preservation of Native cultures and languages. While TCUs are, of course, not the only option available to Native students, they provide uniquely designed education and serve as a vital part of tribal communities.