Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC) in Cass Lake, Minnesota, has been named the number one community college in the United States. WalletHub conducted an exhaustive study of 700 community colleges in the U.S., ranking each using a variety of criteria. Metrics included affordability, graduation rates, job placement, and student-faculty ratio, among others. When the numbers were crunched and the final ranking unfurled, LLTC came out on top, besting every other community college in the country.

Also in WallutHub’s top 10 was Blackfeet Community College at no. 5, Aaniiih Nakoda College at no. 6, and Ilisagvik College at no. 7. Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute ranked no. 12, an especially impressive showing considering the institute had lost its accreditation in 2009 and only regained it in 2014. Chief Dull Knife came in at no. 14, and both Bay Mills Community College and Tohono O’odham Community College had high rankings at no. 44 and no. 54, respectively.

Carrie Billy, president and CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium congratulated the colleges. “The nation’s tribal colleges are fulfilling the laudable goal of providing their reservation communities with access to affordable high quality, culturally appropriate postsecondary education opportunities,” she stated.

LLTC was founded in 1990 and has risen rapidly in its brief 17-year history. One of four tribal colleges in Minnesota and a 1994 land grant institution, LLTC boasts a variety of two-year degree programs, including Indigenous leadership, law enforcement, and forest ecology. Students who attend the college also have access to state-of-the-art classroom and campus facilities such as the Mino-ayaawigamig Wellness Center, the Bezhigoogahbow Library, and the Ed Robinson Learning Center. But LLTC’s success is also due to the Seven Grandfather Teachings—the tribal values that center the institution and guide its curricula: honesty, truth, humility, love, wisdom, courage, and respect.