The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) has partnered with NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement to offer a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) grant-funded opportunity exclusively available to tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). The TCU Building Bridges Program serves to enhance the ability of TCUs to provide high-quality STEM education programs and to increase participation in collaborative STEM research initiatives, resulting in a well-prepared American Indian and Alaskan Native NASA STEM workforce. The TCU Building Bridges model is unique in that it provides TCUs with the opportunity to participate in proposal development workshops and continue to receive technical assistance from both NASA and AIHEC throughout the life of the award.

The TCU Building Bridges Program offers three award cycles. Each cycle includes technical assistance in the form of a workshop series, pre-application review and feedback, collaboration with NASA subject matter experts, and opportunities for students to engage in NASA internships. The depth and scope of this technical assistance has proved to be successful in increasing TCU participation while strengthening partnerships and increasing students’ interest and participation in STEM.

The TCU Building Bridges Program has awarded 14 TCU projects to date, ranging in scope from Stone Child College’s Indigenizing App Creation to College of Menominee Nation’s STEM Academy: Inspiring Tribal Youth through Drone Technology and Virtual Learning. Additionally, White Earth Tribal and Community College students recently visited the Kennedy Space Center and Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College is bringing NASA subject matter experts into the classroom to share knowledge about additive manufacturing. Turtle Mountain College’s project uses satellite imagery to investigate climate on the Turtle Mountain reservation and Red Lake Nation College (RLNC) is partnering with the Red Lake Department of Natural Resources to provide natural resources research internships for RLNC students.

To date, AIHEC and NASA have awarded more than $900,000 in funding to tribal colleges and universities under the TCU Building Bridges Program. A third proposal request was released in May 2025 and an announcement on projects chosen for funding is expected later in 2025 with an October project start date. All awarded projects continue to receive support from both AIHEC and NASA. AIHEC looks forward to sharing resulting program outcomes and student success stories.