MENUThe 34 accredited tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) serving Native American students across the country could collectively face crippling federal budget cuts in the coming 2027 fiscal year through the Trump administration’s proposed budget. The American Indian College Fund shares the concerns of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) that the Department of the Interior’s proposal to eliminate all dedicated TCU funding does not align with the administration’s stated priorities to support rural America and expand access to higher education.
TCUs are essential to providing education, workforce training, and economic growth in some of the most rural and underserved regions of the country. TCUs change the lives of their students, who see a 27.2% average annual return on their education investment by attending. More than 74% of TCU students graduate and work in their communities, according to College Fund data. That impact adds up. According to the AIHEC National TCU Economic Impact Study, in FY 2022-2023 alone, TCUs generated $3.8 billion in economic growth for the United States and supported more than 40,700 jobs across key sectors, including healthcare, government, retail, and professional services. Every federal dollar invested in TCUs returns $1.60 in tax revenue, demonstrating the efficiency and impact of this investment.
Despite these contributions to rural and tribal communities and students, the Department of the Interior continues to fall short in its support for TCUs. The College Fund and AIHEC believe eliminating TCU funding does not represent meaningful federal savings; it merely removes a relatively small investment that delivers outsized economic and community impact. In addition, this continued underinvestment undermines both the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations to Native people and nations.
The proposed 2027 budget aims to eliminate or drastically reduce funding for all TCUs, including tribally chartered institutions, the two Bureau of Indian Education schools (Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in New Mexico), and the Institute of American Indian Arts, which became a congressionally chartered nonprofit organization in 1986 that functions similar to the Smithsonian Institution. Most TCUs are located on or near Indian reservations in rural communities.
Ahniwake Rose, president of AIHEC, which represents the interests of tribal colleges and universities in Washington, DC, told the Associated Press, “If this budget was to pass, our TCUs would be forced to close within a year.”
Cheryl Crazy Bull, president and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, stated: “We cannot allow TCUs to disappear. They are lifelines of learning for entire generations, providing place and culturally based learning in Indian Country and surrounding rural communities that propels students to succeed, graduate, and lead.” Crazy Bull added, “Rural and Native communities are unlike those in other areas, and the education TCUs offer is perfectly tailored for the career and service needs of their communities.”
Both the College Fund and AIHEC believe consistent and robust funding across agencies is essential to ensuring tribal students and communities are not left behind. To advance opportunity in rural America, TCUs must be treated as a central investment priority in the president’s budget. In addition to funding cuts for TCUs, the Trump Administration’s budget would also carve billions of dollars out of programs that fulfill trust and treaty responsibilities to tribal nations.
