One of the most promising trends in Indian education today is the growth of the tribal college movement since Navajo Community College (now Diné College) opened its doors in 1969. While this college and others were started because of the low success rate of Native students in mainstream colleges, they also began developing unique tribally-specific curriculum. Lionel Bordeaux, president of one of the oldest tribal colleges declares "cultural preservation is really the foundation of the tribal colleges."
Tribal colleges today are serving student who never would have had a chance to go on to college. Not only are they teaching students, they are in the vanguard of improving the quality of life on their reservations. A two-year study of tribal colleges by the Carnegie Foundation concluded, "the idea of Indian-controlled colleges offers great hope to the Native American community and the nation as a whole." Most of these colleges have either received regional accreditation or on working on getting accredited. Interestingly, the BIA did not initially support the growth of independent tribal colleges.
Tribal colleges are moving to become more than just community colleges. In South Dakota, Sinte Gleska University and Oglala Lakota College developed four-year teacher preparation programs. Both Diné College in Arizona and Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas have also developed teacher education programs.
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