1 in 5 tribal college students must travel more than 50 miles to attend classes.

Did You Know?

• 91% of Fund scholarship recipients are "non-traditional" students—they have dependents, are older than 24, work full-time—or a combination of these characteristics.
• Between 1997 and 2002 enrollment of American Indian students at tribal colleges grew by 32%, compared to 16% enrollment growth in higher educational institutions overall.
• The award-winning advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy has served as the creative force behind the American Indian College Fund's public education campaign for 15 years. The same agency that brought you Nike's "Just Do It" campaign has just launched the Fund's latest campaign.

56% of tribal college graduates go on to a four-year institution, a far greater number than the transfer rate of community colleges in general.

• Census data shows 25.7% of all American Indians and Alaska Natives are living below the poverty line. In contrast, the national poverty rate was only 12.4%.
• Tribal college students want to use their education to help others. Seventy three percent of graduates attend college to make a better life for their families; 64% percent want to use their education to help their people.
• Most tribal colleges operate on Indian reservations, providing access to higher education for those seeking an educational experience where cultural knowledge is as valued as rigorous academic standards. Tribal colleges are fully accredited institutions with the same academic standards as all other colleges and universities.

Most of the Fund's scholarship recipients attend college while supporting a family at the same time.
• American Indians share a long history of philanthropy. Whether generosity was demonstrated by holding a giveaway or a potlatch, a person's value was measured not by what they owned, but rather what they gave away. It is in this spirit that the Fund has created the Sovereign Nations Scholarship Fund, from tribes to give back to their communities.