WASHINGTON, D.C. – Colorado’s leaders in Washington are working together to get the federal government to share the cost of tuition for hundreds of Native American students who come from all over the country to attend Fort Lewis College for free.
Senator Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colo., on Wednesday introduced The Native American Indian Education Act in the U.S. Senate to provide relief to Colorado’s education budget. The state currently is fulfilling largely a federal mandate to pay for college for Native Americans at the school as part of a land-grant agreement originally made in 1910.
Fort Lewis College covered just a few dozen students in 1910. Today, more than 1,123 Native Americans and Alaska native students from more than 162 tribes nationwide attend Fort Lewis College.
The bill is asking for $16 million from the federal government to cover the tuition of out-of-state native students at Fort Lewis College. Just over $900,000 of that would go toward covering tuition for Native students at the University of Minnesota, Morris, where native students also can get a free college education but which has a much smaller student population.
“Fort Lewis College and institutions like it provide fantastic opportunities and a great education to native and non-native students alike,” Gardner said. “With students coming from regions and tribes across the United States to get an education, it no longer makes sense to have the cost of that education born by single states. It’s time to reform this system to ensure that Native American education is the national priority that it should be.”
In February, U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, reintroduced a House of Representatives version of the bill. Among its 31 cosponsors is Congressman Don Young, R-Alaska.
“The federal government, as part of its trust relationship with tribes, has a long-standing commitment to support the education of American Indians and Alaska Natives,” Young said. “Federal land grants for colleges and universities, which played a critical role in the formation of our nation’s higher education system, embody important missions. Unfortunately, with rising enrollment and tuition costs, fully funding the expensive mandate has grown financially burdensome for states. I am proud to co-sponsor Congressman Tipton’s bipartisan bill.
The bill now has been introduced multiple times in the House and Senate but never has seen a vote.
Adam Bozzi, Bennet’s communications director, said the major opposition to the bill takes the form of general dysfunction of Congress and its tendency to jump from crisis to crisis instead of focusing on important issues.
“Passing any bill in this day and age, there’s so much gridlock, but you have to keep working at it and build momentum,” he said.
“At a time when higher education is becoming a prerequisite for success in the 21st-century economy, this program is crucial to helping Native American students who may otherwise struggle to afford college,” Bennet said. “Colorado’s Fort Lewis College offers a tremendous opportunity for Native American students, and it’s time for the federal government to step in and help ensure this waiver remains viable.”
Mariam Baksh is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.
