I need to know about the schools that offer free education to the Native Americans. I am a Native American from Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Our tribe is in South Dakota. I have enrolled as a full-blooded native in CRST. I also come from New Mexico’s Navajo tribe. Currently I am in navy. I am just finishing the six-year enlistment. I will be out of navy in October and I plan to attend USD in Vermillion, SD. I have heard from my shipmates about how Indians get free education.
My intent to join military is to get free education and I am surprised that I did not know about the free education provided for the Native Americans. Unfortunately, none of them who talked about this free education program could give me any useful information like the school those people attended, the tribe they come from, and their contact information. I did a little research and I have the details of two schools. These two schools are waiving the tuition, and offering full room and board. My GI bill is max 960 something. I need information about the schools that waive the tuition for Native Americans. It will be a plus if they include room and board in their offer.
It appears that having Indian blood is not alone sufficient to receive federal grants, like the Pell Grant or FSEOG. And considering your GI, you will probably not qualified based on “financial need.” However, Native Americans who meet certain eligibility criteria (financial need remains an important criteria) may be qualified to get BIA grant or Bureau of Indian Affairs grant.
There are also other options for you. This page www.finaid.org/otheraid/natamind.phtml provides a list of options that are open to Native Americans who wish to apply for a financial aid. Here again the applicants should meet their eligibility criteria, much like that needed for BIA grants. As you have mentioned, some universities and schools are offering fee and tuition waivers for the Native Americans.
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http://www.menominee.edu/ provides a list of higher education institutions that provide such waivers for those who meet the criteria. Keep in mind that you are still liable to most of the plans since you surmised board and room. One of the generous financial aid lists is available with the University of Montana. They are doing this in the hope of attracting eligible and qualified students. You can visit their website www.msugf.edu/ for more information about this. They have mentioned in this link that they waiver the fees and tuition for the Native American students. They are offering this for the veterans also.
There are many higher education institutions and all their financial aid applications differ from one another. AIHEC is offering a number of benefits to the tribal community students. Therefore, you can visit their website www.aihec.org to know about the programs they are offering. They are representing 34 colleges at present in US. Their higher education approach is unique and tribal based.
If you have membership papers, you can approach your tribes – namely Navajo nation and Cheyenne River Sioux. In addition, www.ncai.org provides the contact information of the Indian groups in US. You can find South Dakota contacts under “Aberdeen” area. I hope this helps you.
