Tribal funds available for college bound students
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FLATHEAD RESERVATION — Fewer CSKT tribal members applied for college aid last year, following national trends, but the tribe has both funds available for education and positions that need filling by college graduates, a tribal education official told tribal council in mid-January.
“Since COVID-19 hit, the number of applicants has dropped,” Tribal Education Department Scholarship Officer Miranda Burland said. “... We’ve dropped drastically, and part of that is either students are working, or they just don’t want to be in classes.”
This follows with a national trend. According to data released in January, college enrollment has dropped by 938,000 students since fall of 2019, accounting for a loss of 5.1% in enrollment. The bulk of the loss comes in community colleges, where the National Student Clearinghouse reports enrollment has dropped by 13%.
Some higher education experts have sounded the alarm on the impacts lower enrollment could have in the long term. Critical jobs for social services like doctors, nurses, social workers and schoolteachers could remain open in the future if not enough students enroll in present-day. Statistically, people with degrees also generate more tax revenue than those who do not earn degrees. Without that revenue, there could be fewer tax dollars available for services like healthcare, roads, and schools in the future, experts warn.
On average, 250 to 280 students usually apply for aid from CSKT, but this year only around 200 have.
Burland said she’s returned higher ed funding every year, even when the tribe had more applicants. Burland estimates that on average, around six graduate students and 24 undergraduates graduate every year after receiving assistance from the program.
More funds will be available for students pursing degrees in specific degree fields, including civil and electrical engineering, hydrology, K-12 teachers, pharmacy, and social work. Junior and senior undergraduate students and graduates in those fields can receive up to $6,000 per academic year, according to the presentation. These fields identified as areas where the tribe needs workers.
Burland said the higher amount is available for upper division students because occasionally lower division students do drop out after receiving funding. Upper-level students are typically more likely to graduate, according to Burland and other council members.
“The hope is just to get more students to apply,” Burland said. “... I want to fund students. I want to fund them all.”
The scholarships can be awarded to accredited trade schools, to cover programs like beauty school, heavy equipment operation, or lineman programs, Burland added.
“On average, it’s maybe five students,” she said. “It’s not very many students who do the trade programs... I would like to see more, and when we visit with high school seniors that’s one of the things we do talk about.”
Council member Len TwoTeeth encouraged Burland to get in touch with the tribal legal department to obtain a list of jobs that will be needed to implement the CSKT Tribal Water Compact, a multi-billion settlement made between the U.S. government, State of Montana, and the tribes last year. Some of the jobs that will be needed to implement the compact include civil and electrical engineers, according to Burland.
“These are jobs that are going to be needed and are something that will require education,” TwoTeeth said.
For more information about CSKT’s Higher Education Scholarship program, visit http://www.cskteducation.org/en-us/higher-education/higher-ed-scholarship.
