While the vast majority of funding for tribal colleges comes from Washington, a significant smaller percentage is provided by a variety of sources: the college's sponsoring tribe, state governments and private grants.
Such funding sources can be precarious depending upon the fortunes of the tribes in question as well as state-level budget conditions. And while private support is there, maintains Dauphinais, “it is something you have to keep up with on an ongoing basis in terms of having a full-time grant writer on staff, which not all tribal colleges can afford.”
“We get the vast majority of our money from gaming revenues; that is essentially how we operate,” remarks Consuelo Lopez, the president of Comanche Nation College in Lawton, Oklahoma. “But private funding makes up an important part of our budget, about 14 percent. That may not seem like much, but it can sometimes make a big difference in terms of doing all of the things that you want to do as a school.”
Grants make up a much larger 60 percent of the budget at Bay Mills Community College. “They have worked every well for us, which is why we try so hard every year to get them,” says Parish.
But even with such strong grant support, says Parish, his school would greatly still benefit from forward funding.
“The grant money is important,” adds Parish, “but we are actually dependent upon the federal funding, which is the main reason why we are watching and waiting to see whether or not forward funding becomes a reality.”
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