When Dr. David Yarlott went to college in the late 1980s, he was the only Native American student. Feeling homesick, he withdrew and went home after about a month. Eventually, he found himself at Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Montana, which only enrolled 13 students at the time. Now, the tribal college serves nearly 300 students, and he’s been the school’s president since 2002.
After offering a prayer in the Crow language, Yarlott shared his story at the 2020 Achieving the Dream Conference on a panel called “Tribal Education: Identity, Inclusion, & Equity.”
This year’s conference placed a special emphasis on student success at tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), featuring 12 concurrent sessions on their work and a luncheon for their representatives.
Tribal college leaders don’t always have that platform. Panelists responded to the size of their audience with appreciation – and surprise. 
“Tribal colleges are these little beacons of hope across this country,” said Dr. Cynthia Lindquist, president of Cankdeska Cikana Community College in Fort Totten, North Dakota. “[But] we’re still very, very invisible in many ways.”
These 37 higher education institutions – the product of a 1960s Native American self-determination movement – serve over 16,000 Native American students in 75 sites across the country, mostly on reservations in remote, rural areas. They were originally two-year institutions, but now 13 offer bachelor’s degrees, according to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. Congress named them land grant institutions in 1994.
Tribal colleges and universities have their own set of unique challenges, namely offering programs that foster Native American identity while also ensuring some of the most underserved students hit traditional success benchmarks.
