ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.
Native American students often struggle
academically at colleges and universities nationwide because the
institutions are virtually foreign environments. As a result, says Pam
Agoyo, director of the National Institute for Native Leadership in
Higher Education, half of the first-year Native American students who
start college leave by the end of their first year.
To deal with this issue, representatives from almost fifty colleges
and universities, including several from Canada, have been coming
together since 1993 to share information and strategies on how to
increase the number of Native Americans graduating from college. And
Agoyo’s institute, which is located at the University of New Mexico,
has now been awarded a two-year, $350,000 grant to continue its work.
Because there are approximately 500 tribes in the country, Mary
Belgarde, a professor at UNM, says that it is impossible to generalize
about Native Americans in higher education.
One characteristic that is applicable to Native American students,
however, is that many leave and return to college several times. While
many institutions and administrators refer to this practice as
“dropping out,” some researchers say that is an inaccurate description.
According to Belgarde, many Native American students don’t see college
as something you do for four to five years. Instead, they see it as a
lifelong commitment.
Mary McAfee, whose dissertation research at the University of
Colorado looked into the college-going patterns of Native Americans
pursuing degrees in science, math, engineering and business, says she
refers to that practice as “stepping out.”
“American Indian students tend to go to school by stepping in and
out more than once before receiving their baccalaureate degree,” says
McAfee. “This has lots of implications for students and institutions,
particularly when it comes to financial aid.”
