Native Americans have the lowest educational attainment of any race.
In 1990, only 9 percent of Native Americans under the age of 25 had a bachelor’s degree, compared to 21 percent of all U.S. citizens. Fortunately, with the preparation of a two-year tribal college or university (TCU), Native American students are four times more likely to earn their bachelor’s degree than those who entered a mainstream four-year institution out of high school, and 86 percent of students who attend TCUs earn a degree. Why is this gap in educational attainment so vast?
One of the ways in which mainstream institutions are failing their Native American students is that they are simply not addressing the values of Native American students. For example, family is such an important value in Native American culture that it can “take priority over their personal academic progress.” Additionally, Native American families struggle with high rates of poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse and domestic violence, which can affect students and even result in them dropping out of college.
It is also important to note that many Native Americans are first-generation students. Cheryl Crazy Bull, president of the American Indian College Fund and former president of Northwest Indian College, has witnessed a lack of preparedness from Native American students because they aren’t having conversations about college with family members and friends: “We’ve encountered students who were coming to college and didn’t know they were going to be responsible for attending classes and asking for help if they needed help…School is starting in a few weeks and we have students just now who are looking for funding. That’s an aspect of college-readiness. You have to get ready for college ahead of time.”
Not only are first-generation students coming into a mainstream university at a disadvantage, but they are also rarely given resources specific to their needs by the university upon arrival. Mainstream universities often lump together first-generation students and provide general resources.
Finally, and perhaps most obviously, mainstream institutions are Eurocentric and often ignore “cultural traditions, norms and perspectives of other racial and cultural groups.” Specifically, instruction at these universities is vastly different from the hands-on methods that are praised in the Native American community, which forces over one-third of Native American students into academic remediation. In addition to their Eurocentric curriculum, these institutions often don’t have faculty of Native American descent, which can further discourage Native American students to attend.
TCUs recognize the need for culturally relevant material. By incorporating Native American values, tribal languages and tribal history, their curriculum is culturally sensitive and provides Native American students with programs and courses that meet their needs. Not only is their course content relevant, but it also is taught in a way that empowers students. Many TCUs utilize the Family Education Model, the purpose of which is to increase Native American student retention by affirming linguistic, racial and ethnic identities, by providing academic and familial counseling, by building a tight-knit community and by preparing students for mainstream culture. Perhaps most importantly, this model emphasizes that the issues surrounding Native American student retention should not be blamed on the behaviors of Native American students, but on the tension between institutional, student and familial values.
