Tribal colleges are attracting, retaining, and educating a new population of Native students. These 24 institutions are characterized by their location on reservations, governance by local boards, dedicated faculty and administrators, intercollegiate cooperation and collaboration, frugal management of material resources, and the central role of…

During the late 1960's people of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation (a South Dakota area the size of Connecticut characterized by poverty, poor soil, aridity, and geographical isolation) began to consider establishment of an institution of higher education on the reservation. A consensus soon developed that a tribally-controlled community…

Western United States (characterized by low population density with small, scattered urban centers) underwent tremendous economic and population growth in the 1970's. The impact on small towns and rural areas included ecological damage and fewer permanent jobs than had been anticipated available to local persons. In spite of area growth, most…