A survey of tribal colleges and universities by ProPublica found that these institutions suffer from large backlogs of deferred maintenance and infrastructure issues and lack the federal funding they need to make fixes.
Of the 37 tribal colleges and universities across 14 states, 13 responded to inquiries from ProPublica. The investigative journalism outlet described burst pipes, leaky roofs and classes temporarily shut down because of plumbing, electrical and other infrastructure problems, requiring costly repairs.
Originally, tribal colleges were supposed to receive $8,000 annually per student affiliated with a tribe, according to the laws that authorized the creation of these institutions. But the federal government has never actually funded them at that level, ProPublica reported. The American Higher Education Consortium, which lobbies for tribal colleges, found that funding per student has dipped as low as $5,235 since 2010 and now rests around $8,700. Adjusted for inflation, tribal colleges would receive about $40,000 per student today if Congress followed through on what it promised, according to ProPublica.
Congress started providing $15 million per year for maintenance across all tribal colleges in 2021, now $16 million, but that’s less than $500,000 per campus. The American Indian Higher Education Consortium estimated these institutions had almost half a billion dollars in deferred maintenance costs that year.
Meanwhile, campus leaders told ProPublica they have few other sources of funding because most of these institutions have few wealthy alumni donors and they strive to keep tuition low so students on reservations can afford it.
ProPublica also found the federal Bureau of Indian Education hasn’t asked for major funding boosts from Congress for most tribal colleges and universities in the last three years, despite low levels of funding. The Bureau of Indian Education responded in a written statement that it follows guidelines set by the White House and the Department of the Interior when making requests for funding.
