How to Apply for a Tribal College Scholarship Through the American Indian College Fund

The American Indian College Fund provides resources to enable Native American students to pursue college educations, disbursing approximately 5,000 scholarships each year for students enrolling at both mainstream and tribal colleges. In addition to providing these scholarships, the Fund also demonstrates its committment to tribal colleges by providing funds to support these schools and their activities.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Proof of native American ancestry
• Application packet
• Transcripts
• Small color photograph

1. Obtain proof of your Native American ancestry. If you are an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe, you are definitely scholarship eligible, but if you are not enrolled you'll need to obtain a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
2. Fill out an application including your name, address, contact information, date of birth, and tribal affiliation. You will also need to include details such as whether you are the first person in your family to attend college, the name of your hometown newspaper, and information about your current or proposed area of study.
3. List all of the campus and/or community activities in which you have been involved, and any volunter work you've done. You should also list any scholarships or honors you may have received.
4. Answer two essay questions in 500 words or less for each question. These questions will deal with how you perceive yourself as a leader in your school or community and how your education will help the Native American community.
5. Write a personal statement of 1000 words or less. This statement should describe your personal and academic background and educational and career goals. It should also describe how the scholarship will help you achieve your goals as well as informing the scholarship committee of anything else you feel they ought to know about you.
6. Give one of the recommendation forms provided in your application packet to an adult who is familiar with your academic potential. This could be a teacher, professor or academic dean.
7. Assess your financial needs on the Scholarship Analysis Form. This form will be used to determine the amount of money you will be eligible to receive.
8. Submit your completed application to the American Indian College Fund. You will also need to provide a signed Authorization Form for Release of Information, a cover sheet detailing the program descriptions of all of the different scholarship programs you'd like to be considered for, official college transcripts from all of the schools you've attended, your high school transcripts if you'll be an entering freshman, your tribal enrollment information or proof of descendency, your fall class schedule if available, and a small color photograph (not a photocopy).

Tips & Warnings

• Different tribes have different requirements for the degree of Indian blood needed to enroll - some tribes require 25% (one grandparent), where others might accept 12.5% (one great grandprent)

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