How to Get Federal Indian Money for College

If you are a memeber of a Native American tribe, the Bureau of Indian Education offers resources for college tuition funding.

While there are many avenues you can pursue to pay for college, American Indians should look to the Bureau of Indian Education, which runs a higher education grant program. As long as you have been accepted at a nationally accredited institute of higher learning, are a member of a federally recognized tribe and have at least one-quarter degree Indian blood, you are eligible for scholarship money.

Instructions

1. Go to the Bureau of Indian Education's website, and download the higher education grant program information packet. The eight-page guide will give you important supplemental information.

2. Contact your tribe's education officer. It is through this representative that you can obtain an application. If your tribe is not administering the grant program, however, you should get in touch with the nearest BIE Education Line Officer.

3. Inform the financial officers at your prospective colleges that you are Native American, and that you will be submitting a grant application along with your financial aid information. According to the Bureau of Indian Education, "many colleges have knowledge of the BIE's grant program and can refer you to a knowledgeable counselor."

References

• Bureau of Indian Education: Grant Program

Resources

• Department of the Interior: Tribal List