News Release

HUD SECRETARY ANNOUNCES $3 MILLION IN GRANTS TO TRIBAL COLLEGES
Supporting Native American Institutions through grants since 2001

WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson announced $3 million in competitive grants to 5 Tribal Colleges and Universities, under the Department’s Tribal Colleges and Universities Program. The grants, administered by HUD’s Office of University Partnerships, were all $600,000 each.

"Tribal colleges and universities often serve remote regions where few other services are available, ultimately serving a vital role in their communities," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "These grants also provide the necessary resources needed to enhance the academic programs."

Tribal colleges and universities (TCU) use the funding to expand, renovate and equip their own facilities. TCUs are important partners in many communities, providing a means to address pressing social, educational, and economic needs. Many of these institutions serve remote regions and a growing number of local residents have come to depend heavily on TCU-sponsored education, counseling, health, and economic development initiatives. These grants encourage their efforts to make a difference in their communities.

Since 2001, HUD has awarded more than $17 million to TCUs to build new and/or improve their existing campus facilities.

Recipients of recent grants are:

Project Name: Stone Child College
Grant Amount: $600,000

Stone Child College (SCC) intends to use its Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) grant to establish a technology laboratory and two technology/vocational education classrooms within the recently constructed SCC Learning Center that will increase their physical capacity to support the increased student enrollment, reduce the overcrowding in existing facilities, and provide students access to modern technology to meet technological literacy standards.

Project Name: Diné College
Grant Amount: $600,000

Diné College intends to use its Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) grant to plan and construct a library at Diné’s main New Mexico campus aimed at serving college constituents, the local Shiprock community, and northwestern New Mexico within a 50-mile radius of the proposed project. The space limitations of the existing Shiprock Library threaten the long-term functionality and integrity of Diné College’s library system, as well as the college’s current initiative to apply for 4-year Baccalaureate degree-granting status through its accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission. This project will address the need for new library facilities.

Project Name: Turtle Mountain Community College
Grant Amount: $600,000

Turtle Mountain Community College intends to use its Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) grant to assist in the construction of the Auto Body Repair and Refinishing facility, which is the first of three building segments within the TMCC Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center. This stand-alone structure will serve the needs of a developing Auto Body Repair and Refinishing program of study. The facility is designed to easily connect to the larger CTE center at a later date. A reservation-wide CTE center is a long anticipated major project. It will greatly enhance the ability of the college to provide new vocational programs of study in areas needed to engage more students in all the many CTE and entrepreneurial fields. In addition, the facility will serve dual credit opportunities for high school students and address the job training needs of the local tribal workforce in preparing for new incoming reservation industrial employment.

Project Name: Fort Peck College
Grant Amount: $600,000

Fort Peck College (FPCC) intends to use its Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) grant to develop a comprehensive student-housing program. With the addition of student dormitories and student housing, both educational and student service program capability and delivery would be greatly enhanced. This program is essential to ameliorating the current problem of students being unable to attend FPCC because of the lack of housing. As a new initiative, emphasis will be placed on single student dormitories, with the proposed project being the first step in a comprehensive plan to develop a broad range of student housing. This project will provide housing for 36 individuals that otherwise could not attend FPCC.

Project Name: Little Big Horn College
Grant Amount: $600,000

Little Big Horn College (LBHC) intends to use its Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) grant to construct an administration and archives building on its campus. This is the final of four construction projects necessary to complete the first phase of LBHC’s 1999 new campus master plan. Completion of this 9,860-square-foot building will provide desperately needed space both for staff offices and for areas designated for student use, and will ensure that LBHC can continue its current growth trend. Even more importantly, this building will provide a safe and accessible area in which to relocate the LBHC archives, which contain invaluable cultural materials that are currently housed in a substandard building.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development, and enforces the nation’s fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

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