Young members of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians in California. Photo from Facebook

The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians have entered into a partnership with UC San Diego to increase the number of tribal members in college.

Native Americans represent about 1.3 percent of the population in San Diego County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet they are woefully under-represented in the college system -- only 0.4 percent of undergraduate students at UC San Diego, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

To improve those numbers, the Sycuan Education Department and the Viejas Tribal Education Center are working with UC San Diego to introduce middle and high school students to college life. The youth are participating in courses all summer.

"We are trying to increase the exposure that Native American students have to different college experiences so that they can really see themselves in college,” Jennifer Mederios of the Sycuan Teen Center told the paper. “College should not be a completely foreign experience for them.”

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UCSD partners with local tribes (The San Diego Union-Tribune 6/19)