With small classrooms, child care and partnership with other institutions, tribal colleges are trying to help their students succeed.

LaVonne Bakken, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, went to a university off the Minnesota reservation but came home to the White Earth Tribal College to receive more personalized help. She plans to graduate with degrees in business administration and marketing and someday open her own business>

At the United Tribes Technical College in North Dakota, students can bring their children to school. The college is one of the few with early childhood centers and an elementary school on campus.

According to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, only 15 percent of tribal college students receive two-year associate degrees.

Get the Story:
Tribal colleges offer specialized education (Minnesota Public Radio 1/5)

Relevant Links:
American Indian Higher Education Consortium - http://www.aihec.org
Tribal Colleges and Universities - http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/list/whtc/edlite-index.html
American Indian College Fund - http://collegefund.org

Related Stories:
Oglala Lakota College receives $100K from state (12/19)
Pawnee Nation College wins $10K grant from NEA (12/18)
Fort Berthold tribal college signs partnership (12/13)
Bush announces new members of tribal college board (12/4)
Tribal colleges educate non-Native students (11/29)
American Indian College Fund runs ad campaign (10/05)
College in Barrow is Alaska's first tribal college (07/28)
New director for White House Tribal College Initiative (01/20)
Tribal budget advisory council backs tribal colleges (03/01)
Bush budget seeks cuts to Indian education programs (02/10)
Bush administration budget slashes BIA programs (02/08)
Nation's tribal colleges struggle to make ends meet (02/07)
Johnson expects tough times for Indian initiatives (01/18)
Congress restores Bush's cuts to Indian programs (11/22)
Tribal colleges awarded millions in federal grants (08/06)
Tribal college board seeking boosts in funding (9/25)