A Colorado lawmaker says her bill would not eliminate the Native student tuition program at Fort Lewis College.

Rep. Karen Middleton (D) says the bill will cut $1.8 million from the school's budget. But she described the change an "accounting sleight of hand," The Denver Post reported.

"This is seen as an accounting situation, not a political situation," Middleton told the paper.

School officials disagree. The say the bill will force them to cut other programs in order to make up for the loss in money from the Native student tuition program.

Fort Lewis began as an Indian boarding school that was run by the federal government. When it became a public institution, the state promised to admit Indian students "free of tuition and on an equality with white students."

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Lawmaker says Fort Lewis cuts won't affect American Indians' free tuition (The Denver Post 1/20)

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