Wednesday, December 3, 2025 – Tribal colleges see an uncertain federal funding road ahead

A one-time allocation for Tribal Colleges and Universities unexpectedly just doubled the federal allocation compared to the previous year. And a small handful of colleges are rejoicing over multi-million-dollar windfalls from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. But that doesn’t mean officials at any of those institutions are breathing a sigh of relief. Instead, the unpredictable nature of federal funding and other factors — including the Trump administration’s stated plan earlier this year to all but eliminate their funding, has tribal higher education administrators scrambling. We’ll speak with some of them about the educational institutions that thousands of Native students depend on.

GUESTS

Christopher Caldwell (Menominee), president of the College of Menominee Nation

Leander McDonald (Dakota, Arikara, Hidatsa and Hunkpapa), president of the United Tribes Technical College

Manoj Patil, president of Little Priest Tribal College

Break 1 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Dakota Nation (artist) Home of the Champions (album)

Break 2 Music: Coffee (song) James Bilagody (artist) Near Midnight (album)