HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 88

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Irvin Harrison

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE INTERIM LEGISLATIVE INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF USING TRIBAL REVENUE SHARING FOR TRIBAL COLLEGE STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS.

     WHEREAS, tribal colleges were created during the last thirty years in response to the higher education needs of Native Americans and generally serve geographically isolated populations that have no other means of accessing education beyond the high school level; and

     WHEREAS, tribal colleges have become increasingly essential in providing educational opportunities to Native American students because they combine personal attention and cultural relevance in a way that encourages Native Americans, especially those living on reservations, to overcome barriers to higher education; and

     WHEREAS, cultural and language differences often present difficulties to Native American students, and the geographic isolation of most reservations often inhibits student access to mainstream colleges; and

     WHEREAS, despite relatively low family income levels, tribal college students tend to have less access to the range of financial aid available to other students; for example, state and institutional sources together account for twenty-five percent of aid provided to all United States college students but less than one percent of aid provided to tribal college students; and

     WHEREAS, tribal colleges generally do not participate in the campus-based Perkins loan program, and very few tribal college students borrow Stafford loans; and

     WHEREAS, approximately eight percent of tribal college students receive supplemental educational opportunity grants with an average award of four hundred eleven dollars ($411), and approximately three percent of tribal college students receive an average of eight hundred fifty-one dollars ($851) in federal work-study funds, these average awards being lower than those of mainstream college students due to grandfather clauses in federal legislation that favor older institutions; and

     WHEREAS, although tribal colleges depend on the funds distributed through the federal Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978, appropriations are now less than half of the authorized amount because enrollment growth has outpaced the small increases in congressional appropriations and because the number of eligible tribal colleges has grown; and

     WHEREAS, to make up for the shortfall in revenue, most tribal colleges charge tuition that is high given the poverty levels of the communities they serve;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the interim legislative Indian affairs committee study the financial resources available to tribal college students, including the feasibility of using tribal revenue sharing for scholarships for tribal college students; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the interim legislative Indian affairs committee and the New Mexico office of Indian affairs.

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