President Clinton has signed an executive order that expands opportunities for federal assistance to tribal colleges and universities that serve approximately 25,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students. At the request of the White House, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt made the announcement in Phoenix, AZ, today before the opening session of the National Congress of American Indians.
President Clinton's Executive Order recognizes, for the first time, a government-wide federal commitment to tribal colleges. This order will: promote tribal sovereignty and individual achievement; strengthen tribal colleges and universities; offer expanded learning and future career opportunities for tribal members; improve tribal higher education so more tribal members will continue on to four-year institutions. This Executive Order also will advance National Education Goals and federal policy in Indian education.
President Clinton's approval of the Executive Order for Tribal Colleges and Universities promotes the same successful strategies as two other higher-education Executive Orders that he signed for Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1993 and for Hispanic Serving Institutions in 1994.
"This Executive Order makes a solid connection between this Administration's priority to improve education and its ongoing efforts to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with tribes and tribal self-sufficiency," said Babbitt, who chairs the Working Group on American Indians and Alaska Natives of the White House Domestic Policy Council.
"We thank President Clinton for signing this Executive Order on behalf of American Indian tribes and their youth," said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer, who co-chairs the Working Group's Subgroup on Education. "This action also promotes the preservation and revitalization of American Indian and Alaska Native languages and cultural traditions."
To carry out these goals, the order calls for the creation of a presidentially appointed board of advisors and a White House Initiative Office within the Department of Education. Each participating federal agency, including the Interior Department, will be required to prepare a five-year plan that details how it will assist tribal colleges in participating in federal programs, address barriers to funding opportunities, and eliminate inequalities and disadvantages. Annual progress reports also will be prepared by the agencies for review by the Secretary of Education in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The tribal colleges are:
