Four National Native Scholarship Providers Release National Study on College Affordability for Indigenous Students

First-of-its kind collaborative research will increase Indigenous student visibility in higher education while informing effective practices of student support to increase student achievement.

The National Native Scholarships Providers (NNSP) has released its first-ever National Study on College Affordability for Indigenous Students. The research and report, which were funded by a grant from Lumina Foundation, are the result of a collaboration of collection, data-sharing, analysis, and reporting between the nation’s four Native scholarship providers: the American Indian College Fund, the Cobell Scholarship, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, and Native Forward Scholars Fund (formerly American Indian Graduate Center). Researchers have found the primary obstacle to college completion is affordability, causing overall college student attrition. Yet until NNSP’s research, the national data on the effect of college affordability on Indigenous students’ college completion had not been fully explored.

Sarah EchoHawk, Chief Executive Officer of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), said, “The incredible data produced by this national study will shed a more direct light on our Indigenous students and the financial barriers that they face along their educational journeys. This information not only allows AISES to better support our students’ financial needs, but it also provides deeper context to our overall mission goals as an organization. The collaborative efforts with the other National Native Scholarship Providers are truly remarkable in terms of the impact this work will have on our Indigenous students in Indian Country.”

View the press release here.