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FLC Native American Tuition Waiver Program: A Colorado Success Story
President Thomas meets with Congressional leaders to support the program
In 1911, the state of Colorado struck a deal with the federal government. The deal was that Colorado would receive over 6,000 acres of federal land in the southwestern part of the state and in return Colorado would operate a school that Native American and Alaska Native students could attend tuition-free.
Born on that land was the school that would one day become Fort Lewis College and, more than a century later, many thousands of Native American and Alaska Native students have used Colorado’s promise to earn an education. Many of those FLC graduates have taken their education back to their home communities and reservations and made a positive impact.
Recently, FLC President Dene Thomas traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Congressional leaders in order to reintroduce federal legislation that would help Colorado continue its century-old commitment, which is fulfilled today through the FLC Native American Tuition Waiver program. Republican Representative Scott Tipton and Democratic Senator Michael Bennet have previously sponsored bills that would allow the federal government to reimburse Colorado for the tuition costs of Native American and Alaska Native students who receive the waiver and are not residents of Colorado.
A hundred years ago, no one could have imagined that the tuition waiver program would grow into the national success story it is today. In fall 2014, over 1,100 Native American and Alaska Native students from more than 150 tribes attended Fort Lewis College on the waiver program. Of those students, more than 85 percent came to Colorado and FLC from out of state.
The federal efforts to support the Fort Lewis College Native American Tuition Waiver program are backed by a variety of groups and organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians, National Indian Gaming Association, Native American Rights Fund, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Southern Ute Tribe, and the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs.
Learn more about the FLC Tuition Waiver program.