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For second time, Trump seeks to eliminate federal funding for tribal colleges and universities
The proposal would eliminate funding for the Institute for American Indian Arts and cut support for about three dozen tribal colleges, leaders said.
President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, released last week, seeks to slash funding for Tribal Colleges and Universities and entirely eliminate support for the Institute for American Indian Arts .
For the second consecutive year, the administration has proposed slashing federal funding for tribal education, following previous efforts to reallocate grants and reduce support for schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education .
Relying on federal funding tied to treaty responsibilities, TCUs provide education to mostly rural populations, with most colleges receiving the majority of their funding from the federal government.
Ahniwake Rose, president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, warned the proposal would force closures within a year, while Sen. Ben Ray Luján called the cuts a "direct attack on Native communities."
With the proposal now before Congress, tribal leaders are urging lawmakers to reject the cuts, noting they do not expect previously reallocated funds to materialize this year.