Sequestration Means Fewer Classes, Faculty at Tribal Schools - Higher Education: Unless the stalemate over sequestration is resolved, July 1 will commence a dreary fiscal year for the nation’s tribal colleges and universities, according to school administrators and advocates. The 37 schools, which depend heavily on federal funds, are anticipating stringent cuts to programs, faculty and student services. For example:
- Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Mont., could lose $400,000 to $500,000 of its funding, according to school president David Yarlott. That means no summer session, laying off up to six faculty members and instituting a two-week furlough for roughly half the school’s 74 employees.
- Sitting Bull College on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, which straddles North and South Dakota, could lose almost $1 million. College president Laurel Vermillion expects to freeze salaries and ask employees to contribute 50 percent to health insurance. As a last resort, the school would increase tuition. Full-time students pay $1,800 per semester.
- Ilisagvik College in Barrow, Alaska could lose $355,000. The school may have to lay off tutors and learning center staff, while cutting other student services. “It would be a real disaster if we were to lose these funds,” college president Pearl Brower said in a press release.
- Tribal colleges and universities are public institutions that are chartered and operated by federally recognized tribes or the federal government. A majority of students and board members must be American Indian citizens.
