A pow wow graduation celebration on MSU Denver's campus. Photo by Abreham Gebreegziabher.
Students are eligible if they are Colorado residents enrolled in at least one of the 574 federally recognized Indigenous nations and enrolled in at least one credit-bearing course. This comes on the heels of state legislation that requires Colorado higher education to provide in-state tuition for students who are members of the state’s Indigenous population.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of Native Americans live in urban or suburban areas, and only 14.5% of American Indian or Alaska Natives have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Dr. David Heska Wanbli Weiden, member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and professor of political science and leader of MSU Denver’s Native American Studies program, called the scholarship “long overdue.”
“It’s time for the state of Colorado and MSU Denver to honor the obligations to Indigenous people whose land we are living on,” said Weiden.
