Partners and Cohorts

//AIHEC

“The collection of important resource documents for our community.”

AIHEC produces many resources for their member institutions and their students to use or reference in their own advocacy efforts, for their individual national or regional meetings, and for their day-to-day operations. To locate these resources more easily, AIHEC has made all the common and relevant resources available on their website for their members, students, and the general public. Resources that AIHEC makes available include advocacy or meeting documents, AIHEC historical archives, summaries of past AIHEC initiatives, current grant and student opportunities, AIHEC policies and procedures, and links to partners and funders.

American Indian College Fund

Educating the Mind and Spirit—The American Indian College Fund was established in 1989 to provide scholarships to American Indian students and to fund and create awareness about the community-based accredited tribal colleges and universities that offer students access to knowledge and skills alongside Native culture, language, and values.

Bureau of Indian Education

BIE provides quality education opportunities from early childhood through life in accordance with a tribe’s needs for cultural and economic well-being, in keeping with the wide diversity of Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages as distinct cultural and governmental entities.

BNFS Railway Foundation

BNSF Railway Foundation

The AIHEC/BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) Tribal College and University Nation Building Initiative supports projects that advance the common goal of TCUs to further the nation building efforts of American Indian tribes. Awardee TCUs are implementing projects spanning a wide range of activities, including course development, faculty and staff professional development, workforce development, and community service projects. Projects were selected for their relevance to nation building (including development of the next generation of tribal leaders). A strong emphasis was placed on innovative proposals that could be replicated across Indian Country.

NASA OSSI

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has named AIHEC a member of NASA’s Facilitator/Broker Corps, a component of its One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI), which NASA established to increase participation in student research internship, fellowship, and scholarship opportunities. This project is designed to bridge individual Tribal College academic and student support programs and NASA science education and research resources in a synergistic manner, enhancing the educational and career development resources available to the college, while increasing the effectiveness of NASA education, research, and workforce development programs to engage and recruit American Indian students.
NASA OSSI Brochure NASA OSSI LaunchPad

National Science Foundation

With the support from NSF, AIHEC works to improve the effectiveness of STEM courses and programs in preparing TCU students for participation in the national STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) workforce, and to improve the evaluation of STEM program in TCUs and in schools or state/federal agencies that influence K-12 Indian education.

Peace Corps

AIHEC is partnering with Peace Corps to ensure that all Tribal Colleges and Universities, staff, students and supporters are aware of the volunteer, education, and career opportunities available through the Peace Corps.

USDA Leadership Group

USDA partners with AIHEC to conduct programs and activities that will enhance the capability of American Indian/Alaska Natives to attain educational excellence and to contribute positively to the fulfillment of the USDA’s mission. This partnership is coordinated through USDA’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.

US Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Energy

The Energy Department, AIHEC and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) have partnered to bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) research and education funding to our nation’s TCUs and other United States universities around the country. The program, American Indian Research and Education Initiative (AIREI) is funding six schools—three pairs of tribal colleges and mainstream universities—to fund student and faculty research teams to bring energy projects to tribal land.

United States Environmental Protection Agency

EPA has partnered with AIHEC to pilot the Tribal ecoAmbassador Program which partners TCU professors with EPA scientists to solve the environmental problems most important to their tribal communities. AIHEC staff works directly with the TCUs to promote and disseminate information about the program, respond to inquiries, provide project support, and highlight the significant strides that each of the eight Tribal ecoAmbassador projects made in tribal environmental research.

Walmart Foundation

AIHEC, in collaboration with HACU (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities), and NAFEO (National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education) which serves the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions has received support from the Walmart Foundation for the Walmart AIHEC HACU NAFEO Student Success Collaborative which serves to increase college success rates at Minority Serving Institutions.

StreamLink Software: BoardMax

AIHEC has entered into a partnership agreement with StreamLink Software, the maker of BoardMax—a board management and communication software that helps manage meetings, documents and activities. BoardMax offers a special discount to TCUs to encourage the same adoption of an online board management portal.