WHATEVER IT TAKES: Creating Pathways for Student Success at Tribal Colleges and Universities

2023
k American Indian College Fund

Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) were formed to provide a culturally relevant postsecondary education to American Indian and Alaska Native students. TCUs offer an array of services to support their students’ success; however, little is known about the breadth of these services. This research brief summarizes a qualitative study of 34 leaders, faculty members, and staff members from five TCUs. The study examined how student success is defined at TCUs and the programs and activities TCUs are implementing to support their students. At TCUs, the definition of student success goes beyond the traditional measures of enrollment, retention, and graduation to include students gaining cultural knowledge, impacting their communities, and meeting their individual goals. TCUs focus their programs and activities on three areas: outreach, retention, and postgraduation. They are implementing an impressively large number of programs that can be characterized as holistic, student-tailored, culturally based, and family- and community-focused. All TCU staff, from custodians to leaders, embody a unique, “whatever it takes” philosophy of supporting their students.