Trump administration proposes 90% cut to tribal college funding

The Trump administration has proposed a nearly 90% reduction in funding for tribal colleges and universities, a move that could force most to close, according to reporting by ProPublica. The Department of the Interior’s 2026 budget request slashes funding for postsecondary tribal programs from more than $182 million to just over $22 million, impacting all 37 tribal colleges.

Ahniwake Rose, president and CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, said the proposed cuts would be unsustainable. “The numbers that are being proposed would close the tribal colleges,” Rose told ProPublica. The Bureau of Indian Education and Department of the Interior declined to comment. Congress, which has final budget authority, passed a 1978 law committing to fund tribal colleges, but appropriations have fallen short. Tribal leaders said the cuts violate treaty obligations and would rob Native students of opportunity.