Scholarships make college possible
BY S.E. RUCKMAN World Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
About 123,000 American Indian students attend
public schools in Oklahoma.
Graduation seems a world away
to Summer Cornelius, a senior at
Memorial High School in Tulsa.
Between playing in the school's
orchestra and membership in the
National Honor Society, she
hasn't decided where to go to
college, let alone how she will
pay for it.
Still, it is in the back of her
mind, she said.
"Life is important, and you have
to put work into it," Cornelius,
17, said.
Cornelius, a member of the
Seminole Nation, is one of
hundreds of high school seniors
who will look for financial
assistance from her tribe after
graduation to help meet the
rising costs of college.
With about 123,000 American
Indian students attending
Oklahoma's public schools, the
need for tribal college assistance
is growing.
American Indian students are
likely to look to their tribes for
general and federal scholarships
that can mean from $1,000 to
$3,700 per semester per student,
depending on the tribal affiliation,
officials said.
Guidelines vary from tribe to
tribe. Most include threshold
income and grade requirements.
Proof of tribal citizenship is a
standard requirement.
Some Oklahoma tribes receive
federal Bureau of Indian Affairs
funding to pay for education
costs, but that money is limited.
Several successful gaming
tribes, such as the Choctaw
Nation in Durant, choose to
supplement federal funds with
tribal funds.
The extra funding not only
ensures that more tribal students
enroll in college but that they
stay there, Choctaw Nation Chief
Greg Pyle said.
"It is vital that the Choctaw
Nation provide education
opportunities to its tribal
members," he said.
Some tribes, such as the
Osage, Choctaw and Iowa, offer
financial incentives to enrolled
students with qualifying grades.
The grades-based bonuses get the
message across, said Robert
Hyatt, the Osage Nation's higher
education director.
Tribes that don't have motor
fuels operations still qualify for
money set aside in a group fund
that their students can access.
The money in this fund is a
percentage of pooled revenues
earned by state tribes with motor
fuels operations.
S.E. Ruckman 581-8462
se.ruckman@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Summer Cornelius,
17, is a senior at
Memorial High
School. She is
among hundreds of
American Indian
students who might
seek financial
assistance for
college from her
tribe.
Summer Cornelius,
17, is a senior at
Memorial High
School. She is
among hundreds of
American Indian
students who might
seek financial
assistance for
college from her
tribe.
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