Can Native Americans Go to College for Free? Waivers and Grants

No, Native Americans cannot go to college for free as a blanket benefit. There is no federal law or treaty that guarantees tuition-free higher education to Native students, and the American Indian College Fund states plainly that “Native Americans do not receive a free college education” as a group.¹ What exists instead is a patchwork of programs — a handful of tuition-free institutions, state waivers at public colleges, university-specific initiatives, federal grants, and private scholarships — each with its own eligibility rules. Some Native students can piece together enough aid to cover tuition entirely. Most still pay out of pocket for housing, food, books, and fees.

Why There’s No Universal Free-College Benefit

Treaties between tribal nations and the federal government guarantee access to K–12 education on reservations. Those obligations do not extend to college. No federal entitlement provides tuition-free higher education to Native students on the basis of heritage or tribal citizenship alone. Every program that covers tuition is tied to a specific tribe, state, institution, or funder, and each defines who qualifies on its own terms.

Colleges Where Tuition Is Free for Eligible Native Students

Two federally connected schools charge no tuition to Native students, each based on a distinct historical obligation.

Haskell Indian Nations University

Haskell, in Lawrence, Kansas, charges no tuition to members of federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The university is funded entirely by federal appropriations through the Bureau of Indian Education and serves more than 900 students from about 140 tribal nations. Students still pay modest institutional fees: roughly $715 per semester for on-campus residents and $240 for off-campus students, covering housing, food service, technology, and library access.²

Fort Lewis College

Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, has offered tuition-free attendance to Native students since 1911, when the federal government transferred a former military base and Indian boarding school to the state on the condition that Native students be admitted “free of tuition.”³ The waiver is open to enrolled citizens of any federally recognized tribe or Alaska Native village, and to children of enrolled citizens. There is no state residency requirement, which makes Fort Lewis one of the few schools where a Native student from any state can attend without paying tuition.⁴ More than 100 tribal nations are typically represented in the student body. The waiver covers tuition only; books, fees, housing, and meal plans are the student’s responsibility, and the program is funded through Colorado’s general fund at an estimated $13 million a year.⁵

State Tuition Waivers at Public Colleges

Several states waive tuition for qualifying Native students at their public colleges. Rules vary sharply.

Michigan

The Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver, created by Public Act 174 of 1976, covers tuition at all 15 public universities and 28 community colleges in the state.⁶ To qualify, a student must be an enrolled citizen of a U.S. federally recognized tribe, have at least one-quarter Native American blood quantum certified by a Tribal Enrollment Department, and have been a legal Michigan resident for at least 12 consecutive months.⁷ There is no income limit. Only tuition is covered.⁸

Montana

Montana’s American Indian Tuition Waiver covers undergraduate tuition within the Montana University System for enrolled members of federally or state-recognized tribes located in Montana. Applicants must be Montana residents, complete the FAFSA, and demonstrate financial need.⁹ The waiver does not cover mandatory fees, program fees, or self-supporting courses.

Effective July 1, 2026, the Montana Board of Regents eliminated the one-quarter blood quantum requirement and expanded eligibility to include descendants of tribal members, not just enrolled members.¹⁰ How each tribe defines “descendant” varies. No new state funding accompanied the change; campuses absorb the cost.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts offers a Native American Tuition Credit (formerly a waiver) for undergraduates at public colleges. Eligibility extends to members of Massachusetts state-recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes, and Canadian tribes recognized by the Canadian government.¹¹ Applicants must be Massachusetts residents and can prove membership with a tribal ID, an official verification letter, or genealogical records tracing back to the 1859 Massachusetts Earle Report.¹² The credit does not automatically cover full tuition; the actual amount depends on the student’s overall aid package, and campus fees are excluded.¹³

Colorado

Beyond the Fort Lewis waiver, Colorado’s Senate Bill 21-029 grants in-state tuition to members of 48 tribes with historical ties to the state, reducing annual costs by roughly $15,000 per student at public colleges.¹⁴

University-Specific Tuition Programs

Individual universities have created their own programs for Native students. The most substantial are below.

University of California System

The UC Native American Opportunity Plan, effective fall 2022, covers systemwide tuition and Student Services Fees for undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled members of federally recognized tribes and California residents.¹⁵ There is no separate application; UC identifies eligible students. It is often mistaken for a full ride. It does not pay for housing, books, transportation, or campus-specific fees, which can run from about $5,000 to $27,000 a year depending on where a student lives.¹⁶ Students whose tuition is already fully covered by federal or state aid receive no additional benefit.

University of Minnesota

The Native American Promise Tuition Program, launched in fall 2022, covers 100% of tuition for undergraduate students who are enrolled citizens of one of Minnesota’s 11 federally recognized tribes and whose family income is below $125,000.¹⁷ Families earning between $75,000 and $125,000 receive 80% to 90% coverage.¹⁸ It applies at the Crookston, Duluth, Rochester, and Twin Cities campuses. A separate American Indian Tuition Waiver covers students at the Morris campus. The Promise program is a last-dollar benefit — federal, state, and institutional grants apply first — and does not cover housing, fees, or books.

University of Arizona

The Arizona Native Scholars Grant, announced in June 2022, covers base tuition, mandatory fees, and college fees for full-time undergraduates from any of Arizona’s 22 federally recognized tribes who qualify for in-state residency. Financial need is not required, but the grant is last-dollar, filling what remains after Pell, merit scholarships, and other gift aid. It runs up to eight consecutive semesters and excludes housing, meals, and books.¹⁹

Oregon State University

Since fall 2022, Oregon State has classified enrolled members of all federally recognized tribes as Oregon residents for tuition purposes, no matter where they live.²⁰ This is a residency reclassification, not a waiver. It reduces tuition from roughly $35,000 out-of-state to about $13,000 in-state.²¹ Members of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes may also qualify for the Oregon Tribal Student Grant Program, which can cover the full cost of attendance at Oregon public and private nonprofit colleges.

University of Maine System

Maine has offered a Native American tuition waiver since the 1930s. The current program covers all tuition and mandatory fees for undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled tribal members or direct descendants — children or grandchildren of enrolled members.²² Members of Maine’s four Wabanaki tribes (Passamaquoddy, Penobscot Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet, and Aroostook Band of Micmac) face no residency requirement. Members of other federally, state, or provincially recognized tribes, including Canadian Wabanaki tribes, must have lived in Maine for at least 12 months.²³ A separate need-based grant covers room and board at the double-occupancy rate. This is one of the few programs that directly addresses non-tuition costs.

Federal Grants and Tribal Colleges

The Bureau of Indian Education runs a Higher Education Grant Program that provides supplemental aid to Native students pursuing associate or bachelor’s degrees. Funding is limited and awards depend on financial need. Students must be members of, or at least one-quarter blood descendants of members of, a tribe eligible for Bureau of Indian Affairs services and enrolled at a nationally accredited institution. Applications go through tribal education offices, not the BIE directly.²⁴ A separate BIE-funded program run through the American Indian Graduate Center supports full-time master’s and doctoral students who are enrolled members of federally recognized tribes. The Indian Health Service offers a scholarship covering full tuition, fees, books, and a living stipend for students in health professions, engineering, and accounting.

The most common federal aid for Native students is the same one available to any low-income student: the Pell Grant. In 2019–2020, 79% of students at Tribal Colleges and Universities received one.¹

The country’s 34 accredited Tribal Colleges and Universities, spread across 75 campuses in 13 states, serve about 33,000 students with culturally grounded, affordable programs.²⁵ Most are not free. They receive federal support but little or no state funding and lack local property tax revenue, which the American Indian College Fund describes as leaving them “seriously under-resourced.”

Private Scholarships

Because public programs often fall short, private scholarships fill much of the gap. The American Indian College Fund has awarded more than $349 million since 1989 and distributed $20.5 million in scholarships and direct student support in the 2023–24 fiscal year.²⁶ Awards average $2,000 to $3,000 and are open to enrolled members of federally or state-recognized tribes and to descendants of enrolled members, a broader standard than most government programs.²⁷ The organization says it can currently support only about 1 in 10 applicants.¹

The Native Forward Scholars Fund, the largest direct scholarship provider to Native students, offers more than 40 scholarship opportunities through a single application. Average annual awards run $5,700 for first-generation undergraduates and $11,700 for graduate students.²⁸

What “Free Tuition” Doesn’t Cover

Almost every program described above covers tuition and, sometimes, mandatory fees. Housing, food, books, transportation, and campus-specific fees typically are not included, and those costs can exceed tuition itself.

Most tuition waivers are also structured as last-dollar awards. They apply only after federal and state grants have been counted. For the lowest-income students, whose Pell Grants and state aid may already cover tuition, a last-dollar waiver can add nothing while leaving housing and food unpaid. Critics have argued that last-dollar structures function more as enrollment marketing than as meaningful support for the neediest students. A few programs are structured differently. New Mexico’s state program lets students stack Pell Grants, local scholarships, and private aid on top of the state benefit and use the combined funding for books, housing, food, transportation, and child care.²⁹

Who Gets Left Out

Even where tuition programs exist, many Native students cannot access them. Nearly all government-run waivers require enrollment in a federally recognized tribe. That excludes students from tribes without federal recognition, students who have been disenrolled, and people who cannot meet the blood quantum thresholds set by their own tribe. Students raised in foster care or separated from their families may lack the documentation needed to prove membership at all.³⁰

American Indian College Fund. Frequently Asked Questions

Haskell Indian Nations University. Cost to Attend Haskell

Fort Lewis College. Native American Tuition Waiver

Fort Lewis College. Statement on NATW

ICT News. A Historic Promise: Fort Lewis College Tuition Waiver Still Changing Lives

Michigan Association of State Universities. Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver Program

Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential. Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver

University of Michigan. Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver

Montana University System. American Indian Tuition Waiver

WTOP. Changes to Native Tuition Waiver Could Expand Access to Higher Education for Thousands

Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Native American Tuition Waiver Guidelines

Massachusetts. Native American Tuition Credit