Tribal Colleges - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Tribal Colleges

Tribal colleges throughout North Dakota may soon receive funding from the state.

A bill making its way through legislature, would give five million dollars in grant funds.

Senate Bill 2218 would establish workforce development grants.

Funding would then be used to provide job training and educational programs to prepare students for jobs in North Dakota.

The Senate unanimously passed the vote and will now move to the House for consideration.

If the bill passes, the money would be split evenly among the five tribal colleges in the state.

With unemployment rates at 55 percent on North Dakota reservations, the presidents of the universities believe more specific job training can directly help impact the unemployment rate.

(Cynthia Lindquist, President, Cankdeska Cikana Community College) "Here you have a segment of the states population who are impoverished, have economic and health disparities, and various other issues. Yet we are a young and vital population and through the tribal colleges we think we can train more people, more North Dakota citizens to be put to work in various sector. Including the oil boom and what's happening in the western part of the state."

The bill will be presented to the House next week.