Tribal Colleges Endowment Program

To enhance educational opportunities at the thirty-five (35) Land Grant Institutions by strengthening their teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences in targeted need areas.

The legislation designates that the interest from the endowment funds benefit the 1994 land-Grant institutions by supporting teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences in the target areas of:
1) Curricula design and instructional materials
2) Faculty development and preparation for teaching
3) Instruction delivery systems
4) Student experiential learning
5) Equipment & instrumentation for teaching
6) Student recruitment and retention

Additionally, endowment funds released on or after October 1, 2001, also may be used for facility renovation, repair, construction and maintenance to support teaching programs in the food and agriculture sciences in addition to the above six (6) areas, to support the land-grant mission.

Eligibility is defined by legislation. An institution must be an accredited 1994 Land Grant Institution with current accreditation from a recognized accreditation organization.

On the termination of each fiscal year, the Secretary of Agriculture withdraws the earned interest from the Endowment fund and distributes it to the 1994s on a pro rata basis. The pro rata basis formula is as follows: 60 percent is based on the Indian student count for each institution; 40 percent is distributed in equal shares. Interest distributions are made on an annual basis. The interest earned from the endowment corpus is distributed to each 1994 Institution based on a 60-40 percentage formula: • 60 percent (60%) is based on the number of American Indian students enrolled (based on the annual Student Indian Count as defined in Section 390(3) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act) will be furnished to the agency by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium - AIHEC) and

• 40 percent (40%) on an equal base formula. The computation is made by NIFA and a letter of notification is sent to each 1994 institution President.

The Endowment Interest distribution is available to the 1994 Institutions to be drawn down at their discretion through the electronic payment systems of either the Department of Health and Human Services (PMS) or through the Treasury ASAP system. Upon notification of their annual distribution, 1994s are required to submit a Planning Document (subject to approval) on how their Endowment funds will be spent.