American Indian College Fund Raises Alarm Over Plan to Shift Native Programs Away From the Dept. of Education
Following Tuesday’s announcement that the Trump administration is dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, the American Indian College Fund is warning that the Trump administration’s plan to transfer more than a dozen federal education programs to other agencies could jeopardize Native students’ access to essential services and undermine the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations.
On Tuesday, the administration announced plans to move programs currently housed within the U.S. Department of Education to the Interior and Labor departments, while others will move to Health and Human Services and the State Department.
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Native educators and tribal leaders said the proposal raises concerns about the stability of funding, staffing and the quality of education provided to American Indian and Alaska Native students in grades K-12 and higher education.
“Only Congress has the power to dismantle the Department of Education,” the College Fund said in a statement. He criticized the administration’s plan to use interagency agreements to change programs while retaining funding and partial oversight within the department, calling it “an attempt to circumvent congressional authority.”
The group noted that key programs supporting Native students — including the Office of Indian Education, which oversees the federally mandated National Advisory Council on Indian Education — could be disrupted or weakened as part of the restructuring.
The College Fund also said the administration failed to consult with tribal nations and provided little clarity on how moving oversight of postsecondary education to the Department of the Interior would affect tribal colleges and universities. The Bureau of Indian Education, which already faces long-standing challenges, is housed within Interior.
“Any action regarding Native education, including tribal colleges and universities, must respect the federal government’s trust and treaty responsibility to provide Native education,” the statement said.
While the administration says giving states more control over education policy would improve outcomes, tribal leaders counter that states are not parties to federal treaties with Native nations.
“This is solely the federal government’s legal relationship with tribes, and that relationship cannot be outsourced,” the College Fund said.
The organization called for close oversight to ensure the stability of tribal colleges and continued access to quality higher education for Native students, calling it essential to the “sustainability of our families, our community, and our future.”
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