The University of Illinois Chicago recently announced that they will offer in-state tuition for any students who are members of the 537 tribal nations recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
There are tribal nations not federally recognized. For example, they might be unrecognized, petitioning to be recognized, or only recognized by the US state they are located in.
Based on UIC’s current tuition, this should mean a savings of $13,000-$14,000 a year!
The vice provost for academic and enrollment services at UIC, Kevin Browne, said, “What we are doing is taking away one of the financial roadblocks, which is out-of-state tuition and recognize the historic tie between Illinois with the American tribal nations… One of the things we wanted to do to create a fairer playing field for Native Americans is to recognize that their nations did not recognize state boundaries.”
Check out the university’s press release here: