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The University of Arizona waives college tuition for native students in the state

(CNN)The University of Arizona announced this week that it will soon be exempt from tuition and tuition for any undergraduate student. .. A tribe recognized by 22 federal governments in the state.

Known as the Arizona Native Scholarship Grant, the program will be available to Native American students from this fall to the present and future, according to theUniversity News Releasemore than 400 students. It will be released. The university said that those who enrolled last year are eligible for the initiative.

"Serving Arizona's Native American tribes and tribal students is an important part of the University of Arizona's Land Grant Mission, and the Arizona Native Scholars Grant Program does it. It's one of many important steps in the university, "C. Robins, President of the University of Arizona, said in a statement. “We are very proud that this university has found a way for hundreds of students to easily access and complete undergraduate education. We look forward to finding ways to take these efforts further.

Arizona University is one of severalstate universities, andhas educational institutions inCalifornia,and is Native American. We have announced that we will cover the tuition and tuition fees of our students. Among those with similar initiatives, Colorado,Michigan,Oregon.

The university was built on indigenous land,

Given the history of the University of Arizona, this move is a form of state compensation. Indigenous peoples that may be considered.

The University of Arizona is a land-granterforand one of the dozens of US universities funded by the sale of expropriated indigenous land for.These institutions were born from the Morrill Act of1862. The law was intended to make higher education accessible to national farmers and industry classes. Under the law, the state was given federal land and could sell it to fund a college of agriculture and machinery.
However, the federal land that generated money for higher education was robbed by indigenous peoples. According to a 2020 survey by High Country News, the United States seized nearly 11 million acres of indigenous land from nearly 250 tribes, bands and communities, and built a Land-Grant University system. Not only were many of those universities built on indigenous lands, but their donations were partially funded by them-and some institutions continue to benefit from those lands to this day. Masu, High Country News reported.
The University of Arizona, once inhabited by the Pima, Yuman, Tohonoodam, Navajo, and Apache, received over 143,000 acres and raised nearly $ 450,000 as part of the Morrill Act. did. According to data from High Country News, with the principal of the fund.

Tribal leaders sought exemption from tuition fees

The University of Arizona issuedas part of its designation as a land granting institution. Publiclyhas promised to serve the indigenous communities of thestate.

For Levi Esquera, Senior Vice President of Native American Progress and Tribal Engagement in Schools, it means working to build relationships with the tribes and address their concerns. increase.

Tribal leaders have specifically urged universities to waive tuition for native students, given their history as land-granters, Esquera said. His office worked with partners in the admissions, Provost, and President's offices to make that happen.

"These initiatives and what we are doing. They are not checkmarks," he told CNN. "They haven't been in a long time, but they're based on relationships with the tribal community." He said it would lower the barriers and improve access to higher education for indigenous students.

"The new grant program is a major step forward in UArizona's efforts to respect indigenous heritage and support indigenous students," he said in a statement to CNN. "It is important that we educate young people in world-class educational institutions like U Arizona and allow them to bring back what they have learned to support and strengthen our community."

Approximately 3% ofundergraduates enrolled at the University of Arizona in the fall of 2021 were identified asAmerican Indians or Alaska Natives. That is, indigenous peoples are slightly underestimated. Make up about 5% of Arizona's population. According to the
National Center for Education Statistics, less than 1% of undergraduate students are descendants of Native Americans or Alaska Natives nationally. University enrollment has declined overall over the last decade, but data show that Native Americans and Alaska Natives have experienced the sharpest decline.