Angelique Albert, CEO of Native Forward
It’s been an auspicious year for the Native Forward Scholars Fund, the nation’s largest provider of scholarship support for Native American undergraduate, graduate and professional students. A new name and significantly more funding are adding up to an organization that’s ready - according to its CEO, Angelique Albert - to “double its impact.”
The history of Native Forward stretches back more than 50 years. It began as the National Indian Scholarship Program, founded at the University of New Mexico in August, 1969 by two men - Robert L. Bennett (Oneida) and John C. Rainer (Taos Pueblo).
In 1989, when the organization celebrated its 20th anniversary, it was renamed the American Indian Graduate Center, the name it’s retained until this year. The name was chosen to reflect the organization’s expansion to become a national center with more services and activities.
The Center reached another major milestone in 2001 when it was selected as one of the four partner organizations to help administer the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program. It created American Indian Graduate Center Scholars, Inc to manage the scholarship, and it doubled its staff and office space at that time.
The scholarship was funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with the goal of funding 20,000 outstanding, low-income American Indian/Alaska Native, African American, Asian Pacific Islander American, and Hispanic students so they could complete the undergraduate degree of their choice.
A New Name
In 2022, the name of the organization was changed to the Native Forward Scholars Fund. Explaining the name change, Native Forward Board President Holly Cook Macarro (Red Lake Band of Ojibwe) said: “The two words Native Forward represent a clear declaration of our vision and mission to fund and empower the next generation of Native leaders. The name also speaks clearly to our collective histories and cultures and how we continue to support the path to opportunities for the Native scholars we serve. Since the origin of our organization our work has supported the forward movement of our Native communities – advancing new opportunities, and establishing new horizons for our scholars. Ultimately, Native Forward underscores how in turn, our scholars continue to share their knowledge, gifts, and talents with their individual communities.”
As a result of endowed gifts, federal resources, corporate support, and private donations from foundation, alumni and individuals, the organization has continued to grow and to date has provided about $350 million in total scholarship support to more than 20,000 recipients.
Those recipients come from all 50 states, representing more than 500 federally recognized tribes. They have attended undergraduate school, graduate school or professional school at 1700 different higher education institutions.
About 60% of Native Forward Scholars Fund recipients attend graduate or professional school, with the other 40% using their scholarships to help pay for their undergraduate studies. Fewer than 10% of the scholars attend a tribal college or university, a figure that’s not surprising given how many are postgraduates and how few tribal institutions offer a range of graduate degree options.
Last fiscal year the organization awarded nearly $14 million in scholarships and academic support services to 1,340 Native scholars. Those scholars represented 202 tribes from 49 states.
The average scholarship is about $11,000 per year, and many of the scholarships are renewable as long as students maintain adequate academic progress. Even with that level of support, most scholarship recipients face a significant funding gap to afford college - their annual unmet financial need averages about $26,000.
New Funding
In 2020, the then American Indian Graduate Center received the largest gift in its history - a $20 million unrestricted donation from Mackenzie Scott. Albert spoke of the impact she expected that gift to have: “One of the greatest gifts a person can give is access to education, and this gift will provide that for thousands of Native scholars and transform the landscape of higher education for Native people. The impact of this gift, not only on Native students but on Indian Country as a whole, is so profound that we will feel its effects for generations to come.”
A Greater Impact
With the assistance of the Scott funding and other resources, Native Forward is raising its sights with a new strategic plan for doubling its impact over the next five years. Among its goals:
- Increase the overall percentage of Native undergraduate students it funds from 1% to 2%.
- Increase the overall percentage of Native graduate/professional students it funds from 4% to 8%.
- Increase annual revenue from $16 to $30 million.
- Increase support staff from 20 to 50.
- Expand funding to include tribal descendants and state-recognized tribal members in addition to the federally recognized tribal members that are now eligible.
- Add new funding mechanisms to address costs such as doctoral research, testing fees, certification and licensure expenses, and emergency needs that may arise as they did so often during the pandemic.
- Continue to intensify the one-on-one support that Native Forward staff provide to each individual scholar, scaling up the wraparound support services that Albert wants each student to be able to depend on.
Those goals reflect Native Forward’s recognition of the educational disparities still facing Native communities. For example, Native adults are half as likely to have bachelor’s degrees compared to the overall U.S. population, and only 19% of Native people and Alaskan Natives aged 18-24 are enrolled in college, compared to 41% of the overall U.S. population.
Native Forward is bending those numbers in the right direction. Its undergraduate scholars have a graduation rate of 69%, compared to the national average of 41% for Native students, and 95% of its graduate students finish their programs. Still, Albert knows the needs remain profound.
“We are only able to fund 18% of our applicants,” she said. “The students who come to us are eager to pursue higher education, but the cost of that education is challenging and in some cases prohibitive. This is a solvable problem. With more resources, we can make sure that every Native scholar is empowered to achieve their goals.”
