Volume 1 Number 2
January 1962

William C. Howard

Director of Indian Education

Montana State Department of Public Instruction

Helena, Montana

Along with the many aids available to American Indian youth for continuing education beyond the high school, the State of Montana has provided in its statutes that certain Indians may enroll in any of the units of the university system without the payment of fees. The University of Montana consists of the following units: Northern Montana College, Havre; Eastern Montana College of Education, Billings; Western Montana College of Education, Dillon; Montana State College, Bozeman; Montana School of Mines, Butte; and Montana State University, Missoula. Northern Montana College offers both academic and vocational curricula.

In order for a student to be eligible for the state scholarship, he must have inherited at least one-quarter degree Indian blood, he must have graduated from an accredited high school or federal Indian school in Montana, and he must have shown evidence of studious and industrious habits.

Under the law, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is allowed to award twenty-four new scholarships a year of which six must be for study in the field of education. The scholarship has a monetary value of approximately $150 a year and is good for four years. We admit that this is a very modest scholarship when compared to others being offered; nevertheless, the Department of Public Instruction has received many notes, letters and verbal expressions of appreciation from holders.

The State Director of Indian Education keeps a file of all applications and recommends students for the award. The prospective recipient is asked to supply a small photograph of himself, three references of character and scholastic ability, a transcript of his high school or college work, and an application form on which his reservation superintendent certifies to the degree of Indian blood.

Ile Indian scholarship program became law in 1951 and since that time has been utilized by Indian youth to greater or lesser degrees. Quite often students were awarded scholarships which were never used, or used for only a short period of time. Records in the Director's office indicate that in the last three years the program has become more popular, and the number of college dropouts in this category has tended to become less. The school year of 1960-61 saw 113 students of varying degrees of Indian blood in private colleges and university units in Montana; of this number, forty were attending under the Indian fee-exemption scholarship program. As of this writing, the Director's office has approved applications for twenty-two scholarships and twenty-three renewals for the 1961-1961 school year. Others are waiting for final approval. There will be a few who will miss out on state scholarships due to the late filing of their applications.

In order for our Indian young people to be made more aware of the opportunities available in higher education, an educational specialist from the Billings Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Director of Indian Education, Department of Public Instruction, visit all high schools on or near our seven reservations at least once a year. They discuss with the school administrators, counselors, and students the aids available to Indian young people for furthering their education. The same two people also visit the college campuses, talk with college counselors, check with registrars, encourage students, and do whatever is within their power to see these young people through a college career.

The Indian students of Montana are showing an ever increasing interest in education beyond the high school. This is reflected in an increasing number of Indian youth receiving degrees in the fields of law, business administration, education, agriculture and nursing, and a few going on into graduate study. It may be mentioned here, also, that in this past year beside those enrolled in post-high school vocational courses in off-reservation boarding schools, twenty-three Indian students were enrolled in short-term resident courses offered by our commercial colleges.

Several of our tribes have provided attractive loan and grant programs for their people which offer additional financial aid with which to continue schooling after high school graduation.

It is the hope of this department that our Indian leadership will continue to encourage further education for those who can and will profit from it; that educators will show increased concern in the education of our Indian population; that Indian youth will pursue both academic and vocational training beyond the high school; that future Montana lawmakers will witness good results brought about, in part at least, from the aid derived under our State Scholarship Law, and see fit to increase the number of scholarships available to the Indian people of Montana.