Yakama Provide Money from Gaming to Members for College

For the first time, the 10,000-member Yakama Nation is devoting some of it gaming profits to help tribal members pursue a higher education, according to an article published today in The Daily Herald.

In the state of Washington, just 13 percent of Native Americans have a bachelor’s degree — half the rate of the state’s white population, the paper said, attributing the statistics to a report called Pathways for Native Students, based on research conducted by colleges in western Washington.

Of the Yakama, only 6.5 percent of tribal members age 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree; and just 35 percent of adults are high school graduates.