Tribal Colleges to Improve Campuses with USDA Grants

On Sept. 19, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that 17 tribal colleges in eight states were awarded $4 million through its Rural Development Tribal College Grant program, created to help the colleges buy equipment, build or renovate classrooms, make repairs and finance infrastructure improvements.

Stone Child College in Box Elder, Mont., for example, received a $272,350 grant to repair infrastructure and build a greenhouse and mobile computer lab. Tohono O'odham Community College in Sells, Ariz., was awarded $272,350 to repair classrooms and other college buildings. The Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College in Michigan received $137,000 to pave parking lots, demolish and remove old dorms, do site preparation, install a new drain field at the main campus and buy two 16- passenger accessible buses and a new seven-passenger van. Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, S.D., received $272,350 to build a Head Start program building at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation.

"Education is one of the most effective economic development tools we can put into the hands of our tribal communities as they build their economic, business and social opportunities," Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said.

EPA Disallows $1.2 million for Undocumented Match

The Environmental Protection Agency disallowed $1,241,591 in grant funds awarded to the village of Wellsville, Ohio, in part because the village did not have documentation to support the receipt of required matching funds, a violation of OMB A-87. The moral of the story for tribal governments is that you need to document your matching funds – whether they are received in the form of cash or in-kind services.