The Colorado Student Government Coalition held a meeting at CSU-Pueblo Feb. 21 in which they proposed and passed two resolutions.
Representatives from schools all over Colorado attended the meeting with the Associated Students’ Government CSU-Pueblo. They included Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Fort Lewis College, Arizona State University, Mesa College, Metro State University Denver, University of Colorado Denver, University of North Carolina and Western State.
Fort Lewis College presented the Resolution 15-001, which in support of HB15-1027, requires all Colorado public institutions of higher education to offer in-state tuition classification to all individuals from federally recognized Native American tribes with ties to Colorado. Representatives voted on and passed the proposal with a 7-2 decision.
Another topic of discussion at the meeting was that Native American students are much less likely to go to college than students from other backgrounds.
“Each additional student who goes to a state school generates new revenue. Not paying taxes and receiving scholarships, Native Americans do not want to be a part of the federal system,” said a Colorado School of Mines representative.
CSU-Pueblo had a similar concern.
“All colleges have to do this with whatever financial concerns are present,” a CSU-Pueblo representative said.
Resolution 15-002, which supports Native American Higher Education, was presented by Fort Lewis College in which the state of Colorado cannot continue to fund this crucial service for the Native American students who represent 46 U.S. states, 191 congressional districts and over 270 tribal governments at Fort Lewis College.
The CSGC voted in favor of the proposal, and by doing so, endorsed the Native American Indian Education Act.
According to Fort Lewis College, only 36 percent of out-of-state applicants for the fall 2015 semester come from Native American students.
The tuition waiver will cost the State of Colorado $16,011,096.
