The Vision – A Sanctuary of Learning

Northwest Indian College was once just a dream, a hope of the Lummi people that their children would one day be able to get a college degree and help their community. A place, where their youth would feel welcomed, where they could learn about their history and treaty rights , where they could learn about the world around them without losing their own identity, a place that merged the two worlds—a sanctuary of learning. Now, thirty years later, that dream has become a reality. Northwest Indian College has become a sanctuary of learning for Native and Non-Native students across the nation. We are living the dreams of our ancestors.

And that dream has grown and Northwest Indian College is now the nation’s only regional tribal college with students attending from over 130 different tribes. As the vision of Northwest Indian College continues to grow, the financial demands have also grown. One of the challenges of Northwest Indian College is that as a federally funded institution, the funding levels are considerably lower compared to other minority serving institutions. In order to provide a sanctuary of learning for generations to come, Northwest Indian College seeks financial freedom and become less reliant on federal funding and more self-sufficient.