The University of Wisconsin–Madison selected 73 inaugural recipients this fall for a financial aid program designed to help Indigenous students attend the university, The Capital Times reports. The privately funded Wisconsin Tribal Educational Promise covers attendance costs for in-state students who are members of one of Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribes.
A project examining the university’s history found that no Indigenous people from Wisconsin graduated from UW–Madison during the university’s first 100 years. UW–Madison’s location is also the ancestral home of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
The number of UW–Madison’s first-year applicants who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native has generally increased over the last 10 years. This year, the university saw its highest number of such applicants — 115 — since at least 2015; however, the number admitted and enrolled decreased. The university noted that the enrollment figures might underrepresent Indigenous students, particularly those who identify as more than one race and may have been counted among other demographics.
Twenty-two first year, nine transfer, and 42 continuing students are participating in the Wisconsin Tribal Educational Promise program this fall.
