The organization received a $300K grant to empower students in the Pacific Northwest

Albuquerque, New Mexico – August 31, 2020 – American Indian Graduate Center is launching Rising Native Graduates, which will offer academic coaching opportunities specifically designed to support Native undergraduate students from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington in their pursuit of a graduate or professional school education.

Rising Native Graduates is supported by a $300,000 three-year grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which provides grants to organizations working in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington that seek to strengthen the region’s educational and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways. The program is also supported by generous funding from Wells Fargo.

“Indigenous scholars are not equally represented in the graduate and professional school settings,” said Angelique Albert (Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes), Executive Director of American Indian Graduate Center.

“The opportunity gap between academic services for Native students and other minorities is significant, particularly regarding cradle-to-career strategies. Our program is unique from any other program because it is designed specifically to empower these incredible students who have statistically been left out by large educational data sets.”

The premier academic coaching program seeks to increase access to graduate and professional degrees for American Indian and Alaska Native students through mentoring with a culturally appropriate and Indigenous centered approach, a need that was identified by current American Indian Graduate Center students in their annual student feedback survey. Current undergraduate junior and senior Native students in the region are encouraged to take advantage of this program. American Indian Graduate Center plans to scale up the program to a national level in the coming academic years.

“Rising Native Graduates will elevate our scholars’ entire educational experience,” said Dr. Salena Beaumont Hill (Crow Tribe of Montana, Blackfeet Tribe), American Indian Graduate Center’s Rising Native Graduates Program Manager. “Essentially, we are offering them Native role models who can give them real advice and strategies to excel in this phase of their education. Providing this Nativecentered academic support is pivotal to ensuring our students’ academic success.”

Both Academic Coach and Scholar applications are open now. Learn more about Rising Native Graduates at AIGCS.org.

About M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust

M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, provides grants to organizations in five states of the Pacific Northwest — Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington — that seek to strengthen the region’s educational and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways.

About American Indian Graduate Center

American Indian Graduate Center is a national private 501(c)(3) non-profit providing scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native undergraduate, graduate and professional students. American Indian Graduate Center and AIGCS are the largest scholarship providers to Native students in the United States. They award on average $15 million in scholarships annually and have awarded more than $350 million in scholarships since inception. They are proud to empower Native students from over 500 Tribes in all 50 states with educational funding and academic support services.

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