June 5th, 2025

College of Menominee Nation Reflects On Recent Announcements from Department of Education Regarding Pell Grants and DOI FY 2025-2026 Budget

KESHENA, WI – 

The College of Menominee Nation (CMN) strongly opposes the proposed changes to the federal Pell Grant program in the current reconciliation bill, in addition to the funding cuts recommended in the recently released Department of the Interior’s FY 2025-2026 budget. 

The recommendations, including raising the full-time enrollment threshold and eliminating Pell Grants for students who are enrolled less than half-time, would cause increased and irrecoverable challenges to students both local and abroad. These challenges would also disproportionately affect the rural communities that are entwined with Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs).

As expressed in the Tribal College Journal ¹, “Pell grants are the foundation of college affordability for TCUs, which serve predominantly low-income, first-generation, and American Indian and Alaska Native students. In the 2022-2023 academic year, nearly 69% of first-time, full-time TCU students nationwide received Pell support, far above the national average for two-year public institutions.” 

“Since the beginning of this new administration, CMN and other TCUs  have seen constant potential and real impacts on the tribal sovereignty work we engage in through our higher education missions. Early on, we addressed issues with regards to the administration misconstruing Tribal sovereignty with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as the unnecessary disruptive OMB funding freeze,” said College of Menominee Nation President, Dr. Christopher Caldwell. “Now, we are dealing with proposed changes to the Pell formula in the reconciliation bill that could potentially exclude, on average, 70% of our student population, as well as all other TCUs. Earlier this week, we also saw detrimental proposed cuts in the federal FY2026 budget recommendations. If these recommendations go through, it would end many TCUs outright and create dire situations for others. This not only impacts CMN itself, but also the $16 million local economic impact that was reported in our Economic Impact Study released earlier this year.”

Federal funding critical to TCU higher education is slated to be reduced by 83%, from $127.4 million in FY2024-2025 to $22.1million in FY2026, while an “annual program dedicated to construction and capital improvements at 1994 Tribal Land Grant institutions is proposed for a 100% reduction - from $8 million to $0.” ²

The proposed funding reduction would be catastrophic, forcing many TCUs to close their doors entirely. Already operating on bare minimum budgets, TCUs cannot absorb further cuts without eliminating programs, student services, and staff. Such losses would reverse decades of progress in education, economic development, and self-determination for Tribal nations and their communities.

The College of Menominee Nation joins its voice to the urging of AIHEC in asking Congress to recognize the essential commitments of these previously established funding sources. In a recent impact study, CMN’s effect on its local and regional community was found to be pronounced and influential. ³ 

It is only through the continued support and collaboration of local, regional, and federal governments that the College is able to continue having these stated impacts, furthering its mission of promotion, perpetuation, and nurturance of American Indian language and scholarship.

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1: “Pell Grant Changes Threaten Native Student Access and Local Economies,” Tribal College Journal. Jun 02, 2025. https://tribalcollegejournal.org/pell-grant-changes-threaten-native-student-access-and-local-economies/
2: “AIHEC Urges Immediate Action to Prevent Devastating Cuts to Tribal College and Native Education Funding,” Red Lake Nation News. Jun 04, 2025. https://www.redlakenationnews.com/story/2025/06/04/news/aihec-urges-immediate-action-to-prevent-devastating-cuts-to-tribal-college-and-native-education-funding/131913.html

3: “2024 Economic Impact Study,” College of Menominee Nation. https://www.menominee.edu/about-cmn/2024-economic-impact-study

About the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC):

American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) provides a support network to the nation’s accredited Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and works to influence public policy on American Indian and Alaska Native higher education issues through advocacy, research, and programmatic initiatives; promotes and strengthens Indigenous languages, cultures, communities, lands, and tribal nations; and through its unique position, serves member institutions and emerging TCUs.

About the College of Menominee Nation:
The College of Menominee Nation is a tribal Land Grant college, chartered by the Menominee people. The College's main campus is in Keshena, Wisconsin, with a second located in metropolitan Green Bay, not far from the tribal lands of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. More information about CMN can be found at www.menominee.edu