04.25.11

Delegation Supports Funding For UTTC

Conrad, Hoeven and Berg Send Letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan

Washington - Senators Kent Conrad and John Hoeven and Congressman Rick Berg today urged the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to continue a program that provides funding for Bismarck’s United Tribes Technical College.  In a letter to Duncan the Congressional delegation requests continued funding for the Tribally Controlled Postsecondary Career and Technical Institutions (TCPCTI) program.

"We urge the Administration to continue its investments in higher education - and colleges targeted at tribal communities," the delegation states in the letter.

The TCPCTI program – which has been operating since 1990 — aims to train a workforce for tribal communities that have experienced decades of poverty.  The program has operated under Presidents of both parties and receives bipartisan support from Congress.

The letter was also signed by New Mexico’s Congressional delegation.  Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, New Mexico receives funding through TCPCTI as well.

The program has provided a critical source of core funding for UTTC, which is not a part of North Dakota's higher education system and does not receive state-appropriated operational funds.  In FY2010, Congress appropriated close to $8.2 million for the program.  The North Dakota Congressional delegation asked that funding be maintained at this level in FY2011.