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Leech Lake Tribal College outlines program growth, student barriers and staff wage concerns
Summary
Leech Lake Tribal College officials told the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee that state operational funding helped expand programs and student supports but that the college still faces barriers including transportation, food insecurity, limited internet access and staff pay gaps.
Dr. Helen Montgomery, president of Leech Lake Tribal College, told the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee that the college has grown enrollment and graduation numbers and added programs but still faces persistent student barriers.
Montgomery said Leech Lake Tribal College, a public land-grant institution in Cass Lake established in 1990, recently added an Ojibwe language program, offers an Indigenous Leadership program and a reworked LibEd STEM track, and runs short-term workforce certificates in carpentry and electrical trades. She told lawmakers the college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and reported its largest graduating class in 2023 with about 48 graduates.
Montgomery described practical barriers for students, including long travel times from scattered reservation communities, childcare needs, housing and food insecurity and uneven internet access. "Over 80 percent of our students have reported that they have in the last year had barriers to accessing food and housing," she said, and she added many students complete homework on their phones because of limited computer access.
Montgomery said Leech Lake's average annual budget is about $5 million and that 20 to 30 percent of that funding comes from grant sources; she described the college's dependence on federal funding streams including Title III grants and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) formula funding for Native student counts. She criticized the way the BIE full-time-equivalent calculation treats part-time enrollment, saying it can disadvantage institutions that serve students with barriers to full-time enrollment.
Committee members asked about enrollment trends and implementation plans. Montgomery said enrollment rose substantially after 2021, from roughly 100 students to more than 300 in a recent February census, and that the college had increased about 10 to 16 percent year over year. She said the Minnesota operational funding helped finance student aid, emergency assistance, IT infrastructure and personnel to support reporting and compliance.
Montgomery told the committee she would like to implement a wage scale to improve staff pay and retention but said the college must balance that with funding uncertainty. A student testifier, Alyssa Lisi, said the college provided language instruction, laptops and emergency supports that let her pursue a nursing career.
Ending: Montgomery invited lawmakers to review the college's public reports and said the college would use state funds to shore up IT, recruitment and student retention work.
