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American Indian College Fund at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

American Indian College Fund

The AMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND invests in native students and tribal college education to transform lives and communities.

$38M
Granted FY2025still arriving
38
Grants FY2025still arriving
14
States reached
$635k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$71MArts & Culture$1.4MScience & Tech$155kPhilanthropy$140kHuman Services$4k
02FY2025 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 38 grants below total $13,887,686, the rows itemized in this filing. The $38,385,304 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $24,497,618 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $26k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $1.1M
  • $250k+28 grants · $13M
$387,053
Median grant
14
States reached
$215M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NUETA HIDATSA SAHNISH COLLEGE$634,551
TURTLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE$631,482
SINTE GLESKA UNIVERSITY$618,432
UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE$577,554
NAVAJO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY$569,548
SALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE$543,045
BAY MILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE$536,006
KEWEENAW BAY OJIBWA COMMUNITY COLLEGE$534,533
DINE COLLEGE$515,632
NORTHWEST INDIAN COLLEGE$493,132
AANIIIH NAKODA COLLEGE$477,391
LAC COURTE OREILLES OJIBWAY COMMUNITY COLLEGE$473,462
LITTLE PRIEST TRIBAL COLLEGE$466,447
RED LAKE NATION COLLEGE$459,632
COLLEGE OF THE MENOMINEE NATION$436,632
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY21–21, $4k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%DENVER INDIAN CENTER INC: $4k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
WA
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
SD
CO
NE
VA
AZ
NM
KS
OK
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$73M · 41 repeat orgs$274k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

41 repeat relationships: 38 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

41
20

Total granted

$73M
$274k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+2%

Still filing today

61%
35%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • SK
    SALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.9M · revenue +24%
  • UT
    UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.8M · revenue +39%
  • OL
    OGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.8M · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • TN
    THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC
    one grant, 2021 · $140k · revenue -23%
  • DH
    DODSON HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2023 · $11k
  • SO
    SICANGU OYATE HO INC DBA ST FRANCIS INDIAN SCHOOL
    one grant, 2023 · $11k · revenue +3%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Northwest Indian College

To provide postsecondary educational opportunities to meet the academic, vocational, and cultural needs of native american communities in the northwest and to provide education programs in order to promote indigenous self-determination and…

Education
2
California Indian Nations College

California Indian college (cinc), is dedicated to building educational strength and will provide educational opportunities leading to degrees for American Indians and all students with indigenous backgrounds

Education
3
North Dakota Tribal College System

Advancing tribal colleges through collaboration and shared goals. ndtcs leverages the higher education experience by sharing ideas and broadening networks and alliances, toward improving students' outcomes.

Education
4
Institute of American Indian Arts & Alaska Native

To provide education and instruction in the scholarly study and preservation of indian art to empower creativity and leadership in native arts and cultures through higher education, life-long learning and outreach.

Education
5
Ihanktonwan Community College

Educational institution

Education
6
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accredits institutions of higher education by applying evidence-informed standards and processes to support continuous improvements and promote equitable student achievement and success.

Education
7
Alaska Pacific University

Apu provides a world-class, hands-on, culturally-responsive educational experience in collaboration with our students, communities, and tribal partners.

Education
8
American Indian Institute

The american indian institute's mission is to perpetuate the ancient wisdom and cultural heritage of north america's native people and to promote a greater understanding of that wisdom amoung all people.

Human Services
9
American Indian Services

We're dedicated to helping Native Americans have access to a quality education, while still preserving their culture and honoring their heritage. Our mission is to provide preparatory programs for youth and financial assistance for those…

Human Services
10
American Indian College Fund

The american indian college fund invests in native students and tribal college education to transform lives and communities.

Education
11
New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine

To offer postsecondary education in acupuncture and chinese herbal medicine

Education
12
California Tribal College

To operate exclusively for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes. these purposes include, but are not limited to, (i) development, sponsorship and operation of a college of higher education for the benefit of tribal members, and…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is College of the Menominee Nation; the most unlike its peers is American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

37 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 37 of the 61 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/37
Grantees still filing
31/37
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COLLEGE OF THE MENOMINEE NATION: $2,753,852 · OtherCOLLEGE OF THE MENOMINEE NATIONNAVAJO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY: $2,747,902 · OtherNAVAJO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITYDINE COLLEGE: $2,723,829 · OtherDINE COLLEGESINTE GLESKA COLLEGE CENTER INC: $2,612,351 · OtherSINTE GLESKA COLLEGE CENTER INCSITTING BULL COLLEGE: $2,585,251 · OtherSITTING BULL COLLEGEAANIIIH NAKODA COLLEGE (FORT BELKNAP COLLEGE): $2,393,940 · OtherAANIIIH NAKODA COLLEGE (FORT BELKNAP COLLEGE)LAC COURTE OREILLES OJIBWE UNIVERSITY: $2,370,299 · OtherBAY MILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2,318,307 · OtherNUETA HIDATSA SAHNISH COLLEGE: $2,298,819 · OtherBoard of RegentsSouthwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute: $2,090,926 · OtherKEWEENAW BAY OJIBWA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2,043,395 · OtherFORT PECK COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2,039,768 · OtherSTONE CHILD COLLEGE: $1,971,582 · OtherLITTLE BIG HORN COLLEGE: $1,721,667 · OtherCOLLEGE OF THE MUSCOGEE NATION: $1,719,260 · OtherNEBRASKA INDIAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $1,538,952 · OtherSAGINAW CHIPPEWA TRIBAL COLLEGE: $1,493,000 · Other+22 more: $7,343,656 · Other+22 moreSALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE INC: $2,882,204 · EducationSALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE INCUNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE: $2,823,680 · EducationUNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGEOGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE: $2,773,888 · EducationOGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGETURTLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2,639,344 · EducationTURTLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGENORTHWEST INDIAN COLLEGE: $2,505,811 · EducationNORTHWEST INDIAN COLLEGETOHONO O'ODHAM COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2,486,089 · EducationTOHONO O'ODHAM COMMUNITY COLLEGECANKDESKA CIKANA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $1,954,819 · EducationCANKDESKA CIKANA COMMUNITY COLLEGEBLACKFEET COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $1,850,164 · EducationBLACKFEET COMMUNITY COLLEGELITTLE PRIEST TRIBAL COLLEGE: $1,804,516 · EducationLITTLE PRIEST TRIBAL COLLEGEIlisagvik College: $1,728,696 · EducationIlisagvik CollegeWHITE EARTH TRIBAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $1,583,116 · EducationWHITE EARTH TRIBAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGERED LAKE NATION COLLEGE: $1,486,269 · EducationINSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS TRUST: $1,425,098 · Education+6 more: $342,539 · EducationTHE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC: $140,444 · PhilanthropyMONTANA POST SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COUNCIL: $6,000 · Recreation & SportsDENVER INDIAN CENTER INC: $4,000 · Human Services
Other$44,766,756Education$28,286,233Philanthropy$140,444Recreation & Sports$6,000Human Services$4,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE INC: $2,882,204 over 9y, 1.6% of budgetUNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE: $2,823,680 over 9y, 1.7% of budgetOGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE: $2,773,888 over 9y, 1.1% of budgetCOLLEGE OF THE MENOMINEE NATION: $2,753,852 over 9y, 4.8% of budgetNAVAJO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY: $2,747,902 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetTURTLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2,639,344 over 9y, 2.5% of budgetSITTING BULL COLLEGE: $2,585,251 over 9y, 4.8% of budgetNORTHWEST INDIAN COLLEGE: $2,505,811 over 9y, 1.6% of budgetTOHONO O'ODHAM COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2,486,089 over 9y, 4.3% of budgetAANIIIH NAKODA COLLEGE (FORT BELKNAP COLLEGE): $2,393,940 over 9y, 2.5% of budgetLAC COURTE OREILLES OJIBWE UNIVERSITY: $2,370,299 over 9y, 4.2% of budgetBoard of RegentsSouthwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute: $2,090,926 over 9y, 99% of budgetFORT PECK COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $2,039,768 over 9y, 4.3% of budgetSTONE CHILD COLLEGE: $1,971,582 over 9y, 3.1% of budgetCANKDESKA CIKANA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $1,954,819 over 9y, 3.2% of budgetBLACKFEET COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $1,850,164 over 9y, 5.4% of budgetLITTLE PRIEST TRIBAL COLLEGE: $1,804,516 over 9y, 5.7% of budgetIlisagvik College: $1,728,696 over 9y, 3.3% of budgetWHITE EARTH TRIBAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $1,583,116 over 9y, 6.3% of budgetRED LAKE NATION COLLEGE: $1,486,269 over 7y, 4.2% of budgetINSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS TRUST: $1,425,098 over 9y, 9.6% of budgetCHIEF DULL KNIFE COLLEGE: $1,354,393 over 9y, 5.8% of budgetLEECH LAKE TRIBAL COLLEGE: $1,119,747 over 9y, 4.8% of budgetAmerican Indian Higher Education Consortium Inc: $1,082,808 over 9y, 2.0% of budgetINDIGENOUS EDUCATION INC: $164,092 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetNATIVE FORWARD SCHOLARS FUND: $145,547 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC: $140,444 over 1y, 10.0% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING SOCIETY: $50,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSICANGU OYATE HO INC DBA ST FRANCIS INDIAN SCHOOL: $11,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTREKNORTH JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL: $9,600 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCRAZY HORSE SCHOOL: $6,300 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROSEBUD SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $6,000 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetMONTANA POST SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES COUNCIL: $6,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetDENVER INDIAN CENTER INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds SALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds OGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE OF THE MENOMINEE NATION ↗
  • Who funds NAVAJO TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds TURTLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds SITTING BULL COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST INDIAN COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds TOHONO O'ODHAM COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds AANIIIH NAKODA COLLEGE (FORT BELKNAP COLLEGE) ↗
  • Who funds LAC COURTE OREILLES OJIBWE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Board of RegentsSouthwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute ↗
  • Who funds FORT PECK COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds STONE CHILD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds CANKDESKA CIKANA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds BLACKFEET COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE PRIEST TRIBAL COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Ilisagvik College ↗
  • Who funds WHITE EARTH TRIBAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds RED LAKE NATION COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS TRUST ↗
  • Who funds CHIEF DULL KNIFE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds LEECH LAKE TRIBAL COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds American Indian Higher Education Consortium Inc ↗
  • Who funds INDIGENOUS EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIVE FORWARD SCHOLARS FUND ↗
  • Who funds THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Ascendium Education S…American Indian Highe…First Nations Develop…Achieving the Dream I…Theodore R and Vivian…Native American Agric…Sovereign Equity FundNorthwest Area Founda…Helen Gough Fdn TrustNdn Collective IncNorth Dakota Tribal C…American Indian Youth…
Ascendium Education Solutions IncWI67× affinity31 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ascendium Education Solutions Inc · American Indian Higher Education Consortium Inc · First Nations Development Institute · Achieving the Dream Inc · Theodore R and Vivian M Johnson Scholarship Foundation Inc · Native American Agriculture Fund · Sovereign Equity Fund · Northwest Area Foundation · Helen Gough Fdn Trust · Ndn Collective Inc · North Dakota Tribal College System · American Indian Youth Running Strong Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization American Indian College Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Indian College Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 61 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on American Indian College’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home