Prior Lake, Minnesota - The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community donated $300,000 to the American Indian College Fund of Denver, Colorado. The grant is part of a three-year pledge for a total of $900,000 to support the Sovereign Nations Scholarship Fund and establish the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Tribal College Scholarship Program. "It's important to encourage our Indian students to continue their education so that they can help their people. We need Indian doctors, lawyers, biologists, and teachers. Having a qualified Indian workforce for the future is very important for all tribes in maintaining their sovereignty," said SMSC Chairman Stanley Crooks.

With this grant, the Fund will be able to provide $100,000 in general scholarship support to American Indian students attending tribal colleges. The $200,000 will go into the endowment. The Fund serves over 30,000 American Indian students from more than 250 tribal nations attending 32 tribal colleges in 11 states. The American Indian College Fund, established in 1989, has spent more than a decade and a half helping to increase enrollment and improve retention rates by providing funds for scholarships to thousands of American Indian students and raising support for other tribal college developmental needs.

In 2001 the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community made history by donating $900,000 over a three-year period to the American Indian College Fund. This was the first time in history that any tribe had given such a generous donation to the Fund. The donation, in three annual installments of $300,000, was used to endow the Sovereign Nations Scholarship Fund.

American Indian College Fund President Richard Williams, thrilled with the second endowment, said, "The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community continues to lead the way when it comes to giving back to Indian Country, and others are following in their footsteps. Because of this generous grant from the Shakopee Tribe, the National Indian Gaming Association has pledged to raise $5 million for the Fund. Slowly, the tide is turning and Indian Nations are recognizing what the Shakopee Tribe has known all along, that we are indeed all related. We are deeply grateful."

American Indians have the lowest levels of educational attainment and the highest rates of poverty of any group in the United States. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Education, Indians had the highest drop out rates of any major ethnic group in 15 of the 48 states surveyed. Post secondary degree attainment remains low for American Indians as well; the percentage of Indian college graduates is less than half the percentage of U.S. college graduates. The six-year total SMSC donation to the AICF will be $1.8 million by the time the last installment of the second endowment is made in fiscal year 2008. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, call toll free 800-776-3863 or see their website at www.collegefund.org.

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