Page 15 - 2024 November Report

ENTREPRENEURSHIP SCHOLARSHIP MEETING REPORT (2) ENDOWMENT PANEL & QUESTIONS
Sherry shared that an endowment allows schools to award scholarships in perpetuity. There are currently 13 endowments at 12 schools that have been created with the assistance of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation. They have a balance of approximately $21M and award almost $250K per year in scholarshipstoNativebusinessstudents. Inaddition,theFoundationhashelpedcreate2endowments at the American Indian College Fund specifically for TCU business students, and 1 endowment at Native Forward Scholars Fund.
Sherry introduced the panel presentation on Endowments: Tammy Miller-Carlson from the American Indian College Fund, Pam Ramos from Northern Arizona University, and Robert Lawrence from United Tribes Technical College.
Tammy gave a history of the American Indian College Fund. Recognizing how difficult it can be to raise money, A*CF was founded to serve as a fund raiser for Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). Last year A*CF awarded approximately $20M in scholarships to 5,000 Native students. $4M of that was supported through endowments built at A*CF. A*CF currently has a $95M endowment.
She shared a slide that shows the power of endowments with a $1M invested over a 50-year model. The slides demonstrated, through the power of commitment to making the investment and compounding interest, $174M could be distributed in scholarships and at the end of 50 years and still have a balance of $193M.
Pam Ramos from Northern Arizona University shared that once they started their endowment for Native American business student scholarships, it took time to fully fundraise the match. Now that the endowment is better set, they are fine tuning how they handle the funds. Part of their annual distribution plan includes fall awards, but also being sure there is some extra available for later in the year if needs arise.
Robert Lawrence from United Tribes Technical College explained that he is new to this job, so he had little details about the endowment at UTTC. He did share that UTTC is unique as it was founded in 1969 as an intertribal college by the five North Dakota tribal nations - Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation, Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, Spirit Lake Tribe, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
Robert shared information on Tribal Colleges as a whole, noting that the 34 TCUs operate more than 75 campuses and sites in the U.S., with a student/faculty ratio of 8:1. TCUs provide quality, low-cost higher education with an average annual tuition of $3,059. 79% of TCU students receive federal financial aid. All TCUs offer associate degrees; 19 offer baccalaureates; 6 offer master’s degrees; and 1 offers a PhD program. Well over half of the 574 federally recognized tribes are represented at TCUs. TCU students come from more than 30 states, including 15 states that do not have a local TCU.
Sherry then led a discussion among the panelists, starting with asking about the work of educating school leadership on the importance of endowments since schools always face the dilemma of growing an endowment vs. meeting current needs and assuring stability. Tammy said that 51% of the A*CF Board are TCU presidents. A*CF stresses that endowments are a way to create a legacy.
All of the panelists spoke to the need for investment and distribution policies. Pam noted that NAU works on a 3-year rolling average for determining its distributions. Tammy said that A*CF has example documents they are happy to share on the roles of Board members, investment committees, investment managers, best practices and policies.
Education / A Powerful force for change Page 13