Indian Students in the USA: Interesting Facts, Statistics, and Experiences

The United States of America has a rich and unique history. Thanks to different historic, cultural, and social events, our land is the land of multiple nationalities. It’s an amazing achievement, which tells that the USA is a nice country for people to live in. Unfortunately, people frequently forget about the Native Americans (NA) or Indians who lived in the country before it became discovered by Columbus and received its proud name. There are many interesting facts about these great people we all should know.

Lauren Bradshaw, a skilled and experienced academic writer, and blogger from online essay service Custom Writings, has an interesting opinion about this issue: “A nation without a history is not a real nation. That’s why we should never forget about the Native Americans (Indians) who represent the most ancient times of the USA that still can be remembered in their tales and myths. Therefore, we MUST preserve their uniqueness and identity”. We fully agree with Lauren. This article is devoted to Indian students in the USA to remind others about their importance.

Access to Education

As we discuss Indian students in the USA, we want to begin with access to higher education. The percentage of students who are natives is very low. Nevertheless, it has more than doubled during the last 30 years. It is a positive tendency, but most natives do not earn a bachelor’s degree. Less than 1% of NA had ever earned the degree.

It can be explained by the refusal of tribes to mess up with other nationalities. Most of them prefer to teach their children on the territories of reservations. They use their funds and methods of teaching. There are 33 accredited colleges and universities. Unfortunately, their diplomas are rarely recognized, and it deprives children of good jobs.

Humble Behavior

Tribal Nations of the USA are very humble. They collaborate with the US government and also support their neighboring tribes. Nonetheless, people rarely hear about that. The main reason for this fact is the custom of Indians. They believe it’s impolite to draw attention to any good deeds they do. Their communities are also supported thanks to the income of casinos the tribes own.

About the Indian Fund

The most important source of budgeting education among Indian students is called the American Indian Fund. It helps children to get into a college and thus obtain the desired certificate. Make allowances for the next facts related to the Fund:

• It was established in 1989.
• In 2009-2010 the Fund provided 5,932 scholarships, which is equal to $4.2 million.
• The Fund has already provided over 76,000 scholarships.
• It also supports various preservation efforts, leadership programs, etc.
• Scholarships cover such directions as arts, math, technology, engineering, etc.
• The main income of the fund comes from charities.
• Over 80% of all expenses of the Fund are related to the education system and its needs.

Governmental Budgeting

The US government tries to support Indian students and supplies various educational institutions located on the reservations. It funds various elementary and secondary schools directly. Here are some facts:

• 59 schools are funded by the government;
• 124 are operated by tribes, but are guided by the governmental contracts;
• One may find 64 reservations in 23 states that have schools for Indian schoolers;
• The government serves over 42,000 Indian students at school;
• The USA funds 26 tribal colleges and universities.

It can be plainly seen that the US government tries to support Indian students. The positive tendencies are pretty promising. They need some time to improve the quality and accessibility of education.

More Facts about Indian in the USA

We also want to pay your attention to other facts about Indian in our country. They are more general and are not focused only on students. They are focused on all. Make allowances for the next interesting facts:

• The diversity of tribes. One of the most interesting facts about the Native Americans is their diversity. Not all people know that the US government recognizes 565 tribes that are located in 35 different states. This fact refutes a deceptive belief that American Indians are near extinction.
• Population. The Bureau of Statistics estimates that 1.5% of the entire American population is American Indian and Alaska Indian (AI). It makes 4.5 million natives.
• Age. The average age of NA is 29.7 years.
• Income. The average household income is lowered in comparison to the national average. It makes $33,300 while the national average is $46.200.
• Medical insurance. Only 24.1% of NA and AI use health coverage. The rest depend on the Indian health care programs. It leads to various health issues that induce death. Among the most widely spread are alcoholism, suicide, diabetes, tuberculosis, and others.
• The origin of the name. Many non-Americans frequently mess up Indian people from the USA with people from India. Christopher Columbus is guilty of this. He believed he had reached the East Indies and others began to call all locals Indians.
• The creation of the alphabet. The Cherokee leader named Sequoyah hugely contributed to the development of the Indian alphabet. The Sequoia tree was called to honor him.
• Names of states. Not all Americans know that merely half of all states took their names after American Indians.
• The origin. American Indians have lived on the territory of the modern USA since 12,000 BC or so.
• Words used in English. Such words as chili, chocolate, potato, and others came in English from NA.

Wrapping Up

All people are equal and should be respected. We cannot forget about Native Americans who are the first settlers of the USA. Their number is small but they still live here. We should do whatever is possible to protect their rights, support them, and ensure adequate living conditions, including appropriate education. Remember the facts and statistics mentioned in our article to know the hardships, as well as interesting things related to the Native Americans.