UArizona offers free tuition for Native American undergraduate students

PHOENIX – The University of Arizona is making undergraduate education free for Native American students at the Tucson campus.

The Arizona Native Scholars Grant program will begin this fall for new and continuing full-time students from Arizona’s 22 federally recognized tribes, the school announced Monday.

“I am so proud that this university has found a way to help hundreds of students more easily access and complete a college education, and I look forward to finding ways to take these efforts even further,” UArizona President Robert C. Robbins said in a press release.

To get their tuition and mandatory fees waived, undergrads at the school have to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, aka FAFSA, and provide tribal identification.

More than 400 UArizona students from last year meet the criteria for the new program.

“We are committed to promoting access and success for Indigenous students,” Kasey Urquídez, UArizona vice president of enrollment management and dean of undergraduate admissions, said in the release.

“This program is part of our continual commitment to serve our Indigenous Wildcats.”

The Arizona Native Scholars Grant program might be expanded to graduate students in the future, Urquídez said.

The program is being funded through a reallocation of financial aid money at this time, but the university is considering soliciting donor support.

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