DURANGO, Colo.—Fort Lewis College has received a grant worth $2.5 million over two years, much of which it plans to use to support its Native American students.
The money comes from a Department of Education Title III grant, which is geared toward institutions serving lower-income students. The school said funding would support a number of initiatives in the biology program, one of the more popular majors declared by Native American students.
Native Americans make up about 18 percent of the roughly 3,800 students at Fort Lewis.
About $800,000 of the grant money would be spent on new equipment for a new biology wing.
Some money also would be spent hiring a student affairs staff member to focus on improving Native American retention and academic success, and on creating an environmental health and safety degree, Fort Lewis spokesman Mitch Davis said Tuesday.
“We’re really trying to find areas where there’s a need in Native American communities that we can train students and they can go out into their communities and become a well-trained professional and contribute to health care or something else in their community,” said Shere Byrd, chair of the school’s biology department.
Earlier this year, Fort Lewis received a $1.9 million Title III grant that is targeted toward helping students improve math skills. A 2007 Fort Lewis College survey found that about 31 percent of the student body arrived at the school underprepared in math.
