Little Priest Tribal College is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

land-grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...

Winnebago, Nebraska Winnebago is a village in Thurston County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 916 at the 2020 census. History The first post office at Winnebago was established in 1867. It was named for the federally recognized Winnebago tribe, whos ...

. It is a member of the

American Indian Higher Education Consortium The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) was established in 1972 to represent the interests of the newly developed tribal colleges, which are controlled and operated by American Indian nations. The four founders were Gerald One F ...

and primarily supported by the

Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska ( win, Nįįšoc Hoocąk) is one of two federally recognized tribes of Ho-Chunk Native Americans. The other is the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Tribe members often refer to themselves as ''Hochungra'' – "Peopl ...

. It has an enrollment of 135 students, of which 90 percent are American Indian.

History

The Winnebago Tribal Council, anticipating significant academic growth in Winnebago students, appointed a task to research and evaluate the higher education component of its total education plan. Part of this research was the studying of the general education and major programs at the then existing institution of higher education, Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC). The task force determined that the programs of NICC would not meet the needs of future Winnebago students. After exploring several options, the Winnebago Tribal College decided to withdraw from NICC and charter its own college as the educational arm of the tribe: Little Priest Tribal College. The college was named after Little Priest, the last true war chief of the Ho-Chunk people. It began offering academic courses and community education classes in August 1996. In 1994, the college was designated a

land-grant college A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

alongside 31 other tribal colleges.

Academics

Little Priest Tribal College offers Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees as well as a community education program that provides workshops and Continuing Education Units. The college is also a member of the Nebraska Transfer Initiative that facilitates students transferring to other colleges and universities in Nebraska. LPTC has several articulation agreements with surrounding four-year institutions, including some focuses on specific academic programs. For example, Wayne State College has an agreement to accept LPTC courses within the Business program and Briar Cliff University in Iowa has an agreement for LPTC students to seamlessly transfer into their Social Work program. Little Priest Tribal College has been approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and has been accepted for full membership in the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC). The college is accredited by the

Higher Learning Commission The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an institutional accreditor in the United States. It has historically accredited post-secondary education institutions in the central United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa ...

Athletics

Little Priest Tribal College (LPTC) offers Men's and Women's Basketball. It is associated with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) at the Division II level and is a member of the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) in all sports. LPTC became full members of the ICCAC in July 2018.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Community colleges in Nebraska American Indian Higher Education Consortium Educational institutions established in 1989 Buildings and structures in Thurston County, Nebraska Education in Thurston County, Nebraska 1989 establishments in Nebraska Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska people Land-grant universities and colleges