{"id":848,"date":"2026-09-08T15:29:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T15:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/?p=848"},"modified":"2026-09-08T15:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T15:44:13","slug":"hawaii-and-alaska-institutions-ineligible-for-tcup-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/?p=848","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii and Alaska Institutions Ineligible for TCUP Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A recent memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice allows the National Science Foundation to continue administering the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Program while declaring Native-serving institutions in Hawaii and Alaska ineligible for support.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Members of Kapi\u02bbolani Community College, including Chancellor Louise Pagotto (third from right), greet visitors at the opening of the 2018 NSF-TCUP Leaders\u2019 Forum, which was hosted by the University of Hawaii.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Boyer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An August 12 opinion released by the Department of Justice\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel found that the National Science Foundation\u2019s Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is constitutionally permissible, in recognition of the nation\u2019s government-to-government relationship with federally recognized tribes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTribes exercise a measure of sovereignty and self-determination through TCUs, and providing awards to such institutions furthers the federal government\u2019s unique responsibilities toward Indians,\u201d the memorandum affirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the opinion found that Native Hawaiian- and Alaska Native-serving institutions not charted or controlled by a federally recognized political entity are ineligible for TCUP support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, institutions of higher education in Hawaii and Alaska that met established Native enrollment thresholds were allowed to seek TCUP funding, resulting in numerous TCUP awards to campuses within the University of Hawaii and University of Alaska systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Justice Department memorandum, \u201cConstitutionality of the National Science Foundation\u2019s STEM Programs,\u201d asserts that these programs are unconstitutional because they were \u201cdesigned principally to further a generalized goal of racial diversity rather than uniquely Indian interests\u201d and do not \u201cmeaningfully involve the government-to-government relationships that characterize federal support for TCUs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be eligible for TCUP support, institutions in Alaska must be controlled or chartered by federally recognized Alaska Native villages or Alaska Native Corporations, the memorandum asserted. One institution\u2014I\u1e37isa\u0121vik College, established by the North Slope Borough\u2014currently meets this requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Hawaii, only institutions \u201ccontrolled or chartered by federally recognized Native Hawaiian entities\u201d would be eligible for TCUP support. However, as the slip opinion acknowledged, no such political entity exists. \u201cIn practical terms, then, the TCUP cannot presently include any Native Hawaiian-serving\u201d institutions, the document stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implications of the latest opinion remain unclear. The NSF has not yet indicated when or how it will modify its programs. The TCUP Hub, which serves all TCUP-eligible institutions, including those in Hawaii through its affiliated Hawaii Mini-Hub, remains committed to serving the needs of its constituency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest memorandum (available here<\/a>) addressed several other NSF programs, finding that the NSF\u2019s TCU computer-science awards are allowable, while asserting that several minority-serving programs, including the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation Program, are unconstitutional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Boyer is editor of the TCUP Hub website.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent memorandum issued by the U.S. Department of Justice allows the National Science Foundation to continue administering the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Program while removing Native-serving institutions in Hawaii and Alaska from the list of eligible institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_0171.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":856,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions\/856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tcup-hub.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}