Education

The mission of the education program is to promote educational programs that foster the preservation of Samish culture and traditions and instill a desire for lifelong learning in all Samish tribal members.

We do this by providing the following services for enrolled tribal members:

Higher Education Assistance Awards (after high school): Financial Support is available to Samish Tribal Members after High School. Please contact the Education Program directly for the current forms & applications. As of August 2018, we have a waitlist for undergraduate funding for the 2018-19 Academic year. Any completed applications received will be added to the waitlist in the order they are received completed in case funding becomes available.
Tutoring Support: Financial Assistance is available to help pay for tutoring services for K-12 students completing a GED/HS Diploma. Payments are made directly to tutors for students with Samish program approved assistance plans. Please contact the Education Program directly for the current forms & applications.
Course Completion Incentive Program: Samish Tribal Members are eligible, once per quarter, for a $100 award for completing a post-secondary school course. Please Login and follow the link to the online application for Course Completion Incentives.
- If you haven't signed up, go here.

For all 3 programs, Tribal members should login to the website for additional information and Course Completion Online Application

For Education Assistance questions or to contact us for the latest forms, use the E-mail us contact link.

Stay tuned the the Education Program Blog posts below to stay up to date on opportunities and emergent issues.

Post Bac Opportunity

by Adam Lorio | Jan 02, 2019
We are always looking for opportunities for our Samish higher education students. This one was passed along by our Health and Human Services Program, Check it out!
This one includes funding!

Can you say yes to each of these requirements?
- Membership in an American Indian/Alaskan Native tribe
- Must have a GPA of 2.75 or higher
- Must have graduated or be in the process of graduating with a baccalaureate degree in a biomedically relevant science from an accredited US college or university (no more than 36 months prior to applying to UA PREP)
- Must not be currently enrolled in a graduate degree program
- Must plan to enter a PhD program in a biomedical field after successful completion of UA PREP
Find out more about the UA PREP Opportunity Here:
UA PREP Website
Teachers Needed!

by Adam Lorio | Dec 17, 2018

It is critical to every student's educational success to see someone that they identfy with in their classrooms. Especially for Native American student's seeing role models from their community in teaching, administration, para professional and higher education roles improves their perfomance in the classroom and beyond.
There are an increasing number of programs working to train Native American Teachers.
Here is a program and opportunity for funding from Univeristy of Oregon:

University of Oregon Teacher Ed Opportunity
Deadline for 2019-20 Applications: January 15th, 2019
Check it out!
Show Us the Money!

by Adam Lorio | Dec 13, 2018

Pursuing Higher Education has become more expensive over the last 20 years. A full time student in the 70s could work 8-12 hours a week to pay for schooling along with their financial aid package. Today, many studies say students would need to work 60-80 hours a week to cover the equivelant costs today.

We are always looking for good financial resources for our Samish Higher Education students. If you know of one, feel free to send it to us so that we can pass it on.

Here is a great link to scholarship opportunities from the Native American Finance Officers Association which Samish is a member of. Thanks to our great Finance team for passing this along!

NAFOA Scholarships

Article showing the relative cost increases and how many hours students need to work to pay for college:
How many hours students need to work article
Higher Education Assistance Update, Undergraduate Funding

by Adam Lorio | Aug 24, 2018

Wow, for the first time in a while, we currently have a waiting list of students who have completed applications requesting undergraduate Higher Education Assistance. For the 2018-19 school year, the entire budget approved by Tribal Council is planned for spending to support our tribal members pursuing studies after High School. Waitlisted students will be notified immediately if funds become available. We will continue to accept appplications for the waitlist. We are grateful every year that Tribal Council chooses to support our students in achieving their academic goals and excited to be supporting so many students this year.
If you have students looking for guidance in pursuing studies after High School don't hesitate to have them contact us. We love to help.
AIGC Scholarships Open Now!

by Adam Lorio | May 08, 2018

Hi all, We are working to provide more information for Samish Students at all levels. We hope that sharing information here is useful. Please let us know and when you see opportunities, let us know so that we can share them as well.

The American Indian Graduate Center is a great resource and has several scholarships open right now for college students of all levels.

Check out this link for more information:
AIGC Scholarship Information