USDA Awards $250,000 to Cankdeska Cikana Community College

BISMARCK, N.D. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced a New Beginning For Tribal Students (NBTS) award of $250,000 to Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC). This funding will allow the college to provide laptops to students and amplify the expanded student services being developed through other grant programming.

The NBTS program is intended to increase the retention and graduation rate of Tribal students attending 1194, 1862, and 1890 land-grant universities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CCCC began distributing laptops to students. The college saw a 400% increase in summer enrollment and 260% increase in graduation rates since the start of the laptop distribution program.