College of Letters & Science
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The College of Letters and Science, the largest center for learning, teaching and research at Montana State University, offers students an excellent liberal arts and sciences education in nearly 50 majors, 25 minors and over 25 graduate degrees within the four areas of the humanities, natural sciences, mathematics and social sciences.
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Item Different hunting grounds: American Indian tribal college student perceptions of predominantly white institutions(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2017) Birdhat, Cheryl Polacek; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sweeney WindchiefAmerican Indian students who have attended tribal colleges have expressed gratitude, appreciation and pride in their educational and cultural experiences at these institutions. Most of the 37 tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) in the US and Canada currently offer two-year degree and certificate programs. Many American Indian students who wish to continue onto a bachelor degree program from a two-year TCU consider transferring to a predominantly white institution (PWI). This qualitative study was meant to better understand the perceptions that American Indian TCU students have of PWIs and what these students believe would be helpful for them to both transfer and succeed at a predominantly white four-year institution. A phenomenological qualitative study was chosen to better understand the perceptions of PWIs and the needs related to attendance at a PWI by American Indian TCU students. Fifteen American Indian TCU students were interviewed at six TCUs in the state of Montana. There were two research questions that were used to guide this study, the first was what are American Indian TCU student perceptions of predominantly white institutions? The second was how do American Indian TCU students believe PWIs can better assist and support American Indian students who desire to matriculate to a PWI? Although a qualitative phenomenological research approach was chosen to approach the research questions and potential answers to those questions, my research was heavily focused on appropriately utilizing Indigenous research methodology in all areas of this study. It was of paramount importance for me as an Indigenous researcher to be responsible, respectful, reciprocal and relevant in all the relationships that were both enriched and created in this research endeavor. The stories shared with me from 15 American Indian TCU students resulted in six themes emerging from their collective interviews. Those themes were 1.) family and community, 2.) acceptance and acknowledgement of cultural identity, 3.) PWI support and excitement for new opportunities, 4.) TCU love/pride, 5.) Fear and isolation and 6.) Humor and relationships. The findings for this research have significant implications for all those interested in working with and for American Indian students, specifically for PWIs and their constituents.Item A study of perceptions on educational values of post high school Crow Indian students(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Business, 1996) Yarlott, David, Jr.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Norman L. MillikinThe purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of post high school Crow Indian students as to the value of education. Surveys were distributed among 150 post high school Crow Indian students assisted by the Crow Higher Education Department. The distribution of the survey was among four subgroups from the population; administrators, college graduates in other professions, current students, and students who did not complete college. Conclusions of the survey are: 1) Most of the respondents feel a need for education beyond high school, not only from the educational standpoint, but also for economic and social reasons. 2) A large obstacle to obtaining higher education is meeting financial needs. 3) The most valuable subjects are Reading, Writing, and Speech, in that order. 4) Meeting the cost of education is the highest motivator for continuing higher education. 5) Family support and the location of the school makes a difference in enrollment decisions. 6) Factors that influence career decision making is higher with family members than high school experiences. The recommendations of the study are: 1) Provide good jobs, as incentives, for students that graduate from a Higher Education Institution and return to the Crow Indian Reservation. 2) Develop a program to increase awareness for opportunities and societal improvements with additional education. 3) Increase funding for students that are attending Higher Educational Institutions. 4) Develop a support program to track students progress. 5) Become a bigger factor in improving preparatory courses for Institutions of Higher Learning at the local high schools. 6) Promote Little Big Horn College as a vehicle for a better social, economic, and self-development environment for the entire Crow Tribal population. 7) Promote, request, encourage, and finance research that benefits the Crow Tribe.Item A study of Crow reservation-oriented college students who attended baccalaureate degree offering colleges from 1965 to 1990(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2002) Enemy Hunter, LukeItem Piety, politics, and profit : American Indian missions in the colonial colleges(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1985) Wright, BobbyThe royal charters which sanctioned the settlement of the American colonies invariably expressed as their primary purpose the propagation of Christianity among the American Indians. Throughout the colonial period, the English viewed education as a primary means to accomplish this pious mission. The purpose of this study was to examine critically the educational Indian missions in the colonial colleges. In doing so, this investigation employed ethnohistorical perspectives and methodology in examining the institutional experiments at Henrico, Virginia, Harvard College, the College of William and Mary, and Dartmouth College, spanning a period from the early seventeenth to the late eighteenth centuries. The study found that, while the colonial educators professed their own piety as if this were their singular motivation, they capitalized on the charitable impulses of the pious English and on the opportunities which the charity presented in furthering other political and economic interests. This investigation also established that mixed motives led to diversions from the purposes for which money had been collected and further that this was a primary cause of the ultimate failure of these/ educational experiments. In revealing that missions in the colonial colleges were not expressions of unblemished piety, this study has confronted the declarations espoused in the early records and much of the later historical literature, thus enhancing the growing body of ethnohistorical scholarship on Indian-white relations during the colonial period, while simultaneously offering a fresh insight into the origins of higher education in America.Item An investigation of learning strategy, selected characteristics, and achievement of tribal college students in Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1992) Hill, Michael JosephItem The impact of the tribal college movement on Native American educational attainment(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2011) Reese, Mitchell Jordan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Christiana Stoddard.This paper looks at the effects of tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) on Native American educational attainment. Using a difference-in-difference-in difference model, this paper attempts to isolate the effects of these schools on Native Americans living in states with TCUs. First, the results offer evidence that TCUs' effects are not evenly distributed across age groups or between the sexes. The findings show that these schools have significant positive effects on associate's degree attainment for older Native Americans, increasing associate's degree attainment by three percent for Native Americans 35 to 55 while not significantly increasing associate's degree attainment for 25 to 55 year olds. There is also evidence that TCUs lower bachelor's degree attainment levels for Native Americans. An additional TCU per 10,000 Native Americans per state lowers bachelor's degree attainment by 4 to 14 percent for 25 to 55 year olds and by 0 to 13 percent for 35 to 55 year olds. This negative effect appears to be disproportionately felt by Native American men. This paper also finds that TCUs do not appear to significantly increase or decrease the overall years of education for Native Americans in TCU states.