Currently in Michigan one tribally-operated school is in operation at the Hannahville Potawatomi Indian Community with a 1993-1994 enrollment of 165 (K-12) and we have one tribally controlled community college at the Bay Mills Chippewa Community which has and enrollment of 320, and received funding under P.L.; 95-471 (Indian Controlled Community College Assistance Act) and eligible students receive tuition assistance through the Michigan P.A. 106 of 1993 Indian Tuition Waiver Program, and BMCC is presently a candidate for North Central Accreditation.
Approximately 99.92 of all Michigan Indian students in K-12 education attend public schools. Approximately 2/3rds of all Indians have not completed four years of high school. Dropout rates of the urban Indians are the highest in the state when compared with other minority groups. Overall, the rates are estimated at 55% with rates as high as 80% in some areas. In one Upper Peninsula school district, Native Americans make up 29% of the total school enrollment. However, in the alternative education and community education programs, Native American students have consistently comprised, over a 10-year period, nearly 48 to 50% of the enrollment.
Although Native Americans represented approximately 1.02% of all high school graduates in 1986, they represented only 56% of all first time freshmen at the four-year public universities. Michigan Native American Students in higher education median range is 27-36 versus their non-Indian counterparts at 18-30. The age of Native American students in higher education influences the retention issues for those students. As of the 1980 Census, only 6.2 % of Michigan adult Native Americans have completed four or more years of College.