NASNTI grants are for Native American serving nontribal institutions to assist with planning and carrying out activities to improve and expand service to Native Americans and low-income individuals. Projects may include:

• Scientific or laboratory equipment for education and research;
• Renovation and improvements in facilities;
• Faculty development and fellowships for advanced degrees;
• Curriculum development and academic instruction;
• Library books, periodicals, microfilm, and other  materials;
• Funds management;
• Joint use of facilities such as laboratories and libraries;
• Academic tutoring, counseling, and student support services; and
• Financial and economic literacy of students and their families.

East Central University is located in the heart of Indian Country. The area is economically, geographically and educationally isolated. This isolation is even more evident among the area's Native American and low-income populations. As a result, ECU students from these populations often come unprepared or underprepared. The economic, geographic and educational factors exasperated by the identified service and infrastructure gaps contribute to Native American and low-income students experiencing significantly lower first-year retention and five-year graduation rates. To address this need, ECU will implement Strengthening the Culture: Student Success that will enable ECU to further improve and expand its capacity to serve Native American and low-income students through the development, implementation and sustainment of a targeted, student academic success program and an undergraduate research center that will increase retention and graduation rates of high-need students.

This project provides three program areas for distance delivery to increase postsecondary completion rates, and thus the economic advancement of Native American and low-income students and communities: Hospitality Management, Early Childhood Education, and Criminal Justice. Development of the necessary curriculum and technology infrastructure for distance delivery will create much-needed access for our students who work while attending school (84 percent). New jobs are being created by service area Tribes in these fields, but they require degrees for career advancement, so proposed articulation to local and online four-year degrees will create real opportunities for students who need or want to stay in their homes while increasing their earnings capacity. New technologies, along with faculty development, will integrate the culturally-relevant support of Native Ways of Knowing into curricula and services supporting postsecondary success. New data collection and analysis capacities will enable data-based decision making related to improving postsecondary student outcomes.

The primary objective of the ISDC is to improve the academic performance of American Indian students and their retention rates through programming, intervention strategies, and services. The second objective relates the support of faculty and staff development to the overall success of American Indian students. Likewise, Objective Three focuses on the greater community to create an Indigenous community culture of collaboration, learning and discovery by facilitating working relationships among students, faculty/staff and community and tribal agencies. Together, these three objectives provide for a comprehensive approach to the delivery of services designed to enhance the overall postsecondary educational experience of students NSU, particularly the low-income, American Indian population.

The Seminole State College NASNTI Project will improve retention and graduation rates for high need students as well as the overall SSC student population by providing more student-centered services to entering academically underprepared students. The developmental curriculum will be redesigned to include more current, proven instructional approaches and advanced technology. Faculty and staff will be provided appropriate training and professional development so they can serve SSC students more effectively.