Northwest Indian College

Northwest Indian College (NWIC) is a tribally controlled institution chartered by the Lummi Indian Business Council. The college is funded through the Bureau of Indian Affairs under Public Law 98-192. Northwest Indian College has applied for and received tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service under Section 501 C (3). The NWIC Charter provides for a five-member board of trustees as the governing body for the College. Each trustee is a member of a participating Northwest Indian Tribe and appointed by the Lummi Indian Business Council.

Higher education on the Lummi Reservation began in 1971 with the establishment of the Lummi Indian School of Aquaculture, a single-purpose institution designed to provide technicians for employment in Native American owned and operated fish and shellfish hatcheries throughout the United States and Canada.

In the early 1980s the employment demand for fishery technicians declined dramatically and concurrently the Lummi tribal leaders felt a need to focus tribal educational services on the education needs of the Native Americans in Northwest Washington. On April 1, 1983, the Lummi Indian Business Council approved the Charter for Lummi Community College. This charter established a public, non-profit, comprehensive community college for the purpose of providing post-secondary education services to the Native American communities in Northwest Washington. The name was changed to Northwest Indian College in January 1989 to more accurately reflect its mission of serving Indian tribes and urban Indian organizations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and southeast Alaska. In 1994, Northwest Indian College was granted approval as a Land Grant College by Congress.

The educational philosophy of NWIC is based upon the belief that the opportunity of post-secondary education must be provided within the Native American community. Northwest Indian College is committed to the belief that self-awareness is the foundation necessary to achieve confidence, esteem, and a true sense of pride; to build a career; to create a "self-sufficient" life-style; and to promote life-long learning. It is also committed to the belief that a self-awareness program must include a study of Native American culture, values, and history.