ABSTRACT
This chapter presents perspectives on how institutions of higher education can support Native professional and graduate students. It provides an overview of the demographic realities to emphasize the importance of institutions establishing a culture of evidence and benchmarks to monitor progress toward increasing student success. The chapter also provides a personal narrative of lessons learned while working with Native-focused programs. It describes the importance of service learning and professional development opportunities to encourage institutional outreach to Native communities and to facilitate Native graduate student success in advanced degree programs and the transition to the world of work. The chapter also presents recommendations that are drawn from promising practices in the completion of doctoral programs advocated by the Council of Graduate Schools, research on Native graduate student success, steps to support tribal colleges and universities, and embracing a system-wide approach to increasing Native professional and graduate student success.
