News

Memorandum of Understanding

The memorandum of understanding between NICC and Pawnee Nation College (PNC) will be unilaterally dissolved by NICC on May 18, 2024. The institutions have not been able to come to an agreement regarding the terms of the memorandum of understanding that was signed several years ago. This issue was discussed at length on multiple occasions with both administrations and both Board of Directors/Trustees.

NICC will no longer have an additional location in Pawnee, Oklahoma. That means that NICC will not be offering courses at a physical location in Oklahoma. Any students continuing their studies will receive textbooks or course materials at their home addresses, and resources will be offered remotely.

Both institutions will be moving forward on their separate paths.

NICC student v PNC student
Basically, if you are enrolled in accredited coursework with NICC, you have been and can continue to be an NICC student. If you have an e-mail address with an address ending “@thenicc.edu”, you have been and can continue to be an NICC student. Your transcripts and or degree information has been and is still available to you from NICC.

Future Decisions
You have many choices in your educational pathway. NICC understands and supports you in whatever decision you choose foryour continued education pathway. You may choose to stay at NICC, and we want you to continue your educational goals. You may also choose to attend a different institution, and we will support that choice as well. Regardless, we want you to make that choice with the most information.

Should you choose to remain at NICC:
• Your student location status will change from PNC to online location.
• Your email address and login information will stay the same.
• Your new student advisor will be assigned at the time that you make the decision.
• Your faculty advisor, unless you change degree programs, will remain the same.
• You will continue to receive the same costs, benefits, scholarship eligibility, and services as all NICC students.
• Supplies (i.e. textbooks) will be shipped to you as an online student.
• NICC assumes that you will lose PNC as an access point for support (i.e. copies, scans, computer lab).

Choose to leave NICC:
• Your student email will eventually be disabled due to inactivity, however that would not be before the beginning of Summer term.
• An official transcript will be sent to the college of your choice. The link is embedded should you like to use the form.

College Costs
You should also be aware of college costs. Most colleges charge students items like tuition, fees, and textbooks charges. NICC has all of these items included in the tuition. Tuition is used to cover the basic college course costs. Many institutions also charge fees to assist in offering additional services to students. Further, the cost of textbooks and other materials is usually at the expense of the student.
To help explain this, below are comparisons of three different institutions that are in your area. The comparisons are the Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC), College of the Muscogee Nation (CMN), and Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU). This is not an exhaustive listing, and you should perform your own research to determine the correct options for you.
Costs per credit based upon enrollment for Fall and Spring semesters at 12 credit hours per term
Institution of Higher Learning

Nebraska Indian Community College. (2024, April 12). Educational Costs and Policies. Retrieved from www.thenicc.edu Cost of Attendance
* NICC charges a graduation fee of $200 upon graduation.

College of the Muscogee Nation. (2024, April 15). Bursar. Retrieved from https://cmn.edu/bursar/: https://cmn.edu/bursar/
*$18.50 Remedial course credit and Estimated cost of texts.

Southeastern Oklahoma State University. (2024). Student Disclosure Information. Retrieved from www.se.edu: https://www.se.edu/student-disclosure-information/
* $20/credit hour (mandatory fee)
* $5 to $150 (academic service fees assigned to specific courses)
* $50 undergraduate /$75 graduate per credit hour (distance education/online fee)

By utilizing the above information as a guide to evaluate your options, you should also be aware that there are funding sources often available to help you cover these costs. A brief description of some of the types of aid available, are listed below. At NICC, you may have been eligible for Federal Financial Aid, American Indian College Fund scholarships provided to Tribal Colleges, Emergency Aid Funding, outside scholarships and Tuition Waivers for every student.

Federal Financial Aid
Accredited institutions may choose to participate in the U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Program (USDOEFSA). For those institutions that participate various types of financial aid opportunities are made available to its learners, for example PELL grants, FSEOG, and loan programs as a few examples.

American Indian College Fund
The American Indian College Fund (AICF) is an organization created by the Tribal Colleges to help Tribal College students.
The majority of their scholarship funds go directly to the Tribal Colleges. The direct link to the colleges most supported by AICF is listed here
https://collegefund.org/tribal-colleges-and-universities/. AICF will offer other scholarship opportunities to individual students.

Tuition Waivers, Emergency Aid Funding, and other scholarships
Depending on the college you attend, you may or may not be eligible for tuition waivers, emergency aid programs and other scholarship opportunities from other institutions of higher education as well. It is not clear what may or not be available at either of the example institutions. However, many of those discussions should happen with your college of choice’s financial aid department if/when you enroll at another institution.

At NICC, we have provided a $169 tuition waiver for every credit to every learner since 2020. The total billed expense for any student, using the example above of 24 credits would have been $24, which included your tuition, basic course materials or textbooks for the year. NICC has been awarding every student who has been able to show a need, emergency aid to support the cost of internet access.

NICC will be continuing to offer tuition waivers and emergency aid through the summer term. If the program is not able to remain in existence after that time, NICC still has the commitment to assist students to complete their education at NICC debt free by graduation.

Should you have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me at moltrogge@thenicc.edu or (402) 960-5176. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
Michael P. Oltrogge, Ph.D.
President

Letter to Students

For Students: Q&A about NICC and PNC MOU Ending