{"id":107325,"date":"2026-07-29T08:59:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=107325"},"modified":"2026-07-29T08:59:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T12:59:47","slug":"nevada-program-waives-college-costs-for-native-american-students-its-facing-a-murky-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/nevada-program-waives-college-costs-for-native-american-students-its-facing-a-murky-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada program waives college costs for Native American students. It\u2019s facing a murky future"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Roc\u00edo Hern\u00e1ndez\/the Nevada Independent Ronica Spute always wanted to go back to college to get her bachelor\u2019s degree, but life kept getting in the way. Two years ago, her path was finally cleared thanks to a Nevada program that allows certain Native American students to attend college virtually for free. As a member of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the waiver along with a scholarship from her tribe allowed Spute, 57, to pursue a criminal justice degree at UNLV and graduate in two years. It was one year less than it took her to get an associate\u2019s degree from the College of Southern Nevada when she could only afford to take a few classes at a time. \u201cI don\u2019t think I could have done it if I wasn\u2019t able… <\/p>\n

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By Roc\u00edo Hern\u00e1ndez\/the Nevada Independent Ronica Spute always wanted to go back to college to get her bachelor\u2019s degree, but life kept getting in the way. Two years ago, her path was finally cleared thanks to a Nevada program that allows certain Native American students to attend college virtually for free. As a member of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the waiver along with a scholarship from her tribe allowed Spute, 57, to pursue a criminal justice degree at UNLV and graduate in two years. It was one year less than it took her to get an associate\u2019s degree from the College of Southern Nevada when she could only afford to take a few classes at a time. \u201cI don\u2019t think I could have done it if I wasn\u2019t able... <\/p>\n

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Two years ago, her path was finally cleared thanks to a Nevada program that allows certain Native American students to attend college virtually for free. As a member of the Moapa Band of Paiutes, the waiver along with a scholarship from her tribe allowed Spute, 57, to pursue a criminal justice degree at UNLV and graduate in two years. It was one year less than it took her to get an associate\u2019s degree from the College of Southern Nevada when she could only afford to take a few classes at a time. \u201cI don\u2019t think I could have done it if I wasn\u2019t able\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/29\/nevada-program-waives-college-costs-for-native-american-students-its-facing-a-murky-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-29T12:59:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29\\\/nevada-program-waives-college-costs-for-native-american-students-its-facing-a-murky-future\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/29\\\/nevada-program-waives-college-costs-for-native-american-students-its-facing-a-murky-future\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Nevada program waives college costs for Native American students. 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