UnitedTribes Technical College could benefit from an amendment in the higher education reauthorization bill.

The bill gives the Department of Interior a line item to fund United Tribes and Navajo Technical College in Crown Point, N.M.

"Even though the bill already gives the Bureau of Indian Affairs legal authority (to make an appropriation), the legislation is more focused and direct in assuring federal funding for the college," UTTC President Dave Gipp said.

At the moment, United Tribes and Navajo Technical College receive an allocation through the Department of the Interior instead of the Tribal College and University Act. They cannot receive money through the act because they are overseen by a board of tribes that already have tribal colleges that receive money through the Tribal College and University Act.

Funding for fiscal year 2007, which ends Sept. 30, was added into the federal budget through Congress, as it has been the last five years. For fiscal year 2008, which starts Oct. 1, United Tribes is going through the same process, but the legislation should make it simpler to appropriate money, Gipp said.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., supported the amendment. He and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., also helped secure $4 million in funding through the interior appropriation bill.

"This school doesn't deserve to be cut out of the president's budget every year, and this amendment will help make sure it can depend on a reliable supply of federal funding to carry out its important educational mission," Dorgan said in a release.