NMHU partners with Diné College on distance learning

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – New Mexico Highlands University is using federal funds to expand opportunities for Native American students through a new distance-learning system.

The effort calls for the installation of new technology that will allow students at six Diné College locations in Arizona and New Mexico to access advanced classes offered by Highlands University, which is hundreds of miles away.

Nearly a half-million dollars is being provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development through a distance-learning telemedicine program.

New Mexico Highlands University also recently announced the creation of an indigenous knowledge center within its school of social work. The goal is to recruit more indigenous students.

Highlands officials say Native American students now make up nearly 8 percent of the school’s undergraduate population.