College Of The Menominee Nation

College Of The Menominee Nation, a tribally owned, federally recognized 1994 Land Grant tribal college based in Keshena, Wisconsin, operates exclusively as a federal grant recipient—not as a contract prime or subcontractor—serving the Menominee Indian Tribe and surrounding rural communities across education, agriculture, food sovereignty, climate science, and STEM instruction. The institution is designated a minority institution, tribal government, and tribal college; it does not compete for federal contracts and holds no contract vehicles.

The college's federal footprint consists entirely of grant awards. Recent prime grant work centers on institutional strengthening, research capacity building, and community programming grounded in indigenous knowledge and food systems. Representative awards include a $2.167 million Project Grant from the Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education (CFDA 84.031, October 2025 through September 2026) for institutional strengthening activities including curriculum development, faculty training, and student support services; a $646,304 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (CFDA 10.227, September 2025 through September 2028) for research identifying optimal essential fatty acid levels for walleye aquaculture feed formulations; a $200,000 Project Grant from NIFA's Cooperative Extension Service (CFDA 10.500, September 2025 through September 2027) supporting food sovereignty and youth education initiatives including cooking classes and hydroponics programming rooted in traditional Menominee food preparation; a $1.303 million Block Grant from the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs School Operations (CFDA 15.027, fiscal year ending June 30, 2026) for operational and programmatic activities; and a $250,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Human Resource Development STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076, July 2025 through June 2026) developing cybersecurity infrastructure and a cybersecurity certificate program.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted to the Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which accounts for 49 awards across the institution's recent activity. The Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service, and National Science Foundation together round out the primary funders. The college also receives block grants and formula distributions from the Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs for tribal college operations and endowment fund interest income under the 1994 Land Grant framework.

The institution operates as a sub-recipient on select collaborative research and community development initiatives. Recent sub-awards include roles under University of Michigan-led projects on tribal climate adaptation planning and water relationships in the Great Lakes region (December 2023 and March 2024), Michigan State University's Culturally Centered Artificial Intelligence through Community Engaged Partnerships initiative (November 2024), University of Wisconsin System grants on student research pathways and curriculum development (December 2023 and June 2025), and Wisconsin Technical College System Perkins Tribal Grants (July 2024 and July 2025). The college also received a sub-award from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services for a Financial Opportunity Center capacity-building initiative (January 2026).

Award activity has grown from five grants in 2022 to fourteen in 2025, with three awards in 2026 year to date. Seventeen awards have ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, representing renewal or recompete opportunities across institutional strengthening, research, and community programming vehicles. The college's capability emphasis spans indigenous-centered STEM education, participatory agriculture and food systems research, climate science and tribal adaptation planning, youth workforce development, cultural preservation, and institutional capacity building tailored to tribal college and Native American community contexts. Partnerships include collaborations with peer tribal colleges, land-grant universities, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, and regional climate adaptation science centers.