Research


Scope and Content Note

The series consists of tuition records in the form of ledgers kept by New York State Education Department (NYSED) and/or correspondence from educational institutions, and associated files concerning financial aid to Native American post-secondary students. The notes, ledgers, administrative reports and correspondence of this series are focused on the determination of eligibility, timely and appropriate payment, tracking of aid payments made and clarification of student status and information discrepancies in the Native American Education Post-Secondary Aid Program.

The bulk of the records are student aid listings, ledgers and notebooks. These three formats track the students' application and qualification for assistance, as well as verification of eligibility and dispersal of post-secondary financial aid for each academic year, 1962-1988. The administrative reports, which are derived from the other two formats, typically show student name, reservation, home address, school, date of birth (sometimes), percentage of aid used, and grant amount (by semester). The Student Aid Listings reports were alternatively titled, Student Aid (used for folders during the 1960s), Student Listings (used during the 1970s) and Post-Secondary Aid (used during the late 1970s and the 1980s), but contain essentially the same information. Typically, they are subdivided by full-time students, part-time students, new applicants and students for whom this is the last payment.

The records span from the 1962 - 1963 academic year through 1987 - 1988. Records for the following years/semesters are not present: 1963 - 1964, 1965 - 1966 (folder includes only students who withdrew or declined award), Spring 1976, Spring 1977, and Fall 1985.

Correspondence for a given academic year is located in the Student Aid Listings folders. This includes letters from high school principals and guidance counselors seeking information on behalf of graduating seniors; college admissions and bursar's office personnel seeking to submit information about students qualified for aid or to clarify status; and some students seeking or providing information.

When present for a given year, Annual Reports include the number of students receiving aid and in what year of study they are; total number of drop-outs; number by reservation; listing of institutions attended; and total amount of aid awarded. These are also located in the Student Aid Listings folders.

Student Aid Ledgers may include adding machine printouts attached to the inside front cover; entries in black and red ink or pencil; occasional student home addresses (for first time applicants?); and marginalia. In a few cases, some files and correspondence related to that academic year were placed inside the back cover of the ledger.

The terms Indian, Native American and Native American Indian are all used in this series. During the time period covered by this series and within some of the records themselves, discussions of proper descriptive and respectful terminology can be found.