During the Civil Rights Acts and Native American self-determination movements in 1960s and 1970s, tribal leaders decided there was a need for change in failed federal education policy to improve education for American Indian students to serve their communities, leading to the creation of tribal colleges and universities (TCUs).
In 1968, the Navajo Nation created the first-of-its-kind educational institution-a college controlled by the tribe, located on the Navajo reservation, to provide a quality higher education to the surrounding community, known as a tribal college and university.