 Today American Indians account for only 1% of all college students, and 13.6% of American Indians over age 25 years old have a bachelor's degree compared to 29.3% of the overall population.Poverty is part of the reason so few American Indians and Alaska Natives go to college, with current data showing that 28.3% of the American Indian and Alaska Natives living below the poverty level compared to 15.5% of the overall population.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).