Salish Kootenai College

Salish Kootenai College is a huge opportunity for everyone in the area to further their education and continue to give back to the community. Being on a reservation, they really strive to help the natives gain a higher education as well as make it possible for non-natives in the area to continue on with their education. There is quite a variety of degrees and classes offered at SKC, and it is continually growing.

Salish Kootenai College students range anywhere from 18-50 in age with no visible ethnic majority, so the odds of feeling alienated because of your age or ethnicity are low. Cell reception is spotty as the campus is very close to the woods and wildlife sightings are common, including bear warnings. A few stores are in walking distance but are overpriced and lack vegetarian options. Being a tribal college, SKC is steeped in cultural appreciation. Knowledge of Native American history and culture is unavoidable no matter what program you've enrolled in. Students can't graduate without passing a Native American history course. There are several arts, crafting, and modern classes relating to Natives as well. If you are, for some reason, interested in attending a school named after two local Native American tribes but don't like or care about Native culture then apply elsewhere. In terms of internet, the service can be very spotty (I had to buy my own router to even access the internet) and the administrator is preposterously block-happy. Most ports are blocked, so online multiplayer in most video games are a no-go. Content filters are unreasonably puritanical for a college campus with many harmless sites being blocked for reasons like "profanity" or "revealing clothing." The dorms are great for those who value privacy, four tenants get their own bedroom and you only have to share your bathroom with two people. However, dorm culture is very "high school" with the average age skewing towards 18-21. Housing has a zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol (immediate eviction) but people do them anyway. The laundry room typically only has a couple washer/dryers functional at a time so I was doing the laundry at 3AM a lot. You also have to pay to do laundry ($1 for washing, $0.25 for every 20 minutes in dryer) and the machines like to jam up and steal quarters. If you have an issue with anything you have to complain a lot as well as getting others to complain with you or nothing will be done about it. No overnight guests are allowed in the dorms and infractions result in a heavy penalty. Classes are small so it's easy to become familiar with instructors. Most of the teachers make themselves available and are willing to help their students with anything. School staff is mostly friendly, there's always a few who clearly hate their job. Certain programs host all of their classes in one building so there's a definite isolation from the rest of the student body once you're through generals. Students are allowed no alcohol, no drugs, no online video games, people on website pages must be fully-clothed, no overnight guests unless they're also tenants, iffy cell service, iffy internet service, and iffy access to washing their clothes. Everyone is very rustic with their interests and sensibilities - country music, Catholicism, natural hair colors, etc - so atheist, pink-haired vaporwave enthusiasts may have a hard time fitting in. If you want to see an IMAX 3D movie or go shopping or bar hopping, the nearest big town is a 30-minute drive away. If you need meatless food, there's a Safeway and a Wal-Mart 10 minutes away. I have very negative things to say about the particular program I graduated in (Media Design) but for the overall school, it was an okay experience. A vast majority of students and staff are friendly, most staff and faculty will do everything but your homework to try and get you to succeed, and the area is very pretty (though lacking in action).

The college is full of culture and scenic views in every corner. Yeah there's limited degrees within the college, but know that this college is in the boonies of the Rocky Mountains Montana. The personal help/tutoring was amazing, not only that but the professors occasionally came in to personally help the students. Lets just say that after you graduate, you'll be a changed person, as a whole, that will leave a positive impression with you always.

I think Salish Kootneai College is a good choice because the teachers are friendly and they are there for you, they are really helpful and want to see you succeed.