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The Institute of American Indian Arts could face another round of cuts after the Trump administration’s draft of the upcoming budget allotted no federal funding for the Santa Fe-based arts college.

The college stands to lose $13.5 million if the is approved. Having funding eliminated would “devastate IAIA’s ability to sustain its academic programs, student support services and day-to-day operations,” putting the institution “at risk,” IAIA officials said in a news release.

The Trump administration first proposed cuts to IAIA in June 2025 after the federal government sought to cut funding for tribally affiliated colleges and universities. However, Congress voted to provide funding for IAIA through an appropriation until September 2026, according to IAIA President Shelly Lowe.

“Eliminating IAIA’s federal appropriation will weaken educational opportunity, threaten the development of future Indigenous artists and leaders, and severely undermine a mission that Congress has supported for decades,” Lowe said in a statement.

The school, founded in 1962, serves a largely Native American student body of around 1,000 students and is home to the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. It is the only higher education institution in the country dedicated to Indigenous arts and culture, according to college officials.

Federal funding has been guaranteed to IAIA since Congress enacted in 1986. If its funding is slashed, it would be the first time in nearly four decades IAIA has been denied federal support, IAIA officials said.

Lowe told the Journal the funding cuts were anticipated, though IAIA staff is hopeful Congress will be able to provide another appropriation for the college.

“If we were not to get this kind of funding, we would definitely have to be seeking outside funding, and we would have to work very hard to ensure that we could cover all of the needs that we have at the institution,” Lowe said.

The cuts are part of a broader Trump administration push to eliminate programs targeted at diversity, equity and inclusion and other programs the administration considers wasteful. The administration has some $2.3 billion in savings from DEI cuts in Trump’s first 100 days in office.

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, a New Mexico Democrat who previously voted to secure funding for IAIA, requested $14.1 million for the college in a letter to the leadership of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies dated March 20 and signed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

The $14.1 million — around $600,000 more than previous years — would address an “increase in fixed costs” during the past three years of appropriations, according to the letter.

Leger Fernández called the Trump administration’s efforts to zero out funding for IAIA for the second year in a row “outrageous” in a statement to the Journal, and said she would continue to lead the effort to secure funding for all tribal colleges and universities that lost federal support.

“Trump wants $1.5 trillion for bombs and war, but won’t provide money for tribal education, tribal housing, or health care,” Leger Fernández said. “We won’t let the Trump administration starve this great institution of the resources it needs to keep telling Indigenous stories for generations to come.”

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.