Bay Mills Community College
Address: 12214 West Lakeshore Drive, Brimley, MI 49715
Phone: (906) 248-3354
Website: www.bmcc.edu
Locations: On the southeastern shore of Lake Superior, within the Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Due to the rural setting, BMCC students often must drive as far as 100 miles round trip daily to attend classes. The tribal college also has chartered 40 schools in mostly troubled, mostly urban communities throughout greater Michigan. It also offers classes online throughout North America in 20 areas of study and online associate’s degree programs in business administration and early childhood education.
Charter Schools:
- Academy of Warren, Warren, MI 48089
- Academy of Waterford, 3000 Sashabaw Road, Waterford, MI 48329
- American Montessori Academy, Livonia, MI 48154
- Arbor Preparatory High School, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
- Arts & Technology of Pontiac, Pontiac, MI 48342
- Bradford Academy, Southfield, MI 48033
- Crescent Academy, Southfield, MI 48033
- David Ellis West, Redford, MI 48240
- Detroit Community Schools, Detroit MI 48223
- Dream Academy, Benton Harbor, MI 49022
- Fortis Academy, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
- Frontier International Academy, Hamtramck, MI 48212
- Great Oaks Academy, Warren, MI 48091
- Hamtramck Academy, Hamtramck, MI 48212
- International Academy of Saginaw, Saginaw, MI 48601
- Keystone Academy, Belleville, MI 48111
- Lansing Charter Academy, Lansing, MI 48910
- Laurus Academy, Southfield, MI 48034
- Life Skills Center of Pontiac, Pontiac, MI 48342
- Madison Academy, Flint, MI 48507
- Mildred C. Wells Academy, Benton Harbor, MI 49022
- Mt. Clemens Montessori Academy, Mt. Clemens, MI 48043
- Multicultural Academy, Ann Arbor, MI 48108
- Oakside Scholars Charter Academy, Waterford, MI 48328
- Ojibwe Charter School, Brimley, MI 49715
- Paramount Charter Academy, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
- Plymouth Scholars, Plymouth, MI 48170
- Prevail Academy, Mt. Clemens, MI 48043
- Richfield Academy, Flint, MI 48506
- River City Scholars Charter Academy, Grand Rapids, MI 49507
- State Street Academy, Bay City, MI 48706
- Taylor Exemplar Academy, Taylor, MI 48180
- Three Lakes Academy, Curtis, MI 49820
- Three Oaks Academy, Muskegon, MI 49442
- Triumph Academy, Monroe, MI 48162
- Universal Learning Academy, Dearborn Heights, MI 48127
- University YES Academy, Detroit, MI 48235
- Vista Charter Academy, Grand Rapids, MI 49548
- Vista Meadows Academy, Dearborn Heights, MI 48127
- Wellspring Preparatory High School, Grand Rapids, MI 49505
- West Michigan Aviation Academy, Grand Rapids, MI 49512
Established: 1984
Chartering Tribe: Bay Mills Indian Community
President: Michael Parish
Land Grant College: Yes
Enrollment: 493 (Fall 2014)
Associate degree programs
- Business Administration
- Computer Information Systems: Computer Technology Emphasis
- Computer Information Systems: Office Emphasis
- Construction Technology
- Criminal Justice: Emphasis Corrections
- Early Childhood Education
- Education
- General Studies
- Great Lakes Native American Studies
- Health & Fitness
- Office Administration
- Social Science
Non-degree programs/Certificates
- Construction Technology
- Corrections
- Education
- EMT-Basic
- EMT-Specialist
- General Studies-MACRAO
- Health Science
- Medical Office
- Natural Science
- Nishnaabemwin Immersion Instruction Pane
- Nishnaabemwin Language Institute
- Nishnaabemwin Language Instructor Institute
- Paramedic
Diploma
- Nishnaabemwin Pane Immersion
As a tribally controlled community college and land grant institution, the mission of Bay Mills Community College (BMCC) is to provide quality educational opportunities, promote research, and facilitate individual development in a community based and culturally diverse environment that supports and maintains the Anishnaabek culture and language.
Bay Mills Community College began as a vocational program in response to the economic development needs of the seven Native American communities which were initially served. The program was funded in 1981 by the Department of Education. In 1984 the college was chartered by the Bay Mills Indian Community under the Tribally Controlled Community Colleges Act.
Since its establishment in 1981 with an enrollment of eleven students, the college has grown to currently serve over seven hundred students annually through on-campus, off-campus, and online programming. BMCC is Michigan’s first accredited Tribal College located on a reservation.
Although BMCC specializes in programs for American Indians, who represent approximately 60% of the annual student enrollment, its doors are open to all races.
The website BestOnlineColleges.org recently ranked the online early childhood education programs at Bay Mills Community College as among the best in the United States. BMCC’s Associate of Arts in early childhood education program offers concentrations in administration, teacher preparation, and family service. All three tracks focus on children to age five and stress Native American culture and cultural sensitivity. The program at UTTC, offers an associate of applied science degree in early childhood education. Students in the UTTC program can also minor in special education.
BMCC is a two-year institution that offers programs for an associate’s degree of applied science, associate’s degree of arts, and an associate’s degree of science; as well as certificates and diplomas in 25 areas of study.
BMCC assists students’ successful transition to four-year institutions through its articulation agreements with Michigan colleges and universities. BMCC has 22 such agreements, intended to remove barriers for transferring credits.
Although Bay Mills Indian Community originally chartered the college in response to the limited educational opportunities in the region for its tribal members, non-Native students have also flocked to the school. Non-Native students now make up 40% of all enrolled students.
BMCC recently began offering free online early childhood education classes with the goal of creating more highly qualified early childhood educational professionals, particularly those serving Native American Head Start programs nationwide.
BMCC has bolstered its institutional information technology infrastructure, providing laptops and SMART boards within every classroom, and making instructional tools available to all students.
BMCC takes seriously its role to lead efforts to preserve the Ojibwe language, as evidenced by the popularity of its language immersion program for both speakers and future teachers.The Administration for Native America recently awarded BMCC a grant to hire language instructors to work with local children in Head Start and Early Head Start, and to teach the Anishnaabe language to more than 300 youth enrolled in local Boys & Girls Clubs.
