The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico is a community college that is federally funded through the U.S. SIPI was established in the early 1970s at the request of the All Indian Pueblo Council and other federally recognized tribes to help train American Indian and Alaska Natives for jobs. SIPI opened in August 1971 on approximately 164 acres located northwes
t of Albuquerque, New Mexico. SIPI is located in the center of New Mexico’s agricultural and technology corridor (Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, and Intel Corporation), major universities and the largest technical workforce within a 500-mile radius. SIPI has established excellent working relationships with these industries and universities, thereby allowing a responsive learning environment within which American Indian and Alaska Native students develop skills that will be needed by tribal nations to build cohesive and economically strong communities. SIPI is an important part of the New Mexico higher education system. It has agreements with the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University, and New Mexico Highlands University that ensure better recruitment, transfer, and retention rates for Native American students. SIPI has also established articulation agreements with regional public institutions outside of New Mexico. SIPI’s designation as a land-grant institution in 1994, allowed for its expansion in research and extension programs to meet the growing needs of tribal nations. SIPI is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the New Mexico Association of Community Colleges, and is accredited with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA).
