Montana Chamber

Montana has an excellent state college system which draws students from all over the country. The best known schools are in the two university systems: the University of Montana system and the Montana State University System. However, there are also three community colleges (Dawson Community College, Flathead Valley Community College, and Miles Community College); seven tribal colleges (including Browning’s Blackfeet Community College, Lame Deer’s Chief Dull Knife College, and Poplar’s Fort Peck Community College); and three independent colleges (Carroll College, University of Great Falls, and Rocky Mountain College).The University of Montana has been called the “most scenic campus in America” by Rolling Stone magazine. The scenery includes the Oval, a three-acre grass site at the center of the school, and the ‘M’ Trail, a -mile long trail that leads from the University up to the ‘M’ on Mt. Sentinel. Every Homecoming week, the ‘M’ is adorned with special lighted beacons to welcome alumni back to the school. UM has its own zip code, banking, postal, and medical services, and restaurants. The Grizzlies and Lady Griz athletic teams have made themselves known on the national scene. The football and both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are champions in the NCAA Big Sky Conference.In the MSU system, the Bozeman site is the main campus. This school was founded in 1893 as Montana’s land-grant college. Today, the school is the national leader for Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowships, and has also graduated numerous Rhodes and Truman scholars. MSU also boasts some more “unique” accomplishments, including offering the only Master of Fine Arts Degree in Science and Natural History Filmmaking and keeping the largest known T. rex skull in its Museum of the Rockies.Each of the two main universities has three sub-campuses, with a President at the main campus and a Chancellor at each of the others. Each campus chooses its own curriculum for approval by the Board of Regents.Tribal colleges are located on reservations within the state, primarily serving the local communities. However, enrollment is open to people of all races and creeds, just as it is at the state’s three non-tribal community colleges. Dawson Community College, located in the city of Glendive, offers students the choice of a one-year certificate program or a two-year associate degree program, and awards 85 of its students with some form of financial aid. Students can find similar programs in Kalispell’s Flathead Valley Community College and Miles City’s Miles Community College.