ABERDEEN (AP) - Aberdeen-based Presentation College is closing its outreach campus on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation next spring.
The campus in Eagle Butte was created in 1980, when the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe asked the private Catholic school to develop a nursing program to address health care needs on the reservation. Of the campus' 186 alumni, 170 studied nursing.
College President Margaret Huber said officials think the mission in Eagle Butte has been accomplished, and that there has been a decline in applications and enrollment over the past six years.
The campus will close in May. Students enrolled there will be able to finish their degrees. Nine are enrolled and five are anticipating a spring graduation. The others can attend classes in Aberdeen with the help of a scholarship fund or take courses online.
"We are still very much dedicated to providing higher education opportunities to Native Americans," Huber said. "We are just going to be offering those opportunities in a different capacity now."
