photo by: Journal-World file

A sign at the entrance to Haskell Indian Nations University is shown in this file photo from Friday, Aug. 5, 2016.

The Bureau of Indian Education — the federal agency that oversees Haskell Indian Nations University — and the Native American Agriculture Fund are partnering to bring an agriculture business degree program to Haskell.

The university announced the new degree program in a news release on Tuesday, stemming from a separate announcement from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium’s Annual Legislative Summit in Washington, D.C. The BIE is housed under the Department of the Interior. Per the release, the program will be funded by an NAAF grant.

The program will be housed within Haskell’s business school and will cover areas like lending operations, risk management, regulatory compliance and customer service. It’ll also encompass comprehensive fundamental lending principles that will “ultimately improve the relationships Native farmers and ranchers have with their financial institutions.”

“I am excited to see Haskell implementing innovative programs to foster opportunities for the next generation of Native American farmers and ranchers,” Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland said in the release. “This new program will help ensure that Indigenous farming students can build sustainable business models that support them, their families and our traditional food systems by bridging the gap between educational needs and agricultural financial literacy.”

According to the release, the program will offer degree and certificate options in both agriculture and finance. The partnership between Haskell and the NAAF will focus on building bridges between educational needs and ongoing efforts to improve agricultural financing, “critical to a long-term sustainable and resilient Native food economy.”