Indigenous and Native students at Metropolitan State University of Denver will no longer have to pay for tuition and fees beginning next fall.

Janine Davidson, the university’s president, made the announcement Saturday during the school’s Native and Indigenous graduation ceremony. The money will come from the Indigenous & Native People’s Grant.

To qualify, students must be Colorado residents and be enrolled with one of the 574 federally recognized Native nations, according to the university.

“This is a way of providing critical financial opportunities to students we know benefit from the MSU Denver experience,” said Will Simpkins, the school’s vice president of student affairs.

University officials said the initiative aims to support student diversity and make college more affordable and accessible for Native students.

According to the university’s data sheet for the 2020-21 academic year, only 91 students — or .5% of total students — identified as American Indian or Alaska Native.

The program builds upon SB21-029, which requires Colorado’s higher education institutions to offer in-state tuition to Native students who are affiliated with Indigenous nations with historical ties to the Centennial State.

Similar programs have also been instituted at Fort Lewis College in Colorado and at institutions across the country.

“This is long over due — it’s time for the State of Colorado and MSU Denver to honor the obligations to indigenous people whose (land) we are living on,” David Heska Wanbli Weiden, a professor of political science at the university, said in a news release.