BIE meaning in Community ?

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), headquartered in the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., and formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP), is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. It is responsible for the line direction and management of all BIE education functions, including the formation of policies and procedures, the supervision of all program activities, and the approval of the expenditure of funds appropriated for BIE education functions.

The BIE school system has 184 elementary and secondary schools and dormitories located on 63 reservations in 23 states, including seven off-reservation boarding schools, and 122 schools directly controlled by tribes and tribal school boards under contracts or grants with the BIE. The bureau also funds 66 residential programs for students at 52 boarding schools and at 14 dormitories housing those attending nearby tribal or public schools. It is one of two U.S. federal government school systems, along with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).

In the area of post-secondary education, the BIE provides support to 24 tribal colleges and universities across the U.S. serving over 25,000 students. It directly operates two institutions of higher learning: Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) in Lawrence, Kansas, and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Additionally, the BIE operates higher education scholarship programs for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Alden Woods of The Arizona Republic wrote in 2020 that the BIE is "an overlooked and often criticized agency".