The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe established Leech Lake Tribal College by Tribal Resolution in July 1990. For two years, courses were offered in extension from the University of Minnesota at Duluth, Bemidji State University, Itasca and Brainerd Community Colleges. In the fall quarter of 1992, The college had its first graduate of the Associate of Arts program in Anishinaabe Language and Culture in the spring of 1993. In 1994, the college was accorded status as a Land Grant Institution by the United States Congress. Also in 1994, seventeen graduates completed their Associate of Arts degrees and Associate of Applied Science degrees. By the spring of 1995, the number of graduates had increased to twenty-four.