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The Tohono O'odham Nation has embarked on an ambitious campaign to construct a community college about 50 miles southwest of Tucson. The college would be a welcome addition to Arizona's educational landscape and would help alleviate social problems within the O'odham community.

The tribe's government donated $6 million. The challenge for the college, however, is to come up with $18 million more.

We urge other tribes and Arizona residents and companies that recognize the importance of creating a well-educated work force to get behind this effort.

Tohono O'odham Community College already exists, but it's not a college campus in the true sense. The college opened its doors in 2000 and is a collection of modular buildings in Sells. The college enrolls 200 to 300 students each semester.

The planned main campus would sit on 32 acres to the east of Sells. It would have administration buildings, classrooms, laboratories, a gymnasium and housing for students and staff. The plans also include a satellite campus on the western side of the nation. College officials said the expanded college would be able to serve up to 1,000 students.

Since the tribe operates the two Desert Diamond casinos in the Tucson area and a third casino in Why, some people may ask why the tribe doesn't fund the entire $24 million cost of the college itself.

College officials said that isn't possible in the short term because revenues from casino operations go to a multitude of tribal needs.

"I think a lot of people have this misconception that we're just rolling in dough," Bernard G. Siquieros, chairman of the college's board of trustees, told the Star's editorial board Monday. "We're certainly better off than we were years ago, but there are still a lot of needs out there that aren't being met."

Olivia Vanegas-Funcheon, president of the college, said, "There are still roads that have to be built. There are still villages that don't have good housing. We don't have all the infrastructure that a normal city has.

"Some of our villages don't have electric power — some are just barely getting it. Some of our apprentices are building modern outhouses for some families."

While the expanded college would be on tribal land, it would be open to everyone. Students who come out of the college would benefit the entire state, but the college would probably benefit the Tohono O'odham the most.

College officials said the tribe has an unemployment rate of about 42 percent, while Tucson and Phoenix have jobless rates of about 4 percent. The tribe's per-capita income is $7,000 and 25 percent of its children live in poverty, according to the college's press materials. The tribe said 4.6 percent of its people hold bachelor's degrees while more than 25 percent drop out of high school.

While an expanded community college won't solve all of these social problems, we believe it would help. A thriving college close to home could inspire more O'odham youths to continue their educations. By turning out better-educated citizens, the tribe would also see its income numbers rise and poverty numbers fall.

Tohono O'odham Community College campuses would provide an educational and economic boost not only for the tribe, but for the entire state.